If you’re lucky enough to live amidst Glasgow’s beautiful nature reserves, grand architecture, and cultural delights, and you’d like to cut your energy bills, solar panels might be the answer.

From Carmunnock to Milngavie, Glasgow gets enough sunlight for solar homes to save hundreds of pounds on their electricity bills per year.

In this guide, we’ll explain how much solar panels cost in Glasgow, how the city’s rainy weather affects them, and which government grants could help you cut the upfront cost.

We install in Glasgow, 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 Glasgow?

1. Sunsave

At Sunsave, our mission is to make solar accessible to all UK households, which is why we provide the country’s first solar subscription service.

Sunsave Plus comes with no upfront cost. Instead, you’ll pay a completely fixed monthly fee, which lets you start saving on your energy bills immediately.

We’ll give you best-in-class kit, expert advice on which of the best export tariffs you should pick, and we’ll always be just a phone call or email away for the length of your term.

We mean it, too. Every Sunsave Plus system is covered by the 20-year Sunsave Guarantee, which provides you with 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, a free battery upgrade, a free inverter replacement (if required), and downtime cover.

What’s more, your system will be insured by Aviva against damage, fire, and theft.

Our customers are huge fans of our work, as shown by the 200+ five-star ratings they’ve given us on Trustpilot, alongside reviews that praise our friendly, helpful, pressure-free attitude.

To find out more, read our reviews page.

2. Jorro

After more than a decade serving customers from its industrial estate base on Edinburgh Road, Jorro is thriving.

The company, which is certified to fit Tesla Powerwall batteries alongside solar panels and EV chargers, has amassed dozens and dozens of five-star reviews.

You might think this is down to David Pickles, the firm’s director since 2014, who moved to Glasgow in 2001 for university and never left – but he’s not the star of this show.

Jorro customers have fallen head over heels for technical sales director Steven McMahon.

They’ve called him “extremely helpful”, “full of enthusiasm”, “very honest and reliable”, “patient and willing”, and “a true listener”.

One wrote that “Steve restored my faith in installers having integrity,” while another commented at the end of their review that “Steve is still there answering my questions!”

Jorro does provide maintenance and servicing, but only on an impromptu basis, so you’ll just have to pay each time you think there might be an issue.

3. Homeshield Scotland

When this company launched in May 2013, only 29,352 homes in Scotland had switched to solar, including just 1,407 in Glasgow.

Homeshield Scotland has been part of solar’s rise to popularity, installing systems across the country – as well as heat pumps, conservatories, doors, and windows.

The firm has garnered more than 2,700 reviews across Trustpilot and Google, receiving praise for its work ethic, commitment to customers, and level of expertise.

One reviewer wrote: “I could tell we are in safe hands.”

The installer, which is based on an industrial estate south of the river, also proved itself by winning Best Home Improvements Company of the Year at the 2025 UK Enterprise Awards.

4. Greener Energy Group

Peter Chalmers was inspired to create this Paisley-based company by his childhood, which was spent in a cold home on the island of Great Cumbrae, off the west coast of Scotland.

He told The Herald: “There were no cheap fuel sources available, and I would wake up in the morning with ice inside the window.

“We call this fuel poverty now, and I was determined to tackle the problem – I didn’t want to see my kids grow up like this.”

Peter, who runs Greener Energy Group (GEG) with Elizabeth Chalmers, also wanted to give households the power to help the climate.

“Our mission is to do what we can for Scotland in terms of combating climate change,” he said, “but also help people to keep their bills down and make their own contribution to the fight against climate change.”

Now, GEG employs 80 people, has installed countless solar & battery systems, heat pumps, and EV chargers, and expanded its services to north-east England in September 2025.

The installer, which is one of the first UK installers to be accredited by Octopus Energy, also plants a tree for every customer who gets a home assessment and quote.

5. HP Energy

It’s common for solar installers to be family-run businesses, but unusual to encounter one helmed by brothers.

Craig and Iain Copeland went against the grain when they took over HP Energy in 2018, and it’s paid off: they now install solar & battery systems all over Scotland.

The Copelands tend to use panels made by JA Solar, Dyness batteries, and Solis inverters, though they’ve also fitted Canadian Solar panels and SolarEdge inverters.

These are all good brands, with JA Solar often earning a place on both our most efficient and most powerful solar panels pages.

Customers have left sparkling reviews that call the brothers “fantastic, polite, and hard working”, and compliment their “first-class workmanship”.

HP Energy also fits air, ground, and water source heat pumps, plus solar thermal panels, and provides servicing and annual maintenance contracts.

How much do solar panels cost in Glasgow?

A 4.5 kilowatt-peak (kWp) solar panel system costs £7,963 to buy and have installed in Glasgow, on average, according to local MCS data.

How much you pay will depend on lots of factors, such as the system’s size, the installation’s complexity, which installer you choose, and your home’s location in Glasgow.

We've also included the cost of adding a 5kWh battery to your installation, as this can significantly increase your savings.

It allows you to use more of the electricity your panels produce, reduce how much electricity you need to buy from the grid, and cut your energy bills.

Having a battery opens up other opportunities too, like using one of the best export tariffs, signing up to a time-of-use import tariff with off-peak periods, and taking advantage of grid flexibility services like virtual power plants.

