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  • Generate free, green electricity
  • Reduce your electricity bill by up to 64%
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UK Solar Panel Grants, Funding & Schemes in 2023

Government grants include ECO4 and the Home Upgrade Grant

Solar Together and the Smart Export Guarantee can reduce your costs

Check out the table below to learn more


More than 1.3 million UK buildings have solar panels, and that number is rising — helped by solar panel costs dropping by 82% since 2010.

There's never been a cheaper time to take this step, with a 0% VAT rate on solar panels, and the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) paying you for any energy you don't use.

In this guide, we'll cover the SEG and available government grants for solar panels, new and old, so you can save as much as possible during this cost of living crisis.

Want to find out how much it’ll cost you to get a set of panels? We make it easy to compare solar panel prices — simply enter a few details and we'll put you in touch with our expert installers, who'll get back to you with bespoke solar panel quotes.

All solar panel funding and discounts

0 out of 0
Grant/discount
How much can you save/earn?
Who can apply?
Typical % saving
Average cost of solar panels after saving

ECO4

Home Upgrade Grant

Smart Export Guarantee

Solar Together

VAT discount

PPA schemes for social housing

Green Homes Grant (Expired)

Renewable Heat Incentive (Expired)

Feed-in Tariff (Expired)

Up to 100% of the cost

Up to 100% of the cost

£159 per year

Thousands of £s

£393

Thousands of £s

£5,000 or £10,000

10.92p per kWh you produce

4.21p per kWh you produce & 5.99p per excess kWh

Energy-inefficient households on certain benefits

Low-income, off-gas grid homes with EPC rating of D, E, F, or G

Small renewable generators

Homeowners and tenants (with permission) in an active scheme area

Solar panel buyers get it automatically

Your landlord

All homeowners in England

Owners of biomass boilers, heat pumps, and solar thermal

Owners of solar panels, wind turbines, & micro-CHP

100%

87%

18% of your electricity bills

30-35%

5%

100% on the purchase

64%

16% of your electricity bill

22% of your electricity bills

£0

£1,022

N/A

£5,306

£7,860

£0

£2,860

N/A

N/A

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Are there government grants for solar panels?

There are two grants that may help you buy solar panels for your home: the Energy Company Obligation scheme (ECO4) and the Home Upgrade Grant.

ECO4 can provide up to £14,000 towards energy-saving initiatives for your home if you qualify.

And the Home Upgrade Grant allows 45 local authorities in England, from Dorset to Newcastle via the Isle of Wight, to provide grants of up to £10,000 to households for green measures including solar panels.

There are a few other options that can help you buy a set of solar panels without breaking the bank, which we've listed below and for more information about these grants, just keep reading.

ECO4

If your home's heating is powered by electricity — for instance, with an air source heat pump or electric boiler you may be able to get solar panels through the ECO4 scheme.

You can access the government-funded initiative, which started in July 2022 and will run until March 2026, if you live in England, Scotland, or Wales, and fulfil any of these criteria:

  • Your household earns less than £31,000 per year
  • You've been referred by your energy provider, local authority, or doctor
  • You receive certain benefits

Your home must be insulated to a certain level before you receive solar panels, which means you might also be able to get insulation through the scheme.

Potential savings with ECO4

ECO4 can save you up to 100% of the cost of your new solar panels, as long as they power a heating system.

That means the average three-bedroom household will save £7,860.

But if your solar panels will instead supply you with electricity for other purposes — like lights, TVs, and computers — you won't qualify.

How to apply for ECO4

To apply, just get in touch with one of the energy suppliers that has to carry out ECO4 improvements, which you can find below.

You don't have to approach your current supplier – simply choose the company that best suits your needs, and feel free to approach multiple suppliers to get the home improvements you need.

Once you've made contact, you'll be guided through a telephone assessment. You'll be asked about your income, any benefits you receive, and your property’s energy efficiency rating.

The company will then arrange a date to visit your home and confirm if it's suitable for the grant.

If you want to check beforehand that you're eligible, you can complete this Ofgem questionnaire.

The list of energy suppliers that must provide ECO4 measures currently includes:

  • British Gas
  • E
  • E.ON
  • Ecotricity
  • EDF
  • ESB Energy
  • Octopus Energy
  • Outfox The Market
  • OVO Energy
  • Scottish Power
  • Shell Energy
  • SO Energy
  • The Co-Operative Energy
  • The Utility Warehouse
  • Utilita Energy

If you’d like to get in touch with any of these companies about the ECO scheme, Ofgem has their contact details.

