If you’re lucky enough to live among Cardiff’s gorgeous parks, beautiful castles, and stunning landscapes (especially when seen from The Garth), and you’re looking to cut your electricity bills, solar panels could be the best way forward.

From Lisvane to the Docks, Cardiff receives more sunlight than most parts of the UK, which gives solar homes a huge advantage.

In this guide, we’ll run through how much solar panels cost in Cardiff, how the county’s weather could impact your savings, and which grants could help you cut the upfront cost.

We install in Cardiff, so if you’re wondering how much you could save with a solar & battery system, enter a few details below and we’ll provide an estimate.

What are the best installers in Cardiff?

We’ve created a series of rigorous tests to assess more than 2,200 installers across the UK, and these firms have performed the best of any that install in Cardiff.

They’ve all been certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) or Flexi-Orb, accredited by HIES or RECC, approved by TrustMark, registered with NAPIT or NICEIC, and earned a superb customer rating on at least one reputable review site.

The very best companies are also Which? Trusted Traders and offer a solar subscription option, though Sunsave is the only top-tier company that installs in Cardiff and offers a subscription.

To see the top firms in the UK, check out our national guide to the best solar panel installers.

1. Sunsave

Our mission is to make solar accessible to all UK households – which is why we provide the UK’s first solar subscription.

Sunsave Plus lets you start cutting your energy bills straight away, with no upfront cost.

You’ll get best-in-class kit, access to the best export tariffs, and the 20-year Sunsave Guarantee. This includes 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, a free battery upgrade and inverter replacement if necessary, and downtime cover – all for a fixed monthly fee.

Your system will also be insured by Aviva against damage, fire, and theft.

Our customers are huge fans of our work: they’ve given us more than 300 five-star ratings on Trustpilot, while praising our helpful, communicative approach.

2. The Solar House

This success story was founded by Dan Hobbs, who started on solar installations in 2010, and hasn’t stopped since.

The business now has headquarters in Cardiff, Cheltenham, and Melksham, and serves the surrounding areas of all three.

These bases also include showrooms, so you can go see their work in person, and ask any and all of the questions you have.

Dan’s an active member of the local rugby club, and you can see his passion influence the way that his company has solidified its place in the local community.

The Solar House has sponsored Gloucester Rugby, Whitchurch RFC, Cardiff Quins Girls Rugby, Melksham Town Football Club, and Penallt & District Tennis Club, and given to multiple charities.

As the installer’s website explains, “we’re passionate about giving honest advice and installing quality solar systems - but we’re just as passionate about giving back.”

3. Green Energy Solar

Located in St Mellons in eastern Cardiff, near businesses that sell stone countertops and commercial archaeology services, sits a growing force in the Welsh solar industry.

Joel Channing and John Bloomfield founded Green Energy Solar in 2022, and business has boomed as homes have increasingly embraced solar.

The team has grown to around 30 members, carried out more than 500 installations, and covers southern Wales all the way from Newport to Carmarthen, with the capacity to pop over the border to Hereford and Gloucestershire.

As well as many domestic solar installations, the company has also designed and fitted a 180-panel system for Cefn Mably Farm Park, a fun farm just outside the city.

Speaking about his staff, Bloomfield said: “Their expertise, commitment and attention to detail make every installation something we’re proud of.”

Green Energy Solar offers maintenance services after the installation, and customers have raved about the firm’s seamless work and expert advice.

How much do solar panels cost in Cardiff?

A 4.5kWp solar & battery system costs £11,758 to buy and install in Cardiff, on average.

This system includes 10 solar panels, each of them with a 450-watt peak power rating.

We've also factored in the cost of installing a solar battery, because it can significantly increase your returns.

A battery enables you to use more solar-generated electricity at home – known as self-consumption – which means you’ll buy less electricity from the grid.

You can also take advantage of the best export tariffs and time-of-use import tariffs, and join one of a number of virtual power plants.

About 94% of new solar panel installations in the UK include a battery, according to data from Flexi-Orb and the EPVS.

There are many reasons why you may end up paying a different amount for your solar panel system, such as its size, the installation’s complexity, and which installer you choose.

To find out everything else you need to know, read our guide to solar panel costs.

At Sunsave, we install all over Cardiff – so if you’re wondering how much you could save with a solar & battery system, enter a few details below and we’ll provide an estimate.

Are there any grants for solar panels in Cardiff?

The only solar panel grants you can currently access in Cardiff are the same UK and Welsh government grants that you can get in most parts of Wales.

Warm Homes Nest, Green Homes Wales, and ECO4 are all currently open to applicants, but when it comes to local assistance, there are no solar grants at the moment.

Cardiff Council seems to be primarily focusing on funding solar installations and energy efficiency improvements for buildings they own, while relying on the national government for most domestic measures.

Solar Together Cardiff

Residents can sometimes sign up for Solar Together, an initiative that lets homeowners and small business owners in an area get a discount on their solar installations via collective buying.

However, it’s not a government grant; it's a scheme run by private Dutch company iChoosr, in partnership with local authorities in England and Wales.

In London, it secured 20-30% discounts for households, according to the Greater London Authority.

The scheme teamed up with Cardiff Council in 2025, when it helped 156 homes in the city get rooftop solar panel systems.

