Solar panels in London: are they worth it?

Whether you’re closer to the Thames or the M25, if you’re fortunate enough to live in London and you’re looking to cut your electricity bills, solar panels could be the best way forward.

From Hillingdon to North Ockendon, the capital gets more sunlight than most areas of the UK, which gives Londoners with solar panels a substantial advantage.

In this guide, we’ll run through how much solar panels cost in London, how the city’s sunny weather affects savings, and which grants can assist you in cutting the upfront cost.

At Sunsave, we install across London – 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 London?

1. Sunsave

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

Sunsave Plus allows you to start saving on your energy bills straight away, with no upfront cost.

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

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

Our customers are clearly big fans of our work, as they’ve given us more than 140 five-star ratings on Trustpilot, as well as reviews that praise our professional, responsive, honest approach.

To learn more, check out our reviews page.

2. The Solar Co.

This small, Bromley-based business has earned perfect ratings on Which? and Trustpilot so far, even if it hasn’t received enough reviews on the latter to earn a five-star score yet.

Company director George Penny told Sunsave that his “boutique agency” has carried out “hundreds” of solar installations, and that it’s succeeded by responding well to adversity.

He said: “To be honest, it's just a bit of common decency.

“You do a good job, but when it goes wrong – which it inevitably will at some point – it's about how quickly you can put it right, and how well you keep the customer informed. It's not rocket science.”

The Solar Co. is the only installer on this list that’s a Which? Trusted Trader, apart from Sunsave, putting it above the rest of the competition.

It currently installs Canadian Solar and JA Solar panels, as well as batteries from Tesla, SolarEdge, and Sunsynk, and EV chargers made by Ohme, Tesla, and Zappi.

Its site also includes a savings calculator, which is useful but needs a bit more development – particularly in working out a home’s Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) income.

3. Electrosmith

Electrosmith has been serving customers in south London and the surrounding areas for more than a decade, to rave reviews.

The consensus is that Electrosmith installers are efficient, polite, and professional, not to mention friendly.

One reviewer said: “They were an absolute pleasure to have on site. It's rare that having work done in your home is a stress-free experience, but this really was.”

Many of the reviews namecheck managing director Charlie Smith, with one commenting:

“Right from the start, Charlie was phenomenal – we had a very detailed initial consultation and Charlie covered so many things we hadn't even thought of.”

Smith, who founded the company after growing up in the area, has been working as an electrician for about half of his life at this point – and he clearly knows what he’s doing.

4. Octopus Energy Services

The smart hardware side of Octopus Energy’s business started installing solar panels on domestic rooftops in 2023.

After initially launching in the Midlands and south England, the energy supplier is now helping households in large swathes of the UK to go solar.

And if Octopus isn’t installing in your area, the company will offer you one of their Trusted Partners to carry out the job.

Customers seem to have had good experiences too, with thousands of them leaving complimentary ratings.

A recent reviewer wrote: “So glad I went with Octopus for my solar panels installation. The whole procedure was professional and ran smoothly. Would highly recommend Octopus.”

The company currently offers 450W panels made by JA Solar – one of the largest solar panel manufacturers in the world – and batteries made by Enphase and Tesla.

You can get a minimum of two solar panels installed – though that’s not usually cost-effective – and a maximum of 20.

5. Sustainable Electrical Services

This small firm, based in Kingston upon Thames, was founded in 2022 on one central principle: rely entirely on engineers, and let the rest take care of itself.

With no salespeople or marketing team, SES relies on its technical experts, who are tasked with explaining everything to customers.

General manager John Betteridge told Sunsave: “People might say it’s counterintuitive, but the people we sell to value speaking to experts who know what they’re talking about.

“We have a very good customer base, and get all our work through word of mouth, and currently we’re very happy with that model. You can look at growth and lose perspective.”

In a competitive market, this approach has clearly struck a chord with locals – and Betteridge said customer happiness was the driving force behind the decision to found SES.

“If you’re an emergency electrician, you’re always dealing with someone who has a problem," he explained.

Something is damaged, it might cost more than they were hoping, and the repair might have a knock-on effect. It's a process the customer never wanted to enter into.

“For customers who are in a position to install solar, they save money but they also enjoy the process and result. We went into solar because we enjoyed the process of selling something new and shiny that put smiles on customers’ faces.”