Q&A with ECO4 expert Kevin Henney

eco4 hub director kevin henney in a grey suit and blue tie, against a plain background
Kevin Henney
Director of ECO4 Hub
Kevin has experience in connecting people with ECO4 grants that are right for them.

How would someone go about applying for ECO4?

“To apply for the ECO4 grant, interested homeowners, tenants or landlords should first visit our official ECO4 Hub website. There, they will find an application form that needs to be filled out with accurate details.

“Once the form is submitted, our team reviews the application and checks for eligibility. If the applicant meets the criteria, we then proceed with the necessary verifications and assessments.”

How long does it usually take?

“The duration of the application process can vary based on the route an applicant chooses. The HHCRO route, which is for individuals on eligible benefits, is relatively quicker and can take less than a week.

“On the other hand, the Local Authority Flexibility route might take a few weeks due to the additional verifications and approvals required by the local council.”

What can people do to increase their chances of being successful in their application?

To increase the chances of a successful application, I'd recommend the following:

  1. Ensure all details provided in the application are accurate and match official documents.
  2. Have all the necessary documentation ready and in order.

Do you have to pay first and get a rebate later, or is the discount factored into the initial price of home improvements?

“If the survey conducted for the client is successful, the installation company takes on the responsibility of covering all costs related to the work. Once the work is completed, they invoice their associated funding company, which then settles the invoice.

“This ensures that the client doesn't have to deal with any upfront costs. It's worth noting that it's extremely rare for a client to be asked to make any contribution.

“The grant is designed to alleviate financial burdens on homeowners and tenants and promote energy-efficient improvements, so the process is streamlined to be as hassle-free as possible for the applicants.”

Do you think there'll be more grants like ECO4 in the future?

“Given the increasing awareness about energy efficiency and the positive impact of such grants on the environment and homeowners' lives, I am optimistic that there will be more initiatives like ECO4 in the future.

“Governments and local authorities are recognising the importance of promoting sustainable practices, and such grants play a pivotal role in that direction. While I cannot confirm any specific future grants at this moment, I believe the trend towards sustainability will continue to grow.”

There is a new alternative. The government has introduced the Local Authority Flexible Eligibility (LA Flex) initiative, which aims to provide low-income households not receiving benefits with access to energy-saving measures.

LA Flex is designed to help local authorities fund homes who fall short of the benefits requirements for ECO4 — which is 46.1% of fuel-poor households, according to the ECO4 report.

There are four ways you can qualify for LA Flex measures, known as routes.

 

Route 1

You can qualify if your home has a Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) energy efficiency rating of D, E, F, or G, and if your total household income is less than £31,000.

 

Route 2

Your owner-occupied or privately rented property must be in SAP band E, F, or G, and you must meet two of the following requirements, known as proxies.

Please note: proxy 1 cannot be combined with 3, and proxy 6 cannot be combined with 7.

Suppliers can spare you from this complex process by using their own data (and the local authority's data) to refer households themselves. It's worth asking suppliers if they'll consider doing this for you.

1. You live in a deprived area, as defined by your country's government. This is known as a Lower Super Output Area in England, a Lower-layer Super Output Area in Wales, and the Index of Multiple Deprivation in Scotland. Ask your local authority for more information.

2. You receive a Council Tax reduction because you're a low-income household.

3. You're vulnerable to living in a cold home, as defined in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance.

4. Someone in your property receives free school meals because you're a low-income household.

5. You've been referred under a local authority scheme that helps low-income and vulnerable households because of NICE guidance.

6. Your household has been referred to the local authority for support by your energy supplier or Citizens Advice because your property has been identified as struggling to pay energy bills.

7a. You don't have a pre-payment meter, you've been in fuel debt for more than 13 weeks, and you have a debt repayment plan with your supplier, or you're paying off your debt through third-party deductions.

7b. You have a pre-payment meter and have either disconnected your own supply or have received funds from your energy supplier in the past 13 weeks. Alternatively, you're in debt repayment plan with your supplier, or you're paying off your debt through third-party deductions.

 

Route 3

Firstly, you must own a property with a SAP rating of D, E, F, or G, or live in a privately rented home with a SAP rating of E, F, or G.

Secondly, your home must contain a person who's officially registered as having a severe and/or long-term health condition that could be severely impacted by a cold home. You'll need a signed NHS referral letter as confirmation.

