In the last 10 years solar panel costs have fallen significantly in the UK, making investing in solar a very popular home improvement as home owners and businesses look to save money on energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint. And as global demand for solar continues to ramp up, economies of scale have helped to drive down solar panel costs and drive up cell efficiencies, resulting in significant reductions in the costs / kWp of installed capacity.
Another factor contributing to reduced prices is the increased adoption of solar technology. This has driven innovation and resulted in higher performance panels being available at relatively lower prices. While there has been a slight increase in solar PV costs in the last 5 years, this increase is a more modest than the spike in energy costs in 2020, and we can see that prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, solar PV prices/kW were decreasing whereas energy costs were increasing. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect that once energy prices return to normal this relationship between solar costs and energy costs will continue.
Simultaneously, battery storage has also become more accessible, giving customers the ability to store excess power generated during peak hours, and utilise it when solar generation is below the household consumption. When set up correctly, batteries also have the capability to buy electricity when energy is cheapest during the night and then store it for later use or sell it back to the grid.
The UK market continues to offer strong value for solar thanks to ongoing schemes such as the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). For households thinking long-term, the current costs of solar PV systems presents an opportunity to cut carbon emissions while lowering energy bills.
Below you can find a table of some typical example systems we install by capacity, this is based on single phase systems, on plain/concrete tiles and excluding scaffoldings costs.
| System Installed Capacity (kWp) | Manufacturer | System Specs | Solar PV Price (£) | Battery Price (£) | Solar PV + Battery Price (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-4 | Enphase | 8 Panels + 5kWh Battery | 6,500 | From 4,000 | 10,500 |
| 5-6 | SolarEdge | 12 Panels + 10 kWh Battery | 7,500 | From 5,000 | 12,500 |
| 5-6 | SolarWatt | 12 panels + 10 kWh battery | 7,500 | From 6,000 based on 10 kWh | 13,500 |
| 5-6 | Tesla | Tesla Powerwall 3 (13.5 kWh capacity) + 12 panels | 6,000 | From 9,000 | 15,000 |
| 7-8 | SolarEdge | 16 Panels + 10kWh battery | 9,000 | From 5,000 | 14,000 |