6. Sol4r Energy

The second Sutton-based installer on our list has near-perfect ratings from Google and Trustpilot.

Reviewers compliment the firm’s thoroughness and aftercare, with one writing: “The team was very efficient and knowledgeable. Throughout the process they went above and beyond to ensure I was updated and happy with the installation.

“I would give them 10 stars if I could!”

As well as getting all the accreditations and certifications necessary to qualify for this list, Sol4r Energy has also gained approval from several top-tier manufacturers, including Fox ESS, Alpha ESS, GivEnergy, and Huawei.

This gives the firm access to some of the best equipment on the market – which is another reason why its customers are so happy.

How much do solar panels cost in London?

How many homes in London have solar panels?

56,739 homes in London have had solar panel installations certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), as of June 2025.

Across the capital’s 32 boroughs and the City of London, that means 1.7% of all households have installed solar panels.

The best-performing borough is Havering, where 3.12% of homes have gone solar, just ahead of neighbouring Barking and Dagenham.

As this city-wide data only includes Microgeneration Certification Scheme-certified systems, the actual number of homes with solar panels in London will be even higher - not least because of the growth of another certification body, Flexi-Orb.

For more information, check out our guide to how many homes have solar panels in the UK.

Solar Together London

The exception to this rule is Solar Together London, a scheme that uses collective buying to get cheaper prices for any residents and business owners looking to go solar.

The initiative, run by Dutch company iChoosr, has so far resulted in 24,000 solar panels being installed on more than 3,400 London homes over five phases, according to a spokesperson for the Mayor of London.

The Greater London Authority gave funding to this initiative, but withdrew its backing after one of its installers went bust, leading to an expensive fallout.

However, the scheme has found new installers, and should return to the capital soon for a sixth phase.

National grants

There are three national grants that could help Londoners switch to solar: the Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG), Energy Company Obligation (ECO4), and Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF).

The WH:LG has provided London’s councils with £56 million to improve the energy efficiency and heating systems of energy-inefficient households that are deprived, low-income, or receive a means-tested benefit.

Eligible homes can receive up to £30,000 in funding.

ECO4 is the government’s tool for compelling large energy companies to upgrade disadvantaged homes for free.

It’s open to low-income or vulnerable homes with residents on at least one of a list of qualifying benefits, though only electrically heated households can get a solar installation. 

Since it launched in 2020 as the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, the WH:SHF has given more than £1 billion to local authorities and landlords to make their social homes more energy efficient.

Households can’t apply for WH:SHF funding, but if you live in a social home, you could ask your landlord to look into it.

How much sunlight does London get?

London receives more sunlight than most areas of the UK.

Solar panels only require daylight to work, but they do produce more electricity under direct sunlight – which is why it’s great news for solar homes that the capital is relatively sunny.

It varies across the city, though. Enfield in north London gets 1,182 kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) per year, on average – around 12% more than the UK average.

However, Bromley in south-east London enjoys 1,312kWh/m², which is roughly 24% higher than the national average.

All this data is sourced from the European Commission's Photovoltaic Geographical Information System, which supplies regularly updated solar irradiance figures.

The solar industry measures sunlight by assessing the sun’s average intensity in a specific area, which it calls ‘solar irradiance.’

It records these figures in kilowatt-hours per square metre – that is, how much energy makes it from the sun, through 93 million miles of space, to a specific square metre on Earth.

Many factors affect solar electricity generation, but irradiance is one of the most important.

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

How much power can a solar panel system generate in London?

A solar panel system can realistically produce enough electricity in London to cover the majority of your usage every year, allowing you to cut your electricity bills by more than half.

We designed all of the systems below in 2024, for households in the capital.

Is it worth getting solar panels in London?

It’s absolutely worth getting solar panels in London – even more so than it is in most parts of the country.

The capital enjoys high levels of solar irradiance, particularly compared to the UK average, which enables households to save hundreds of pounds per year by going solar.

The number of Londoners going solar will likely rise quickly in the coming years, as energy bills stay high and heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers become mainstays in homes across the nation.

If you, like many people in London, want to buy solar panels but are put off by the upfront cost, consider Sunsave Plus.

Our all-in-one residential solar and battery solution is tailored to your home, and delivered as a monthly subscription with no upfront cost.

It also comes with the 20-year Sunsave Guarantee.

At Sunsave, we install across London – 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 London: FAQs