 

Route 4

This route allows energy suppliers and local authorities that have created a new way to identify low-income and vulnerable homes to submit your property to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for LA Flex measures.

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Home Upgrade Grant

From April 2023 to March 2025, 45 local authorities in England are able to hand grants of up to £10,000 (see the list below) to homeowners in their area for improvements including solar panels.

In fact, 27% of the grants handed out so far by the scheme – which also offers insulation, heat pumps, double glazing, solar thermal, and heating controls – were for solar panels.

On average, a local authority will cover 87% of the cost of your panels, though in many cases this rises to 100%.

To qualify, your household must not be connected to the gas grid, and usually has to have a total gross annual income under £31,000.

Your property must also have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E, F, or G.

Potential savings with the Home Upgrade Grant

So far, local authorities have covered an average of 87% of the upfront costs associated with solar panels.

For the typical three-bedroom house, this adds up to a saving of £6,800 on the installation – and that's before you get to the energy bill savings.

Free solar energy will help you to cut your electricity bills by 70% on average, meaning the average household can save between £8,000 and £20,000 over the next 25 years, depending on its size and location.

How to apply for the Home Upgrade Grant

If your local authority is on the list below, get in touch and ask for the next steps.

If you fulfil the eligibility requirements above, you should qualify for a grant.

Local authorities offering grants April 2023-March 2025

Basildon Council

Blackpool Council

Bristol City Council

Broadland District Council

Calderdale Council

Cambridge City Council

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority

Cheshire East Council

City of York Council

Cornwall Council and Council of the Isles of Scilly

Darlington Borough Council

Dartford Borough Council

Devon County Council

Dorset Council

Durham County Council

Eden District Council

Greater London Authority

Great Yarmouth Borough Council

Leeds City Council

Leicester City Council

Lewes District Council

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

Manchester City Council

Midlands Net Zero Hub

Newcastle City Council

North Tyneside Council

Northumberland County Council

North Yorkshire County Council

Oxfordshire County Council

Plymouth City Council

Portsmouth City Council

Rochdale Borough Council

Sedgemoor District Council

Sevenoaks District Council

Sheffield City Council

Shropshire County Council

Stroud District Council

Suffolk County Council

Surrey County Council

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council

Wakefield Council

Walsall Council

Wealden District Council

West Devon Borough Council

Wiltshire Council

The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG)

The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) has filled the hole that the departed Feed-in Tariff has left behind. However, instead of being based on payments from the government, the SEG will ensure that energy suppliers pay homeowners for any unused solar-generated electricity.

Graph showing the annual savings with solar panels with and without the smart export guarantee in London. The graph shows that you'll save more with the smart export guarantee than without.
Check out our full guide to the Smart Export Guarantee for more info.

While the Feed-in Tariff involved Ofgem setting the rates, the SEG allows energy suppliers to determine their own prices. In a competitive market, this should lead to companies outbidding each other with higher repayment rates, creating better deals for the homeowner. Ideally, you’ll be sitting back in your solar-powered home while suppliers scrabble for your business.

What’s more, the SEG is a lot fairer than the Feed-in Tariff. The government used to pay homeowners for just 50% of their unused solar-generated electricity, even if households were exporting as much as 80% of their electricity back to the grid.

In contrast, with the SEG in place, energy suppliers pay homeowners for every single kWh they send back – and this process is a lot simpler if your home is fitted with a smart meter.

As an alternative, some people prefer to use a solar diverter to deal with excess energy – a device used to direct excess electricity generated by the solar panels towards a specific load or appliance.

If you'd like to take advantage of the SEG, just try out our easy-to-use tool, and after you've filled in a quick form, our local experts will send you free quotes to compare.

You can qualify for SEG payments if you generate energy in any of the following ways:

  • Solar panels
  • Wind turbines
  • Micro combined heat and power
  • Hydro
  • Anaerobic digestion

Your installation must have a maximum capacity of 5 MW – which is far higher than any domestic property should require – unless it’s a micro combined heat and power installation, in which case the upper limit is 50 kW.

You must have a Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certificate, or equivalent document.

You must also have an export meter – that is, a meter that’s capable of measuring your exported electricity.

If you have a smart meter, that automatically qualifies. If not, check that your meter is eligible with your SEG supplier, as most will require you to have a smart meter before you receive payments.

Potential savings with the SEG

You'll typically receive £159 per year from the SEG, with companies paying as much as 12p per kWh for all domestic generators' excess solar energy.

