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Before you invest in solar panels, find out exactly how much money you’ll save. With the rising cost of living, it’s crucial to save where you can.
You could save hundreds of pounds a year with solar panels and the amount you can save will only increase if you also purchase a solar battery, and sell your excess energy back to the grid.
Our guide takes a look at how much you can save depending on your house and household, how long it takes to break even with solar panels, and what help you can get to make installation cheaper.
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The average home can save more than £1,100 every year with solar panels!
How much money you can save by installing solar panels will depend on the following factors:
According to our research, this is how much you could save with solar panels installed:
| No. of bedrooms | System size | Solar panel cost (incl. installation) | Potential annual energy bill savings (without SEG) | Potential annual energy bill savings (with SEG) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One bedroom | 1.5kW | £5,200 | £142 | £221 |
| Two bedrooms | 3kW | £6,200 | £208 | £400 |
| Three bedrooms | 4.5kW | £7,100 | £252 | £563 |
| Four or more bedrooms | 6kW | £8,000 | £300 | £731 |
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A question that is usually at the forefront of homeowners’ minds when they invest money in a solar panel system is, ‘when will I break even?’ Thankfully, the time it takes for your solar panels to start paying for themselves is decreasing.
The time it takes to break even on solar panels depends on:
The below table is an estimated break even time based on different solar panel system sizes, with and without a solar battery installed:
| System size | Total cost of solar installation | When you will break even | Total cost of solar installation (inc. solar battery) | When you will break even (with solar battery) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5kW | £5,200 | 35 years | £7,700 | 24 years |
| 3kW | £6,200 | 22 years | £8,700 | 13 years |
| 4.5kW | £7,100 | 17 years | £9,600 | 11 years |
| 6kW | £8,000 | 14 years | £10,500 | 10 years |
As you can see, it’s worth installing solar batteries alongside your panels – if you can afford it – as they dramatically reduce the number of years it takes to break even. This is because solar batteries allow you to store the excess energy you generate, potentially increasing your solar efficiency by up to 50 per cent.
There are opportunities to sell any excess energy your panels produce back to the National Grid under the UK Government’s SEG scheme. SEG allows you to earn a passive income from your solar panels on top of the energy you save. Suppliers can fix their tariff as part of SEG, which varies, so it’s well worth shopping around, but the average UK home can earn around £75 annually.
Despite a popular myth, solar panels work in most weather conditions, as the photovoltaic (PV) cells absorb both direct and indirect sunlight. In direct sunlight, they are at their most effective, but even on cloudy dull days, the sun is still producing energy. This means that your solar panels will still help you save money come rain, shine or classic British summer.
The number of solar panels you need, and therefore how much you’ll need to spend, depends on your electricity consumption. This itself is determined by:
In addition, some solar panels are more efficient than others, meaning you’ll need fewer of them to generate enough electricity for your house.
A good way to figure out how many you need is to gather quotes from solar panel installers, as they will survey your circumstances and the size of your roof to calculate the best configuration for your house.
There are several solar panel grants that can help you save money when making your home more renewable. These include:
These grants range from thousands of pounds of financial assistance, to paying for the entire installation outright.
Installing solar panels doesn’t require planning permission unless your home is in a conservation area or is a listed building. Then you will need to contact your local council to find out how to proceed.
A typical home will require a 4.5kW system and should produce around 3,350kWh (kilowatt hours). With this set up, alongside a solar battery and a SEG tariff, you could save £871 a year. That means, at a total installation cost of £9,600, your solar panels would pay for themselves in around 11 years. And you could break even much faster if energy prices start to rise.
So, if you can afford the upfront cost, and intend to remain in your home for a while, solar panels are definitely worth considering.