Are solar panels worth it in the UK in 2026?

For most homes with an unshaded, roughly south-facing roof, yes. Typical payback is now around 7–10 years, helped by higher electricity prices and Smart Export Guarantee payments for the power you send back to the grid.

What is the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG)?

The SEG requires larger suppliers to pay you for surplus solar electricity you export to the grid. Rates vary widely by supplier, so it pays to compare — the best SEG tariffs can be several times more generous than the worst.

Do I need a battery with solar panels?

A battery isn't essential but it raises self-consumption by storing daytime generation for evening use, which usually improves overall savings. Whether it pays back depends on your usage pattern and the battery price.

How much can solar panels save per year?

A typical 4kW system saves many UK households £400–£900 a year on electricity plus SEG export income, depending on system size, how much you use during daylight and your unit rate.

Which suppliers offer the best solar export rates?

Octopus and a handful of specialist suppliers regularly top the SEG tables. Use our supplier comparison to check current export rates before you commit.

Free Solar Quote Check

Completely free — no payment is required to use this check.

PowerGuardian’s free screening is an automated, findings-based check of a solar quotation. Enter the details yourself, or optionally upload a document and confirm every value read from it. It identifies missing information, contradictions and questions to ask the installer; it does not provide a paid report or a human review. If you already have a quotation, the options below explain QuoteGuardian’s £39 Automated Solar & Battery Quote Report, which is software-generated and not reviewed by a solar installation professional.

Solar panel quotation

Solar panels are the only quotation type implemented. You can enter the details manually, or optionally upload a document and confirm each value read from it before the free automated screening uses it.

Check a solar quotation

What this is not

Not an installation design or a technical survey
Not an approval of the quotation or of the installer
Not legal or financial advice
Not confirmation of regulatory compliance
Not an independent generation forecast
Not a guarantee of savings, performance or payback

This free check never asks for payment and does not provide professional approval, installation design, legal advice, financial advice or any guarantee. Nobody at PowerGuardian reads or individually assesses your quotation document, and no paid review of that kind is offered. If you want a written report on a quotation you already hold, the options are set out below.

Different things, so choose deliberately

These options are not equivalent. The free screening and the £39 QuoteGuardian report are both produced by software, and neither is reviewed by a solar installation professional. Nothing here is a guarantee that a quotation is accurate, suitable or good value, and every result depends on the information supplied.

Free · automated