Over your solar panels' lifespan, that adds up to an average total saving of £4,000 – just from the SEG.

With the SEG in place, homeowners are now benefitting from 100% of their solar panels’ hard work.

The top way to make the most of your solar panels is to combine them with a solar battery – particularly one of the best solar batteries and create a solar-plus-storage system.

A solar battery will stock up some of the solar electricity that’s generated during the day (while you’re out), so it’s there for you to use in the evenings.

To find out how much a solar battery will cost you, and to check out the best models on the market, visit our guide to solar batteries.

How to apply for the SEG

Contact your chosen supplier, follow that company's process, fill in its application form, and you’ll be accepting SEG payments in no time.

You don't have to get your SEG tariff from the same company you buy your electricity from, but some suppliers offer higher rates to their own customers – so it's worth reading our page on the best Smart Export Guarantee rates.

As long as you fulfil all the eligibility requirements listed above, you should be receiving SEG payments in no time.

Solar Together

Solar Together is a group-buying initiative that allows communities to buy solar panels for their homes at a discounted price.

It's owned by iChoosr, which has been running collective schemes for energy-switching and solar panels for more than a decade.

Homeowners, small or medium-sized businesses, and tenants who have their landlord’s permission can all register for Solar Together.

Once enough people have signed up in a specific area, solar installers are allowed to enter an auction for the right to do the job, with the lowest bid winning.

You'll fully own your new solar panel system – it'll just cost less than it would if you bought it by yourself.

Thousands of homes have benefited from Solar Together so far.

Check out our full guide to Solar Together for more info.

To join a Solar Together scheme, you must:

  • Live in a council that's participating in a Solar Together scheme
  • Own your own house or workplace, have your landlord's permission, or be part of a commonhold association
  • Be ready to put down a £150 deposit if you go ahead with the installation

Potential savings with Solar Together

You'll almost certainly save hundreds of pounds on a new solar panel system with Solar Together – but you're more likely to save thousands of pounds.

On average, you'll cut your costs by 30-35% if you join a Solar Together scheme instead of installing a system by yourself.

For a typical three-bedroom household, that means saving around £2,500 on the upfront cost.

How to apply for Solar Together

All you need to do is register with Solar Together, for free.

If you fulfil the eligibility requirements listed above, you'll automatically be accepted onto your local scheme, but with no obligation to go ahead with any solar panel installation.

Once the auction has been held, you'll receive a personal recommendation from the winning installer. Speaking of winning installers, are you struggling to pick yours? If so, it's worth checking out our page: How to Choose a Solar Panel Installer.

You'll usually have five weeks to decide whether you want to accept this recommendation. If you do, you'll need to put down a £150 deposit to cover the costs of a roof survey – and then pay the cost of your solar panel system.

0% VAT for solar panels

From April 2022 to 2027, homeowners will pay 0% VAT on energy-saving materials like solar panels.

Before the latest change, energy-saving materials were subject to a VAT rate of 20% – with a 5% rate for people on certain benefits, or if the cost of the products or materials was less than 60% of the cost of installation.

This 0% rate will save you money on new solar panels, which should encourage Brits to jump on the solar bandwagon and ride it to reduced carbon emissions and energy bills.

The new VAT rate applies to these eco-friendly home improvements:

  • Solar panels
  • Air source heat pumps
  • Controls for central heating and hot water systems
  • Draught stripping
  • Ground source heat pumps
  • Insulation
  • Micro combined heat and power units
  • Wood-fuelled boilers

Potential savings with 0% VAT

The 0% VAT rate will save the average three-bedroom household £393 on solar panels.

Most households will see a discount between £230 and £550, and you don't need to do anything to secure it – it'll just be applied to your purchase. 

How to apply for 0% VAT

You don't need to apply – any solar panel purchase you make must legally be sold with a 0% VAT rate.

PPA schemes for social housing

A Power Purchase Agreement is a financing agreement. In social housing, it usually involves the landlord leasing the space above a property's roof to a solar company.

This company will then install solar panels on the roof for free, and maintain them too.

Tenants will have full access to all the energy they produce – not for free, like solar electricity usually is, but at a lower rate than grid electricity. The company will set the price.

The company will also be able to sell all the solar energy that goes unused – usually about 20% per year in a block of flats.

After a previously agreed number of years, the PPA will end and the landlord will own the panels.

There are no eligibility requirements, as this isn't a grant – it's a business arrangement.

