Solar panel grants in the UK: who qualifies?

Who qualifies for free solar panels?

Free solar panels go to households on a low income or certain benefits, living in a home with a poor energy rating. The Worthwatt team checked the official pages of every scheme in the table above on 12 October 2026: none pays for standard solar panels for every homeowner, and the rules below decide who gets one. In England and Wales, three things have to fit.

1. The home. You own it or rent it from a private landlord. Council and housing association homes are outside Nest [15], and normally outside the Warm Homes: Local Grant, with a limited exception when a council upgrades a whole block or terrace [2].
2. Its energy rating. The A to G rating on the home's Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is D to G in England [1]. In Wales it is E or below, or D or below if someone in the home has a listed health condition; a D-rated home without one goes on Nest's reserve list [15]. Homes rated A to C cannot get the English grant in any circumstances [2].
3. Income or benefits. In England, one of these: household income of usually £36,000 a year or less, a means-tested benefit such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit, or a postcode on the government's list of low-income areas [2]. A household above £36,000 can still qualify if high housing costs bring it under the after-housing-costs threshold [2]. In Wales, a means-tested benefit or a low household income, measured after mortgage or rent [15].

Meeting all three makes you eligible, not funded: the council or scheme still needs money left. If you miss one, ask the scheme anyway where it allows, as with Nest's reserve list, and look at the cheaper routes below.

Is there a government grant for solar panels in England?

Yes, for low-income households: the Warm Homes: Local Grant pays for solar panels, and a battery alongside them, through your council [1][2]. Owner-occupiers who qualify pay nothing; the guidance says the household "must not be required to contribute" [2]. Private landlords get one home fully funded and pay half the cost for any others [2].

• What it can pay for. Solar panels, a battery with them, insulation, heat pumps and smart controls [2].
• How much. Councils can spend an average of £16,600 per home on energy performance measures, which include solar panels and batteries, and a separate £16,600 on low-carbon heating [2]. The cap is an average across a council's project, so it is not a set amount for each home.
• Applying. Answer the eligibility questions on GOV.UK. Your council will usually contact you within 10 working days; if you are eligible and it has funding, it arranges a home survey [1]. 271 councils, over 97 per cent of those eligible, were allocated funding in 2025 [2].
• Until when. The delivery window closes on 31 March 2028, and the guidance says the dates may change [2].

Under the Warm Homes: Local Grant your council organises and pays for the work after its survey [1], so the starting point is your application on GOV.UK, not an installer's visit.

Can you still get free solar panels through ECO4?

Possibly, until 31 December 2026, but only for homes with qualifying electric heating or getting it as part of the work, and only where a supplier still has work to place. ECO4, the Energy Company Obligation, is a government scheme in which energy suppliers fund home upgrades in England, Scotland and Wales [3]. A 2026 order moved its end from 31 March 2026 to 31 December 2026 [6]. The government says the extra time is for suppliers to finish their existing targets and for installers to fix earlier work, not to widen the scheme, and there will be no successor supplier scheme [7]. Ask the supplier or installer whether it is still taking new jobs.

The heating that qualifies is a wet heat pump (one that heats radiators or underfloor pipes), high heat retention storage heaters, or electric heating that meets Ofgem's responsiveness standard. The home also has to meet minimum insulation conditions, which existing insulation or insulation fitted in the same work can satisfy [5]. Ofgem says "ECO is not a grant scheme" and you may be asked to contribute to the cost [4].

Households qualify through certain benefits, including Universal Credit and Pension Credit, or through a referral from the council or a supplier if household income is under £31,000 or someone has a listed health condition [4].

What is the new Warm Homes Plan?

The Warm Homes Plan is the government's £15 billion programme to 2030, published in January 2026 [8]. For low-income households in England it pays for solar through the Warm Homes: Local Grant above for now, with a single low-income scheme intended from 2027/28 [8]. The £9,000 to £12,000 the government quoted for solar panels and a battery is its average cost of the installation, not a separate grant to claim [9]. Government-backed loans for homeowners are also part of the plan [8].