These benefits are perhaps why about 94% of new solar panel installations in the UK now include a battery, according to data from Flexi-Orb and the Energy Performance Validation Scheme (EPVS).

We install in Glasgow, 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 Glasgow?

There are no local solar grants available in Glasgow at the moment.

Instead, Glasgow City Council has focused on putting solar panels on more than 30 of its buildings, including schools, daycare centres, care homes, and Crookston Castle.

And in August 2025, installers finished work on the city’s iconic Kelvin Hall, which now has more than 1,000 panels on its roof. The system is expected to save the local authority £182,000 per year.

Thankfully though, there are other funding sources.

National grants

There are a couple of national solar panel grants available to households in Glasgow, and we’ve explained them in detail below.

However, these schemes are designed to help underprivileged, energy-inefficient homes, which means they’re out of reach for most people.

To find out which grants you could qualify for, use our grant eligibility checker.

Warmer Homes Scotland

Warmer Homes Scotland is a Scottish government grant which fully funds home improvements that make properties less expensive to heat.

It’s targeted at residents who receive benefits, are elderly, or are otherwise underprivileged, and can provide homes with free solar panels.

The £728 million grant is due to run until 2030, and is open to homeowners and private tenants whose properties have a floor area of 230m² or less, as well as a living standard that would be significantly improved by the suggested measures.

Your household must also be in a council tax band between A and G, you need to have lived there for at least six months, and you or someone you live with must be 75 or older, receive a qualifying benefit, or be approaching the end of their life.

ECO4

ECO4 is a UK government scheme that cuts household emissions by helping low-income households, vulnerable people, and benefit recipients.

The grant compels large energy companies to make energy-efficient home improvements for free, including solar panels.

But to be eligible, your home’s heating must be powered by electricity, which is the case for just 11% of households in Scotland.

You must also be a homeowner or private renter and receive at least one qualifying benefit, unless you live in energy-inefficient social housing, a low-income household, or a cold home that worsens your health conditions.

In any of these cases, you may be eligible for ECO4 without any of the other requirements.

To find out more, check out our guide to ECO4.

How many homes in Glasgow have solar panels?

5,200 homes in Glasgow have solar panels, according to government data from September 2025.

This means 1.7% of the 298,251 households in Scotland’s most populated city have had a solar panel system installed.

That’s markedly lower than the UK average of 5.5%, and also the Scottish average of 5.4% – but a better comparison is with another large city, London, which has an identical 1.7% rate.

Is Glasgow sunny enough for solar panels?

Glasgow is certainly sunny enough for solar panels.

In terms of ‘solar irradiance’ – the term for the sun’s intensity in a specific area – the home of Scotland’s two most successful football clubs is similar to large parts of the rest of the UK.

Solar irradiance, which is measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh per m²), is the amount of energy that travels from the sun to a particular spot on Earth.

The higher your area’s solar irradiance is, the more daylight your panels can convert into electricity, and the more you’ll save on your energy bills.

Dunsop Bridge, a village in Lancashire that the Ordnance Survey has dubbed the geographic centre of Britain, gets around 850kWh per m².

This is according to the European Commission's Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS), which provides regularly updated solar irradiance data.

You’ll get around 5.5% less than this figure in Glasgow, but that’s still more than enough to massively reduce your electricity bills with solar.

Advances in solar and battery technology have made going solar extremely worthwhile across the UK, even in places that receive lower than average amounts of daylight.

Typical solar panel output in Glasgow

The average 4.6kWp solar panel system will produce 3,159kWh of electricity per year in Glasgow, according to the European Commission’s PVGIS tool.

Your system should therefore power most of your annual electricity consumption, since the average UK household uses 3,400kWh per year.

We’ve used a 4.6kWp array because it was the average UK system size in 2024, according to the MCS, along with a 35° roof, as that’s a standard angle for UK roofs.

We also made the system west-facing, meaning households with a south-facing roof could generate even more solar electricity with this setup – 3,950kWh per year, to be exact.

These estimates show the high levels of output now available to homes in Glasgow that go solar, thanks to modern systems.

Your panels won’t generate the same amount of electricity all year, and will probably produce more than you need in summer. If you sign up to a solar export tariff, you can sell this excess electricity to the grid.

Doing so will give you a buffer when winter hits, your panels become less productive, and you have to buy more grid electricity.

Is it worth getting solar panels in Glasgow?

It’s absolutely worth getting solar panels in Glasgow, for most households.

The city’s solar irradiance levels may be below the UK average, thanks to its often cloudy weather, but a system will still generate more than enough electricity to justify your investment.

You can save hundreds of pounds per year by going solar, which is probably why thousands of households in Glasgow have made the switch.

The biggest barrier for most is cost, and though Warmer Homes Scotland and ECO4 provide free solar & battery systems to some homes, the majority aren’t eligible.

If you’re in that number, it’s worth considering Sunsave Plus, our all-in-one, bespoke residential solar and battery solution that’s delivered as a monthly subscription with no upfront cost.

Every system comes with the Sunsave Guarantee, which includes 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, a free battery upgrade, a free replacement inverter (if required), and downtime cover.

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

We install in Glasgow, 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 Glasgow: FAQs