There is no single solar panel grant that every homeowner in England can claim in 2026. Free installation is available to lower-income households through the Warm Homes: Local Grant and the wider Warm Homes Plan, usually where household income is £36,000 or less and the home is rated EPC D to G. For everyone else, the real help is 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, new government-backed low and zero interest loans from autumn 2026, and export payments under the Smart Export Guarantee.
- £36,000 usual household income limit for the Warm Homes: Local Grant
- EPC D to G home energy rating needed for that grant
- 0% VAT on home solar and batteries until 31 March 2027, then 5%
- About 5 points off loan interest rates under the Warm Homes Loan Scheme
- £15bn total Warm Homes Plan budget
Every scheme at a glance
| Scheme | Who it is for | What you get | Status, autumn 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warm Homes: Local Grant | England, income usually £36,000 or less (or benefits, or an eligible postcode), EPC D to G, private housing | Fully funded upgrades, which can include solar panels | Open, runs April 2025 to March 2028, via councils |
| Warm Homes Plan, low-income strand | Low-income and fuel-poor households | Free insulation and clean tech, including solar and batteries | £5bn committed, delivered through councils and housing providers |
| Warm Homes Loan Scheme | Homeowners generally | Low or zero interest loans for solar, batteries and heat pumps | First consumer loans from autumn 2026 via participating lenders |
| 0% VAT | Every home in Great Britain | No VAT on solar panel and battery installation | Until 31 March 2027 |
| Smart Export Guarantee | Anyone with an MCS-certified system and smart meter | Payment for every kWh exported | Ongoing, rates set by suppliers |
| ECO4 | Low-income households via energy suppliers | Funded measures, sometimes solar | Ending 31 December 2026, in-flight work only |
| Council group buying (Solar Together) | Residents of taking-part councils | Discounted price through a reverse auction, not a grant | Runs in rounds; 2026 round opened 1 June |
Warm Homes: Local Grant, the one that pays for panels
This is the main route to genuinely free solar panels in England. It is funded by central government and run by local councils, with £0.5bn available from April 2025 to March 2028. Solar PV has been one of the most common measures, making up 38% of installs in the government's own figures.
To qualify, you usually need all of these:
- You live in England, in a home that is privately owned (by you or your landlord). Council and housing association homes are covered by other funds.
- Your household income is usually £36,000 a year or less, or someone in the home gets certain means-tested benefits, or you live in a postcode the scheme has flagged as low income.
- Your home's Energy Performance Certificate is D, E, F or G. If you do not have one, it can be assessed during the application.
You apply online through gov.uk. Your council then contacts you, usually within 10 working days, arranges a survey and decides which upgrades suit the house. That may be insulation or a heat pump before solar, because the scheme aims to bring the whole home up to standard. You do not choose your own installer, and the council's contractor fits the work.
The Warm Homes Plan: what is new in 2026
Published in January 2026 and updated in March, the Warm Homes Plan is the government's £15bn programme to upgrade homes. Two parts matter for solar.
Free upgrades for low-income households
£5bn is set aside for low-income and fuel-poor households, including fully funded solar panels and batteries. The government puts the typical cost of a solar and battery system at £9,000 to £12,000, so this is a large grant where you qualify. In practice it reaches households through councils and social landlords, and the Warm Homes: Local Grant above is the part most private homeowners can apply to now.
Low and zero interest loans for everyone else
The Warm Homes Loan Scheme gives lenders a 20% grant towards each loan, worth about five percentage points off the interest rate on loans of three to ten years. Lenders applied to join in summer 2026 and the first loans are reaching homeowners from autumn 2026. Availability depends on which banks and building societies take part, so it is worth asking your own lender.
A worked example: what the help is actually worth
Take our 4.4kW solar and 5.8kWh battery package at £9,295, spread over seven years.
| How you pay | Monthly payment | Total repaid | Interest paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loan at 10% (illustrative commercial rate) | £154.31 | £12,962 | £3,667 |
| Loan at 5% (about 5 points lower) | £131.37 | £11,035 | £1,740 |
| Zero interest loan | £110.65 | £9,295 | £0 |
Monthly payments are worked out with the standard loan formula over 84 months. Cutting the rate from 10% to 5% saves £3,667 - £1,740 = £1,927 in interest. At zero interest you pay £9,295 / 84 = £110.65 a month.
Now compare that with what the system saves. On our Birmingham example in the guide to whether solar is worth it, this package saves and earns about £942 a year, or £942 / 12 = £78.50 a month, before any overnight battery charging. So even a zero interest loan costs more each month than the system saves while you repay it, but once it is paid off you keep the full saving for the rest of the system's life.
The VAT deadline
The 0% rate ends on 31 March 2027. At the 5% rate due to follow, the extra cost would be:
- 4.4kW solar at £6,495: 5% = £324.75
- 4.4kW solar and 5.8kWh battery at £9,295: 5% = £464.75
- 6.2kW solar and 10kWh battery at £12,495: 5% = £624.75
To be safe, plan for the installation to be finished well before 31 March 2027, and allow time for the survey and any G99 approval from your network operator. Our solar panel cost guide has the full price list.
Export payments: not a grant, but worth more than most
The Smart Export Guarantee pays you for every unit your panels send to the grid. It is not means-tested and it lasts as long as the system does. On a typical 4.4kW system exporting 2,780 kWh a year, a 12p rate pays 2,780 x £0.12 = £334 a year. Over ten years that is more than any of the schemes above will give most households. See the current rates in our Smart Export Guarantee guide.
What has closed
- Feed-in Tariff: closed to new systems on 31 March 2019.
- Great British Insulation Scheme: ended 31 March 2026.
- ECO4: extended to 31 December 2026 to finish existing work. Treat any new ECO4 solar offer with care.
- Home Upgrade Grant and Sustainable Warmth: replaced by the Warm Homes: Local Grant.
How to spot a solar grant scam
Where there is talk of free panels, there are cold callers. Be wary of any of these:
- A phone call, text or doorstep visit saying you have been "selected" for a government solar grant. Council schemes start with you applying on gov.uk or the council contacting you after you apply.
- A request for an admin, survey or "grant release" fee. Funded schemes do not charge you to apply.
- "Free" panels that come with a long lease of your roof space. These can complicate selling or remortgaging.
- Pressure to sign on the day. Genuine installers give written quotes and a cooling-off period; ours is 14 days, and we take no deposit until the survey is done.
- No MCS certificate number or consumer code membership. Without MCS you cannot claim export payments.
If you do not qualify for a grant
Most people reading this will not. Solar still pays back without one, typically in 7.5 to 10 years for panels alone. Ways to bring the cost down:
- Get quotes before 31 March 2027 while VAT is zero.
- Size the system to your roof and usage rather than paying for panels you do not need.
- Fit a battery at the same time as the panels if you want one, which costs less than adding it later: see solar battery costs.
- Pick the best export tariff you can get from day one.
- Check whether your council is running a Solar Together round.
Not in England? Scotland and Wales run their own schemes (Home Energy Scotland loans and grants, and Nest in Wales). The Warm Homes: Local Grant covers England only. The 0% VAT rate applies across Great Britain.
Our solar and battery packages show fixed prices, and if you have a Warm Homes loan offer we can quote against it.
Sources
Warm Homes: Local Grant eligibility: gov.uk, apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant and policy guidance, July 2026. Warm Homes Plan: gov.uk, Warm Homes Plan and government announcement. Loans: Warm Homes Loan Scheme, lender phase 1. VAT: HMRC VAT Notice 708/6. ECO4 and GBIS: gov.uk, extending the ECO4 end date. Council group buying: Solar Together, Reading Borough Council.