Solar panel grants in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Wales

Wales has free solar panels through Warm Homes Nest, which lists them with heat pumps and insulation among the measures it installs [14]. The rules on home, rating and income are in who qualifies. Apply by calling Nest free on 0808 808 2244 [16]. The Welsh Government also funds Green Homes Wales, a loan scheme for homeowners managed by the Development Bank of Wales [17].

Scotland

Home Energy Scotland does not fund solar panels or batteries for applications whose link was issued after 6 June 2024 [11]; the Scottish Government confirmed it removed both as eligible measures [12]. Its current table funds only hybrid PV-T panels, which make heat as well as electricity, and only by loan [10].

Pages that still list Home Energy Scotland as a grant for solar panels are out of date.

Two routes remain for households in fuel poverty. Warmer Homes Scotland installs heating, insulation and "a home renewables system" for qualifying owners and private tenants [13], and fitted 957 solar PV or battery storage measures in 2024-25 [12]. Councils' Area Based Schemes installed 1,279 solar PV measures in 2023-24 and meet most or all of the cost for owner-occupiers [12]. Home Energy Scotland's Warmer Homes Scotland page explains how to apply; Area Based Schemes are run by councils.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has no grant for solar panels: nidirect states there is "no financial support available for homeowners" to generate their own electricity [18]. The Affordable Warmth Scheme pays for insulation, heating and windows, not solar [19]. Its planned replacement, the Warm Healthy Homes Fund, is due from April 2027 and proposes solar panels and batteries for some households, but the proposals may change [20]. ECO4 and the Smart Export Guarantee do not apply in Northern Ireland [3][23].

Can pensioners get free solar panels?

Yes, where they meet a scheme's conditions. In England that means a listed benefit, the income test or a listed postcode, in a home rated D to G. Age on its own is not one of the conditions for the Warm Homes: Local Grant or ECO4; Pension Credit, both the guarantee and the savings part, is on the benefit lists for both [2][4]. In Scotland, Warmer Homes Scotland has a route for someone aged 75 or over with no working heating [13]. If you are checking for a parent, the three conditions above are the ones to look at.

What if you don't qualify?

Without a grant, three things still lower the cost or bring money back. One heating scheme does not cover solar at all.

Zero VAT until 31 March 2027. Solar panels and batteries supplied and installed in a home are zero-rated, across the UK, including Northern Ireland since 1 May 2023 [21][22]. From 1 April 2027 the rate is due to be 5 per cent [21]. Panels bought without installation are charged 20 per cent [21].

Illustrative calculation by the Worthwatt team for an installation priced at £6,000 before VAT: the rate change adds £300. Rates from HMRC Notice 708/6 [21].

• Council group buying. Some councils back Switch Together Solar (formerly Solar Together), run by the company iChoosr: you register free, and installers bid in an auction for everyone registered, with battery options [25]. Registration opens for set periods: Solihull's 2026 round ran from 23 February to 26 April [25]. In London, the Greater London Authority said householders got reductions of 20 to 30 per cent on the cost of measures in phases 3 to 5, without saying what the reduction is measured against [26].
• Payment for what you export. The Smart Export Guarantee requires some electricity suppliers to pay for electricity you send to the grid, at a rate each supplier sets [23]. It is a payment for electricity, not a grant, and covers Great Britain only. See the Smart Export Guarantee.
• Not the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. It covers heat pumps and biomass boilers, not solar panels [24].

The next question is whether paying for solar yourself makes sense for your home. For some homes it does not. What solar panels cost by system size gives the government figures, and are solar panels worth it weighs the return.

How to check a free solar panel offer

Before you share details or sign, ask your council, or the energy supplier named on an ECO4 offer, to confirm the offer and your eligibility, and compare what you were told with the official position.

Is there a grant for a solar battery?

Only as part of solar. The Warm Homes: Local Grant pays for a battery only where it goes with new or existing solar panels [2]; ECO4 allows one but does not count it towards the supplier's target [5]. Batteries installed in a home have been zero-rated for VAT since 1 February 2024 [21]. Prices are on solar battery costs.