If a landlord owns social housing, they can enter into a PPA scheme for their property.

Potential savings with PPA Schemes

Social housing residents will be able to buy solar energy at a set rate that'll typically be much lower than electricity from the grid.

The company that enters into the PPA with your landlord can change the price of the solar energy they sell you at any time.

However, you should still be able to save hundreds, if not thousands of pounds over the panels' 25-year lifespan – and with no upfront costs for you.

How to apply for PPA Schemes

There's no application process. Your landlord simply needs to enter into a PPA with a company that offers this service to social housing.

The only thing you can do is present the idea to your landlord, if you feel comfortable doing that.

Hopefully they'll respond positively, as a solar PPA could save them and their tenants (including you) a great deal of money over the next few decades.

Solar finance and solar panel loans

Here are the companies that currently offer solar panels on finance:

  • E.ON
  • Scottish Power
  • SolarStyle

These firms offer low-interest solar panel loans that require monthly installments, with interest rates and repayment periods that vary from 0% over 1-3 years to 7.9% over 10 years.

You may also be able to get a loan from your bank to cover solar panel installation costs. Most banks offer personal loans specifically for home improvements, which could be used for renewable energy developments.

If you can’t afford the total upfront cost of a brand new solar panel system and would rather not take out a loan, it's worth looking into the cheapest solar panels on the market or any second-hand solar panels.

Some councils around the UK are also offering to install solar panels onto council houses for a discounted price – but this depends on the amount of funding the borough has. You can find out more about this on our page: Can You Put Solar Panels On Your Council House?

Solar panel schemes offered by banks

SchemeRegister byWho's eligible?Potential savings
Barclays Greener Home Reward31 January 2024Homeowners with a Barclays mortgage who pay by direct debit£1,000
Halifax Green Living Reward31 October 2023Halifax customers with a mortgage or who are borrowing from Halifax for home improvements£500
Lloyds Bank Eco Home Reward31 October 2023Lloyds customers with a mortgage or who are borrowing from Lloyds for home improvements£500

Barclays, Lloyds, and Halifax all run schemes that may give you money after you install solar panels, if you have a mortgage with them.

You'll also qualify for this reward if you install solar thermal panels or a solar battery.

Just make sure you register in time, and complete the installation before the final deadline – then after the installation, you'll get your cashback reward.

Want to get a better idea of what it’s like to own a set of solar panels? Check out our case study with Shirley Ward – a 73-year-old retired office worker, based in North Yorkshire. 

Shirley has a 2.4 kW solar array and a Solax battery, and managed to break even on the system in 10 years. Despite electricity prices increasing around the world, Shirley’s panels have brought her energy bills down to £15 a month, instead of £50. 

Check out the full interview with Shirley to learn more about solar panels.

Can I still get free solar panels in 2023?

The short answer is no, unfortunately.

It’s hard to believe that, back in 2010 when the Feed-in Tariff began, companies would literally buy your solar panels for you. They’d put them on your roof, you’d benefit from the energy bill savings (and all that eco-friendly electricity), and they’d earn all the money from the Feed-in Tariff. It was an efficient system, but the 64% reduction in Feed-in Tariff payments in 2016 hurt the initiative, and it was shut down in 2019.

Other initiatives, such as Solar Together, are well worth looking into however, because you can make substantial savings on the cost of a solar panel system.

We've recently started covering solar panels in different regions too, such as our solar panels in Essex article.

What happened to the Feed-in Tariff?

The Feed-in Tariff was a government initiative that paid households for every kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity that they produced from renewable sources, also known as the Generation Tariff. On top of this, homeowners were also able to sell any unused electricity to the National Grid (this was called the Export Tariff).

The Feed-in Tariff was a success. During its nine-year lifespan, it was a significant reason why the UK solar market has grown so rapidly.

The Feed-in Tariff concluded in April 2019, but anybody who signed up before the deadline will still receive payments until their contract (usually 20 years long) expires.

Why has the Feed-in Tariff concluded?

The government wanted to focus on more commercial, high-impact solar projects, and the fact that solar panel costs have fallen by 82% since 2010 means there isn’t quite as much need for subsidies.

That’s right, a solar PV system for a three-bedroom house in the UK currently costs £7,860. Compare that to around £20,000 just a decade ago. Check out our detailed guide to Solar Panel Costs to learn more.

Subsidies are of course helpful though, and fortunately the government has set up a replacement for the Feed-in Tariff.

