Solar Panel Grants UK: What You Can Really Get

Solar Panel Grant and Scheme Pages

Each page below takes one scheme or one nation and gives its rules in full.

• Free Solar Panels UKWhich funded schemes can pay for solar panels in full, who they are for, rent-a-roof deals and cold calls.
• ECO4 Scheme Closes 31 December 2026ECO4 closes to new measures on 31 December 2026: what closing means for booked or finished work, and the schemes that follow it.
• Warm Homes Plan and Solar PanelsThe Warm Homes Plan strand by strand: low-income grants, the Warm Homes Loan Scheme and the Local Grant in England.
• Solar Panel Grants ScotlandScotland: Home Energy Scotland loans for solar thermal and hybrid PV-T panels, and the position on standalone solar panels.
• Solar Panel Grants WalesWales: the Nest scheme, its benefit, income and EPC tests, and Green Homes Wales loans.
• Solar Panel Grants Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland: what the Housing Executive and NISEP schemes cover, and the UK-wide loan scheme.
• Solar TogetherHow council group-buying works: registration, the installer auction and your personal offer.
• Warm HomesWarm Homes: Local Grant in England until 31 March 2028: income routes, EPC D to G, batteries with panels and applying through your council.
• Spring Statement 2027We have found no announced date for a Spring Statement in 2027.

What Solar Panel Grants Are Available in the UK?

There is no single UK grant for solar panels. Some households can get solar funded through a named scheme; homeowners can use 0% VAT and can ask a participating lender for a Warm Homes Loan Scheme loan, and the lender decides.

Solar panel grants and schemes in the UK are the public programmes that pay for a home solar installation, lend towards it or remove the tax on it: funded installs, reduced-rate loans and 0% VAT. The table lists eight schemes and reliefs, each with its type, its nation, who it is for, its status and any end date, and its official route.

The Great British Insulation Scheme ended on 31 March 2026.

Read the row for your nation first, then check your income, your benefits and your EPC rating against it. The government grants in this table are Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Nest scheme. Every other row is a loan, a tax relief, a purchase, a supplier obligation or a scheme that funds no solar panels, which is why the same support is sorted by kind below.

What Incentives Are There for Solar Panels in the UK?

Four kinds: funded installs, reduced-rate loans, 0% VAT and export payments.

• Funded installs (grants): for eligible lower-income homes, through Warm Homes: Local Grant in England until 31 March 2028 and the Nest scheme in Wales.
• Loans: the Warm Homes Loan Scheme, live since 27 October 2026, repaid with interest unless the rate is 0%.
• Tax relief: 0% VAT on home solar panels and batteries until 31 March 2027 (HMRC VAT Notice 708/6).
• Export payments: the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) pays for electricity you send to the grid in Great Britain. It started on 1 January 2020 and, for solar up to 50 kW, needs an MCS-certified installation (or equivalent) and an export meter. The SEG is not the Feed-in Tariff, which closed to new applicants on 1 April 2019.

MCS is the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, the certification an installer and an installation carry. Only the first of the four is a grant. A loan is repaid, 0% VAT is a tax rate and the SEG is a payment for exported power. The newest of the four is the loan scheme, which belongs to a wider plan.

Is There a New Government Solar Panel Scheme for 2027?

Not a separate solar grant. The Warm Homes Plan, £15 billion of public investment announced on 21 January 2026, is the umbrella for grants and loans that include solar panels.

The plan delivers its low-income grants first through Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund. From 2027/28 the two are due to merge into a single low-income scheme with area-based delivery (gov.uk, "Warm Homes Plan", read 8 November 2026). The plan's loans started on 27 October 2026 as the Warm Homes Loan Scheme. Our page on the Warm Homes Plan and solar follows each strand.

We found no UK scheme called the "UK solar program"; the UK government's Warm Homes Plan includes grants and loans that cover solar panels. Warm Homes: Local Grant sets income and EPC tests, so the next question is who passes.

Who Is Eligible for Solar Panel Grants?

The two funded schemes test the household's benefits or income and the home's EPC rating. Where you live and who owns the home also count.

An EPC is an Energy Performance Certificate, which rates a home from A to G. A means-tested benefit is one such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit. The table sets the five tests of the two funded schemes side by side.

The scheme checks your evidence and decides; this page only shows where to apply. Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance are on neither scheme's benefit list, but Nest does not count disability payments as income and has a route for eligible health conditions. Age is not one of the tests, which matters to pensioners.

Can Pensioners Get Free Solar Panels?

Not because of age alone. A pensioner can get solar funded only by passing a scheme's tests: in England an income, benefit or postcode test plus the EPC test; in Wales the Nest tests.

In Wales, Pension Credit counts as a qualifying benefit for the Nest scheme. The Nest income limits for pensioner households are £15,521 a year for a single pensioner and £23,166 for a pensioner couple, after mortgage or rent (gov.wales, checked 8 November 2026).

