How much does a plug-in solar kit cost in the UK?
The short answer
From £336 to £999 for a complete kit.
That was the range across the 25 kits we found on sale on 7 October 2026, every one marked Compliant on the official register. Fourteen of them started at £599 or less. Two panels usually cost less per watt than one. Delivery and, in some homes, an electrician come on top.
We do not sell kits and no shop pays us, so this page names no retailer and links to none. It sets out what kits actually cost, what else you might pay, and how long the money takes to come back, using the same figures as our kit tracker and savings calculator.
What do plug-in solar kits cost right now?
We record the price of every compliant kit we can find on sale to households in England, Scotland and Wales. On 7 October 2026 there were 25. Split by size, the ranges were:
- One panel: £336 to £679. Ten kits, with 340W to 515W of panel.
- Two panels: £444 to £999. Fourteen kits, with 800W to 1,260W of panel.
- One kit is sold with either one or two panels, from £450 to £650 depending on the version.
The wide spread on two-panel kits surprises people. The cheapest two-panel kit, at £444, cost less than most single panel kits, and the dearest cost more than twice as much. Here is how the 25 starting prices fell:
| Starting price | Kits | What they were |
|---|---|---|
| Under £400 | 2 | Both single panel kits, 465W and 515W |
| £400 to £499 | 7 | Three single panels, three two-panel kits and one sold either way |
| £500 to £599 | 5 | Four single panels and one two-panel kit |
| £600 to £699 | 3 | One single panel and two two-panel kits |
| £700 to £799 | 4 | All two-panel kits |
| £800 to £999 | 4 | All two-panel kits, including the largest at 1,260W |
From our own kit database, checked 7 October 2026: 25 kits marked Compliant on the ENA Connect Direct register and on sale to UK households. Every price but one was read on the seller’s own product page on that date; for one kit the only price we could find was an independent price tracker’s reading of 21 September 2026. Starting price means the lowest price we saw. Prices move, often weekly, so treat these as a snapshot, not a quote.
What are you actually paying for?
Every compliant kit contains the same four things: the panels, a microinverter that turns their output into mains electricity, a frame or mount, and a lead with a moulded three-pin plug. The official product specification requires a complete kit to come with a mounting system, and it rules out mounts that rely only on cable ties, rope, tape or bungee cords.
Because the inverter caps the output at 800W whatever the size of the panels, the useful way to compare price is per watt of panel, since more panel means more electricity on dull days and at the ends of the day. On that measure the 25 kits ranged widely:
- Two-panel kits cost from 45p to 95p per watt of panel.
- Single panel kits cost from 68p to £1.37 per watt of panel.
Eight of the ten single panel kits cost more per watt than the dearest two-panel kit. The two exceptions were the two cheapest single panel kits, at 68p and 72p a watt. That fits how kits are built: one inverter, one plug lead and one delivery serve both panels, so the second panel adds less than the first. If you have the space, two panels is usually the better buy. If you only have room for one, it can still make sense, but expect a longer payback.
Price per watt is not the whole story, though. Frames differ a great deal. A heavy ground frame that will not blow over, a balcony rail mount or a wall mount for a particular spot can be worth paying for, and the warranty and who honours it matter too. Our guide to choosing a kit covers what to compare beyond the price.
What costs are there on top of the kit?
For many homes, very little. Plug it into a suitable socket, tell your network operator, and that is the whole job. But some homes will have extra costs, and it is better to know before you buy.
- Delivery. A kit with two panels is a large, heavy item. Some sellers include delivery and some add it at the checkout. Our price ranges do not tell you which, so compare the total, not the headline.
- An electrician, if your wiring needs one. The official consumer guidance says to use an electrician if your home still has older rewireable fuses, if you are unsure about your wiring, or if you need a socket moved or added. An outdoor socket should be weatherproof and fitted by a qualified electrician.
- A wiring check for bigger kits. If your panels add up to more than 960W, the specification says you should consider having your existing wiring assessed first. Four of the 25 kits on sale were above that line.
- Telling your network operator costs nothing. It is a legal duty, not an application. See how to tell your network operator.
- Permissions. In England a plug-in kit is usually permitted development, so there is no planning application to pay for, but there are exceptions. If you rent or own a leasehold flat you need your landlord’s or freeholder’s agreement first. See is plug-in solar legal? and renters and landlords.
We have not quoted a price for an electrician’s visit or a new socket, because we have not been able to verify a typical figure from a source we trust. Ask for a written quote before you buy the kit, and add it to the price when you work out the payback. A kit that needs electrical work first is a different deal from one that does not.
There are no running costs. A kit does not change your standing charge, which stays at 54.83p a day at the current price cap whatever you generate.
How long does a kit take to pay for itself?
That depends on three things: what you paid, how much the panels make where you live, and how much of it you use while it is being made. Electricity you do not use flows out to the grid, and for almost everyone it earns nothing. So the same kit can pay back in under four years in one home and more than eight in another.
