Are solar panels worth it in the UK?

Are solar panels worth it for your home?

Is it worth having solar panels? On the Energy Saving Trust's payback figures, a home pays for itself in 9 to 12 years with export payments, depending on where you live and when you are home, at July 2026 fuel prices [1]. Separately, it puts a typical system at about 4.5 kWp and £7,600, and says panels work best on a south-facing roof with no shading [1]. It does not state, on its solar or data-method pages, the export rate, the share of solar used at home or the system size behind its payback table.

Some things the payback leaves out make it longer: the Trust's costs exclude replacement parts, and it says the inverter needs replacing after around 12 years [2][1]. Simple payback also ignores discounting and inflation, and future electricity prices could move it either way; the Trust says it calls for caution [2].

How long do solar panels take to pay for themselves?

The solar panel payback period comes down to four numbers: what you pay, how much of your solar you use at home, your export rate and how much your roof generates. Our grid combines the last three at the government's 2025-26 median price of £1,595 per kWp [3]; the next table shows what your own installed price does.

Among the scenarios in our grid, the export rate has the largest effect: payback is 10 to 12 years at a 12p export rate and 14 to 20 at 3p. Your installed price, shading and use can matter as much. Export rates are set by each supplier; in 2024-25 the average rates paid were 15.4p per kWh on tied tariffs and 7.3p on untied ones, Ofgem reports; these are past averages, not rates you can get today [7]. Payback rises in step with the price you pay:

Do solar panels save money on your electricity bill?

Yes, on the unit part of the bill and through export payments; the standing charge stays. For MCS's worked example of a home using 3,500 kWh a year with a 3 kWp system, which uses 805 of its 2,775 kWh of solar at home [5], the average monthly electric bill with solar panels works out like this, by our calculation:

Solar power pros and cons

Is solar power worth it once the downsides are counted? These are the advantages and disadvantages of solar power on a home, from the sources below.

When are solar panels not worth it?

Solar panels are least likely to pay back when one of these applies:

• Shade or a poor roof. Panels work best facing south with no shading [1]. Less sun means fewer kWh per kWp and a longer payback; our grid shows how much generation moves it, though neither of its columns is a shaded roof.
• You expect to move soon. A payback of 9 years or more needs you, or the price of your home, to recover the cost; whether panels add value is covered in do solar panels add value to a house.
• A low export rate. In our grid, 3p gives 14 to 20 years; with 29 per cent of the solar used at home it is the slowest case.
• The roof needs work soon. Removing and refitting panels for roof work is a cost the payback leaves out; see solar panel removal and reinstallation.

Why are people getting rid of their solar panels?

We found no official statistic on homes removing solar panels, so we cannot say whether removals are rising or falling. For context, the government's cost analysis included 264,742 new MCS-certified installations of all kinds in Great Britain in 2025-26, 27 per cent more than the year before [3], and the Energy Saving Trust says there are nearly 1.7 million installations on homes across the UK [1]; new installations and removals can both rise. Panels can be taken off and refitted when a roof needs work; that is covered in solar panel removal and reinstallation.

Whether to add a battery is a separate decision: solar panels with or without a battery. Prices by size are on solar panel costs.