In England, Pension Credit is on the Warm Homes: Local Grant benefit list (DESNZ policy guidance, July 2026). A household that gets it, or has a gross income of £36,000 or less, may be able to apply if the home is rated EPC D to G. In Northern Ireland we found no funded scheme for solar panels that a pensioner can apply to. In Scotland, a household member aged 75 or over with no working heating is one of the routes into Warmer Homes Scotland, and the scheme has installed solar PV and battery storage measures, but its scheme page does not name solar, so we cannot say which homes get them. The same tests apply to every household on a low income.

Solar Panel Grants for Low-Income Households and Tenants

Low-income households are who the funded schemes are for.

Owner-occupiers on a low income apply to Warm Homes: Local Grant in England and to the Nest scheme in Wales. In England an owner-occupier pays no contribution: gov.uk says "You will not need to pay for it".

Private tenants can apply, with the landlord's agreement. Under Warm Homes: Local Grant a landlord's first home is fully funded, and the landlord pays 50% of the cost for a second home and any after it. Under Nest, a tenant gives the landlord's details and Nest asks for permission.

Council and housing association tenants cannot apply to these schemes themselves. Social landlords apply through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund in England and the Optimised Retrofit Programme in Wales (gov.uk, "Warm Homes Plan"), so ask your landlord. These tests differ by nation, so each nation follows.

Solar Panel Grants in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Each UK nation runs its own grant schemes, and England and Wales each have a grant that names solar panels and sets published tests. In Scotland, Warmer Homes Scotland has installed solar PV and battery storage measures, but its scheme page does not name solar; in Northern Ireland we found no route a homeowner can apply to. The Warm Homes Loan Scheme is open across the UK: the gov.uk factsheet says loans are "available to households across the entire UK". The four sections below take England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in turn.

Solar Panel Grants in England

In England, the main grant that can pay for solar panels is Warm Homes: Local Grant, run by councils until 31 March 2028.

The grant is for owner-occupiers and private tenants in a home rated EPC D to G. The household needs one of three things: a gross income of £36,000 or less, a listed means-tested benefit, or a postcode in IMD income deciles 1 to 2.

Solar PV is an eligible measure. A battery is funded only alongside solar PV, and councils could resume battery installs from 2 February 2026. The cost cap is £16,600 per home for energy performance upgrades, averaged across a council's project, and a retrofit assessment sets the package for each home. The grant is paid only where "your local council has funding available" (gov.uk). Greater Manchester and the West Midlands run their own route.

Two older schemes sit beside it. ECO4 closes to new measures on 31 December 2026, and the Great British Insulation Scheme ended on 31 March 2026. The official route for Warm Homes: Local Grant is your council or the gov.uk page "Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant". That grant covers England only, and Scotland has its own advice body.

Solar Panel Grants in Scotland

We found no Scottish grant whose own page offers standalone solar panels (checked 8 November 2026). Warmer Homes Scotland, for homeowners and private tenants, has installed solar PV and battery storage measures (Scottish Government, "Heat in Buildings: progress report 2025"), but its scheme page does not name solar, so we cannot say which homes get them.

The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan funds solar thermal panels and hybrid solar PV-T panels, which make electricity and hot water from one panel. Each gets an interest-free loan of up to £5,000 and no grant, for homeowners in their only or main home. The loan carries an administration fee of 1.5%, up to £150. Standalone solar PV and batteries are not on its list (homeenergyscotland.org).

Owner-occupiers and private landlords in Scotland can apply to a lender under the UK-wide Warm Homes Loan Scheme for solar panels and batteries. Our page on solar panel grants in Scotland has the detail. The official route is the Home Energy Scotland advice line on 0808 808 2282. Wales takes a different approach and funds solar outright for some homes.

Solar Panel Grants in Wales

In Wales, the Nest scheme can fund solar panels for eligible households at no cost to them.

Nest is the Welsh Government's home energy scheme, and it sets three tests (gov.wales, checked 8 November 2026):

• Tenure: you own the home or rent it privately.
• Income or benefit: you get Child Tax Credit with an income under £18,660, Council Tax Reduction, Pension Credit or Universal Credit, or your household income is under the Nest limit for your household type (£23,166 for a couple with no children).
• EPC: the home is rated 54 (E) or less, or 68 (D) or less with an eligible health condition.

A whole-house assessment decides the measures, so Nest funds solar panels where the assessment recommends them. Households above the Nest limits have a loan route: Green Homes Wales, from the Development Bank of Wales, lends £1,000 to £25,000 interest-free over up to 10 years, and the loan can cover solar panels and a battery after credit and affordability checks.

Our page on solar panel grants in Wales covers both. The official route is Nest on 0808 808 2244, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, or the callback form on the gov.wales Nest page. Northern Ireland has no scheme of this kind for homeowners.

