E.ON Solar Panels Review

✔ E.ON’s solar panel installation service has terrible reviews

✔ You can only get a 10-year product warranty on E.ON solar panels

✔ E.ON’s solar panels are better than average – but aren’t worth the cost

Thinking of investing in solar energy? It's a good idea to look to E.ON as a potential solar installer for your home – after all, a good installer will keep down solar panel prices over time.

But before you make your final decision, you’ll want to find out how good E.ON’s solar panel packages are, how much the solar panels cost, and what other customers have thought of the process.

Fortunately, we’ve done all the work for you.

We can also help you to compare solar panel prices. All you have to do is provide a few quick details, and our expert installers will be in touch with free quotes for you to compare.

What solar panels do E.ON use?

E.ON uses solar panels from a few different brands, including JA Solar and SolarEdge.

JA Solar was founded in China in 2005, and now sells solar panels all over the world – as does SolarEdge, an Israeli company with offices in Europe and the US.

However, E.ON’s range of solar panels is constantly changing, as is the case with most installers, so make sure you check what they have in stock.

What solar batteries do E.ON use?

If you want to add a solar battery to your E.ON system, it’ll be supplied by GivEnergy.

This Staffordshire-based company offers solar batteries sized between 2.6 and 9.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh), which is a broad enough range to cover the needs of the great majority of households.

Founded in 2018, GivEnergy has managed to earn a four-star rating on Trustpilot, which is a decent score – though it doesn’t compare with any of the best solar installers.

Are E.ON solar panels any good?

E.ON’s solar panels are above average, but won’t trouble our list of the best solar panels.

Their efficiency ratings are usually good, and they typically produce more power than most panels.

However, some of the panels – mostly those made by SolarEdge – have low heat resistance ratings and decline quicker than you’d hope.

E.ON’s solar panel warranties also leave a huge amount to be desired. Here’s the full run-down.

Efficiency

JA Solar’s panels include the JAM72D40, which made it onto our list of The Most Efficient Solar Panels for this year with a whopping 22.5% efficiency rate.

The other panels in JA Solar’s DeepBlue 4.0X range provide around 22% efficiency, which is still right near the upper reaches of what’s currently possible for residential solar panels.

SolarEdge panels’ efficiency ratings range from 19.8% to 21.48%, which is better than most, but sees them fall short of market-leading panels.

Power

JA Solar provides a range of peak power outputs, all the way up to the JAM72D40’s gigantic 625 watts – 79% higher than the average solar panel.

The company guarantees that all its DeepBlue 4.0X panels will supply 87.4% of its original power rating after 30 years, which is higher than average.

SolarEdge typically guarantees that its panels will retain just 84.8% of their original performance after 25 years, which is poor.

It’s roughly what you’d expect from top solar panels after 30 years, not 25.

Their panels’ heat resistance ratings are also bad. They all lose between 0.34% and 0.37% of efficiency for every degree above 25°C, which is about one-fifth worse than the average.

In short, you’ll produce less solar energy with SolarEdge panels than you would with most.

Warranties

E.ON only offers a 10-year product warranty, which is horrendously low. It means you can only trust your installation to work for about one-third of its productive lifespan.

The best solar companies will hand out product warranties that last 40 or even 99 years, and 25 years is fast becoming the industry standard, with brands like Panasonic REC, and Solaria getting on board.

The lowest offering we’ve seen from a reputable brand is 12 years, so this is a major mark against E.ON.

How much do E.ON solar panels cost?

E.ON solar panels start at £5,995 for six on-roof solar panels.

Despite being the lowest price E.ON offers, this 2.37 kWp system is still 13% more expensive than the average six-panel installation.

A solar panel system of this size typically costs £5,323.

And E.ON’s price only applies to projects involving concrete tiles, a single elevation of scaffold, single-phase electrics, and zero other complicating factors – meaning you’ll likely pay more.

E.ON also sells in-roof solar panels, with prices starting at £7,932.

The company offers finance packages to help customers afford these products. You can choose between paying for your solar panel installation over 36 months at 0% interest, or paying it back over 10 years at 7.9% APR.

Reviews of E.ON solar panels

E.ON’s solar panels and installations receive terrible reviews.

Its review page on Which? has seen customers leave an average rating of 1.7 stars.

Just 15% of reviewers have recommended E.ON’s services.

E.ON doesn’t have a dedicated Trustpilot page for its solar panel category – which is just as well for the company.

After all, from the 516 reviews mentioning ‘solar’ on its main Trustpilot page, we’ve calculated that E.ON has an average rating of 2.6 stars.

48% of reviewers left a one-star rating, which is another extremely bad sign.

For context, our best solar installers research found dozens and dozens (and dozens) of companies with better average scores than this – 79, at last count.

There are a few reasons people may have left such poor ratings.

You’d expect a nationwide supplier like E.ON to operate across the country, but homes in certain locations in the UK can’t currently get E.ON solar panels installed.

So if you do move forward with E.ON, make sure you check whether the company serves your area first.

And despite setting fixed prices for its solar installations – which is a positive – and building up a reputation as a trustworthy stalwart of the energy world, E.ON’s 10-year product warranty is appallingly short.

If a company believes in its products, its actions reflect that – and that’s also true when it doesn’t.

How much money can you save with E.ON solar panels?

The average three-bedroom household can save £484 per year with 10 of E.ON’s 390-watt solar panels, and by using E.ON’s Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) tariff.

This is £96 per year less than a three-bedroom home with the same 3.9 kWp solar panel system could earn on Scottish Power’s SEG tariff.

Scottish Power offers a 12p per kWh rate for your excess solar energy, while E.ON will give its own solar customers just 5.5p per kWh – less than half.

This means the average E.ON solar panel customer would break even in 18.1 years, instead of 15.1 years – three years longer than the typical solar owner.

Are E.ON solar panels worth it in the UK?

E.ON solar panels are worth it in the UK.

They’re slightly better than average panels, and a typical UK household will still break even on them after 18.1 years.

But with the average UK break-even point at 15.1 years and solar panels increasingly guaranteed to be effective for 30 years or more, any solar panel installation should break even – and sooner than you likely would with E.ON.

If you use E.ON’s SEG tariff, you can cut your electricity bills by 66% on average, compared to a 79% reduction if you choose Scottish Power’s rate with the same solar array.

And if anything goes wrong with E.ON’s solar panels after the first 10 years, you won’t be covered, which is unforgivable in the current market climate.

Next steps

You now have all the information you need to make a decision about E.ON’s solar panels.

The next step is to find out how much you’d pay for solar panels, which involves weighing the cost of E.ON’s panels against other companies in the industry.

Thankfully, it’s easy to compare solar panel prices, with our help. Just provide a few quick details, and our expert installers will be in touch with free quotes for you to compare.

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