The table below takes eight real price points from our kit data and works each one through for a home in Birmingham, a middling spot for sunshine, with the panels facing south on a tilted frame.
| Kit price and size | Makes a year | Saves a year, someone sometimes home | Pays back, nobody home in the day | Pays back, someone sometimes home | Pays back, someone usually home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £336, one panel, 465W | 450 kWh | £47 | 9.5 years | 7.1 years | 5.7 years |
| £444, two panels, 930W | 900 kWh | £95 | 6.2 years | 4.7 years | 3.7 years |
| £449, one panel, 445W | 431 kWh | £45 | 13.2 years | 9.9 years | 7.9 years |
| £449, two panels, 800W | 774 kWh | £82 | 7.3 years | 5.5 years | 4.4 years |
| £599, one panel, 515W | 499 kWh | £52 | 15.2 years | 11.4 years | 9.1 years |
| £669, two panels, 920W | 891 kWh | £94 | 9.5 years | 7.1 years | 5.7 years |
| £750, two panels, 920W | 891 kWh | £94 | 10.7 years | 8.0 years | 6.4 years |
| £899, two panels, 1,030W | 997 kWh | £105 | 11.4 years | 8.6 years | 6.9 years |
| £989, two panels, 1,260W | 1,220 kWh | £128 | 10.3 years | 7.7 years | 6.2 years |
Worked the same way as our calculator. Output: PVGIS 5.3 (European Commission Joint Research Centre), 968 kWh a year per kilowatt of panel in Birmingham, south-facing at 35 degrees, 14 per cent system losses, queried 26 September 2026. Share of output used at home: 30, 40 and 50 per cent, our own assumptions for the three households. Unit price: 26.32p per kWh, the Ofgem price cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026, read 26 September 2026. Exported electricity counted as worth nothing. Prices rounded to the nearest pound. The figures make no allowance for shade or for the small amount lost when panels above 800W make more than the inverter passes on, so the rows for kits with more than 800W of panel will be a little optimistic. Your own figures: use the calculator.
Two things stand out. First, the cheapest two-panel kits paid back fastest, because they combined a low price with plenty of panel. The cheapest kit of all, a single panel at £336, took longer than the £444 two-panel kit. Second, the £669 and £750 two-panel kits make exactly the same electricity, so the dearer one takes about an eighth longer to pay for itself. Paying more can buy you a better frame, a longer warranty or a seller you trust. It does not buy you more sunshine.
Where you live moves these figures too. The same kit makes about 43 per cent more in Brighton than in Inverness, so the payback in the south of England is shorter and in the north of Scotland longer. The calculator uses the figures for your own postcode area.
How do these figures compare with the government’s?
When plug-in solar became legal, the government said kits could save households “up to £110 a year” and provide “up to 20%” of an average home’s electricity. Our Birmingham example, a 930W kit in a home where someone is sometimes in, saves about £95 a year and supplies about 360 units, which is 14 per cent of the 2,500 units Ofgem uses as typical annual use for a home. That sits comfortably inside the government’s “up to” figures.
Be wary of anyone quoting a saving in pounds without asking where you live, which way the panels face, or who is home in the day. Those three answers change the result more than the choice of kit does.
Government figures: GOV.UK press release “Households can save as plug-in solar panels come to market”, 26 August 2026, read 26 September 2026. Typical use of 2,500 kWh: Ofgem’s summary of the price cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026, dated 26 August 2026, read 26 September 2026.
Could the price of electricity change the answer?
Yes. A kit saves you the unit rate on every unit you use, so the payback moves with the price of electricity. Ofgem sets the cap every three months, and the current 26.32p applies from 1 October to 31 December 2026. If the unit rate goes up, a kit pays back sooner. If it comes down, it takes longer. Ofgem also says there is no VAT on electricity from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, which is already reflected in the 26.32p.
If you are on a fixed deal or a time-of-use tariff, your own unit rate is the one that matters, not the cap. Type it into the calculator. On a tariff with cheap daytime rates a kit saves less per unit; on a dear daytime rate it saves more.
Will kits get cheaper?
We do not know, and we will not guess. The category has only been legal since 27 August 2026, new kits were still joining the official register in late September, and prices have already moved on individual kits. What we can promise is to keep checking. Every kit in the tracker shows the price range we saw and the date we saw it, so you can tell at a glance how fresh the figure is.
Waiting has a cost of its own. A kit bought now starts saving now, and most of what it saves arrives between March and September, as our winter output guide shows month by month.
Questions people ask
How much is a plug-in solar kit in the UK?
On 7 October 2026 the 25 kits we found on sale, all marked Compliant on the ENA register, cost from £336 to £999. Single panel kits ran from £336 to £679 and two-panel kits from £444 to £999. Fourteen of the 25 started at £599 or less.
Does the price include the frame?
It should. The official specification says a complete kit is supplied with a mounting system. Even so, three register entries from one maker say “Mounting system not included”, so read exactly what is in the box before you compare prices.
Do I have to pay an electrician?
Not usually. You need one if your home has old rewireable fuses, if you are unsure about your wiring, or if you need a socket moved, added or fitted outdoors. For kits with more than 960W of panels, consider having your wiring assessed first. See sockets, leads and safety.
Will I be paid for the electricity I do not use?
Almost certainly not. The Smart Export Guarantee requires a certified installation, which a kit you plug in yourself does not have. We have found one narrow exception, explained on our calculator page. All the payback figures here assume exported power is worth nothing.
Is a cheap “800W solar kit” online the same thing?
Often not. Many kits sold as “800W” are off-grid kits that charge a battery, and they cannot legally be plugged into a socket at home. Only a kit marked Compliant on the ENA register can. See 800W solar kits: which can you plug in?