Solar Panel Grants in Northern Ireland

We found no grant that a homeowner in Northern Ireland can apply to for solar panels (checked 8 November 2026).

The Affordable Warmth Scheme, run by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, pays for insulation, heating and windows, not solar panels, and the Warm Healthy Homes Scheme is due to replace it. The Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Programme (NISEP) has a Priority PV Scheme, but the Housing Executive selects the homes and its tenants do not apply.

The Smart Export Guarantee does not apply in Northern Ireland, so ask your supplier about an export tariff. The Warm Homes Loan Scheme does cover Northern Ireland. Our page on solar panel grants in Northern Ireland sets out each scheme.

The official routes are the nidirect page "Energy saving grants in your area" and NI Energy Advice on 0800 111 4455. Batteries are the next question.

Are There Grants for Solar Batteries?

Warm Homes: Local Grant pays for a home battery only alongside existing or new solar panels. We found no grant whose rules fund a battery in a home without solar panels, and no grant for a named product such as a Tesla Powerwall.

The table lists the four routes that touch the cost of a home battery and what each one does.

A battery stores solar power for use later, so that you use more of it yourself: in our calculation, adding a battery raises the share of solar used at home. Its price follows its capacity in kWh, and our calculator shows how much a solar battery costs for the size you choose.

A heat battery is a different product: it stores heat for hot water, and a home battery stores electricity. Warm Homes: Local Grant does not fund heat batteries until they are MCS certified (DESNZ guidance). One more scheme reaches homes through energy suppliers.

Do Energy Suppliers Offer Solar Panel Grants?

Supplier solar offers are sales or finance, not grants. The scheme that suppliers deliver, ECO4, closes to new measures on 31 December 2026.

A supplier solar offer is a solar system sold at a price, sometimes with finance or an export tariff attached.

Compare any supplier offer with an independent estimate of what the same system costs. Funded help goes through official routes, which is the next section.

How Do You Apply for a Solar Panel Grant?

You apply through the scheme itself, not through an installer or a website like ours.

1. Check your EPC rating; the gov.wales Nest page links to the gov.uk service "Find an energy certificate". In England, a household that does not know its EPC can find it out when it applies.
2. Gather proof of your income or benefits and proof of who owns the home.
3. Contact the official route for your nation and tenure, listed in the table below.
4. Let the scheme check your evidence and assess the home. A retrofit assessment sets the package under Warm Homes: Local Grant, and a whole-house assessment does the same under Nest.
5. Follow the scheme's own process once approved. Under Warm Homes: Local Grant the council arranges the work. With a Home Energy Scotland loan you wait for a written offer, choose an MCS-certified installer and pay that installer from the loan.

The table gives the first contact for each nation and each kind of household.

On gov.uk, these schemes have their own pages: the application page for Warm Homes: Local Grant and the factsheet for the Warm Homes Loan Scheme, which is a loan, not a grant. We do not run any scheme or take applications, and Leads 2 Trade cannot arrange a funded install. Anyone who says otherwise is the subject of the next section.

How to Spot a Solar Panel Grant Scam

The Energy Saving Trust's guide "How to spot an energy scam" warns of imposters claiming to be from MCS and of texts saying a "solar panel warranty has expired".

Our page on who really qualifies for funded solar panels sets out each funded scheme's tests.

If You Do Not Qualify: 0% VAT, Loans and Group-Buying

Three things can lower the cost without a grant: 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, the Warm Homes Loan Scheme and council group-buying.

The VAT rate is the one change with a fixed date, and our page on solar VAT after 1 April 2027 explains which rate applies to an install. A loan is repaid with interest unless its rate is 0%. We explain the Warm Homes loan for solar and batteries and do not arrange credit.

All three options work on the installed price, which differs by system size, house size and nation: see what solar panels cost in the UK.

Are Solar Panels Worth It Without a Grant?

Solar panels are worth it without a grant when the system pays back well inside its life, and the Energy Saving Trust says panels "should last 25 years or more" (page updated 1 October 2026).

The payback depends on the home: a south, east or west roof with little shade, enough use in the daytime and a stay of some years in the house. On a north-facing roof, the calculator gives a Poor fit. The calculator gives the payback years for one roof, and the wider verdict sits on our page that asks is solar worth it for a UK home.

Getting Quotes If You Will Pay for Solar Yourself

If no scheme fits and you want to pay for solar yourself, the route to a quote is a survey, which Leads 2 Trade arranges. The survey request form is not open yet.

You will get phone calls. That is how surveys are arranged. We are paid by Leads 2 Trade Limited when a homeowner we refer asks for a survey. You are never charged. It does not change our figures.

A survey is not a route to a grant. A household that may be eligible for a funded scheme uses the official route first, and a council or housing association tenant asks the landlord. We give an estimate, Leads 2 Trade arranges a survey, and installers give the quote.

Solar Panel Grant Questions