What happened to the Renewable Heat Incentive?

The Renewable Heat Incentive closed to new applications on 31 March 2022, when it was replaced with the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

This government-funded initiative doesn't fund solar panels, but it will reduce the cost of an air or ground source heat pump by £7,500.

All told, if the average three-bedroom household bought solar panels and an air source heat pump now, it'd save £17,000 over the next 20 years, compared to a home that chose not to purchase either one.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is only available to a maximum of 60,000 homes over its first three years, on a first-come, first-served basis – so make sure you're quick.

What happened to the Green Homes Grant?

The £2bn Green Homes Grant ended on 31 March 2021.

It didn't help households to subsidise their solar PV systems, and it didn't help many people in general.

The scheme was meant to award £5,000 vouchers to 600,000 homes to cut their emissions and energy bills, but it fell short of this goal by 93.5%.

Just four months after the scheme was extended until March 2022, it was cancelled, with only 39,000 vouchers issued – a mere 6.5% of the original target.

The rollout was “shambolic,” according to Greenpeace UK, and the Parliament’s Environmental Audit Select Committee reported that 86% of people had a poor or very poor experience with the scheme.

Key takeaways

  • There are no government grants for buying solar panels
  • There’s currently no such thing as a free solar panel
  • But the Smart Export Guarantee pays solar panel owners for their excess electricity
  • The average home will save £520 per year with solar panels
  • Solar panels have never been cheaper – they cost 82% less than in 2010
  • 69% of people would buy a property with solar panels, up from 65% last year, according to our latest National Home Energy Survey

Next steps

So that’s that – the Feed-in Tariff has checked out, but the Smart Export Guarantee is very much in, and energy companies are coming up with all kinds of tempting initiatives. 

Meanwhile, solar panels are the most affordable they’ve ever been, promising hefty energy bill reductions and wholesome eco-friendly gains.

Depending on the size of the solar panel system, as well as the makes and models that you get, the price will fluctuate. 

You can still compare prices for solar panels if you don't qualify for any grants. Enter a few details and we'll put you in touch with our trusted suppliers, who'll get back to you with bespoke quotes for you to compare.

FAQs

You can use ECO4 to apply for solar panel grants until April 2027, which could you mean getting a free solar panel system or saving substantial amounts of money on one.

The government's ECO4 scheme can give you up to £14,000 towards home improvements, including solar panels.

The current 0% VAT rate in effect for solar panel purchases over the next five years means you'll save a significant amount on buying a solar panel system.

You can get free solar panels in the UK with the help of the government's ECO4 scheme, although you'll need to receive at least one of the following benefits:

  • Income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
  • Income-related Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Income Support (IS)
  • Pension Credit Guarantee
  • Credit Working Tax Credit (WTC)
  • Child Tax Credits (CTC)
  • Universal Credit (UC)
  • Housing Benefit
  • Pension Credit Savings Credit

You can sell your excess solar electricity to the grid for as much as 29.3p per kWh, if you're an Octopus customer and use the Intelligent Octopus Flux tariff.

If you're with OVO or British Gas, you can access their highest tariffs, which are 20p per kWh and 15p per kWh, respectively.

If you don't receive your imported electricity from Octopus, OVO, or British Gas, you can still receive 12p per kWh from Scottish Power, through the company's SmartGen tariff.

It's definitely worth selling electricity back to the grid.

There are two alternatives: either you can simply let it go to waste, or you can buy a solar battery and use 30% more of the solar electricity you generate, on average.

However, the current cost of solar batteries means you're unlikely to break even on them.

The average three-bedroom household can save £520 per year on its energy bills with solar panels.

Over a solar panel system's typical 30-year lifespan, this equates to £15,600.

You can buy and get a set of 10 solar panels installed for £7,860 on average, which leaves you with a typical overall profit of £7,740.

Written by:
josh jackman
Josh has written about eco-friendly home improvements and climate change for the past four years. His work has been displayed on the front page of the Financial Times, he's been interviewed by BBC One's Rip-Off Britain, and he regularly features in The Telegraph and on BBC Radio.
Reviewed by:
Charlie has been researching and writing about the home energy market for over five years, and he has been the editor of The Eco Experts since 2021. Charlie's thoughts on solar panels have seen him featured in various publications, including The Times, Ideal Home, and Grand Designs Magazine. Ever since he can remember, Charlie has worried about the planet, and he one day dreams of owning a solar power farm.
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