And the initiative returned, with households allowed to sign up between February and June 2026.

Solar Together only comes to a few counties every year, and each project is time-limited, so you’ll need to wait and see if it comes back to Cardiff – though it seems likely.

Unfortunately, the programme also has some substantial drawbacks, so it's worth doing your research before going down this route. To find out more, read our comprehensive guide to Solar Together.

National grants

There are three national grants that households in Cardiff can apply for – and it’s well worth taking a look if you think you could qualify.

Solar panels can cut your electricity bills by hundreds of pounds per year, shrink your carbon footprint, and increase your property’s value, but the upfront cost is usually high. Grants can make them affordable – or free.

To see which schemes you could qualify for, use our grant eligibility checker.

Warm Homes Nest scheme

The Welsh government launched this scheme in 2011, and has since spent more than £257 million providing free home improvements like solar panels, insulation, and heat pumps.

The programme, which focuses on low-income homes and deprived areas, has helped more than 66,000 households with these free improvements, as well as advice and financial assistance with their bills.

You can get a free solar panel system if you own or privately rent your home, have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E, F, or G, and either get a means-tested benefit or live in a low-income household. 

You could also qualify with an EPC score of D, if someone in your home has a chronic health condition.

Green Homes Wales

This Welsh government scheme provides households with interest-free loans of between £1,000 and £25,000 to pay for energy-saving measures like solar panels.

The programme, which is run by the government-owned Development Bank of Wales, launched in April 2025, and has been renewed for the 2026/27 financial year.

Your loan will be unsecured, meaning you won’t need any collateral like a home. Your application will be accepted or rejected based purely on your credit history.

If you do take out a loan, you could get a repayment term of up to 10 years, and this can even be extended for bigger projects.

Plus, for the first six months of your loan, you won’t have to pay anything back.

The only requirements are that the property you’re applying for is your primary residence, that it’s in Wales, and that you own it. It also can’t be a listed building, or a new build that hasn’t been lived in – and you can’t apply as a private landlord.

Energy Company Obligation (ECO4)

ECO4 is the government’s main scheme for reducing residential emissions – and if you’re in a low-income or vulnerable household with a resident who gets a qualifying benefit, you could potentially get some funding.

Unfortunately, the scheme is set to end in December 2026.

Until then, the government will keep compelling large energy suppliers to make energy-efficient upgrades in deprived homes, at no cost to the residents.

The programme can get you a free solar panel system, as it has done for more than 65,000 households – but only if your home is heated with electricity, as 7.5% in Wales are.

To learn more, check out our full guide to the ECO4 scheme.

How many homes in Cardiff have solar panels?

8,215 homes in Cardiff have had solar panel systems installed, according to the most recent government data.

This means 5.2% of the city’s 158,000 households have gone solar  – which is just below the UK average of 5.8%.

To find out more about the popularity of solar panels in different parts of the country, read our guide to how many homes have solar panels in the UK.

Is Cardiff sunny enough for solar panels?

Cardiff is absolutely sunny enough for solar panels. In fact, it gets more sunlight than most of the UK, receiving 1,283 kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) per year – 5% above the national average.

This figure will vary a bit depending on where you live in Cardiff, but it’s an encouraging indicator.

In the solar industry, amounts of sunlight are tracked via ‘solar irradiance,’ which defines the sun’s average intensity in a specific area.

It’s measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre – that is, how much energy makes it from the sun, across 93 million miles of space, to a certain square metre on Earth.

As you might expect, the more intense the sunlight that hits your panels, the higher the kWh/m², and the more solar electricity your system will produce – meaning higher savings for your household.

Typical solar panel output in Cardiff

These output figures are all based on a solar home in the centre of Cardiff.

We've gone for a 4.9kWp system because it should produce more than enough electricity to match the average UK household's electricity consumption, which is 3,400kWh per year, and because it was the average system size in 2025, according to the MCS.

When your solar panels generate more electricity than you can use or store in your battery, you can sell this excess energy to the grid via one of the best SEG rates.

While this happens with almost all UK systems during summer, installations in Cardiff should be able to benefit from the extra income stream more often.

Please note: you won’t necessarily generate as much solar electricity with your system, since your home will have its own unique characteristics – but it should give you a good idea of what’s possible in Cardiff.

Is it worth getting solar panels in Cardiff?

It’s well worth getting solar panels in Cardiff – more so than it is in most parts of the UK.

Cardiff receives high levels of solar irradiance, especially compared to the national average, which means its residents can save hundreds of pounds per year by switching to solar.

There’s a reason why 5.2% of Cardiff’s households have already gone solar – and that percentage will likely increase in the near future, as energy bills stay high, and heat pumps and electric vehicles become even more common across the UK.

If you’d like to switch to solar but you’re put off by the upfront cost, consider Sunsave Plus, our all-in-one residential solar and battery solution that’s tailored to your home, and delivered as a monthly subscription with no upfront cost.

It also comes with the 20-year Sunsave Guarantee, which includes 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, a free battery upgrade, a free inverter replacement if necessary, and downtime cover.

At Sunsave, we install all over Cardiff – so if you’re wondering how much you could save with a solar & battery system, enter a few details below and we’ll provide an estimate.

Solar panels in Cardiff: FAQs