Solar panel funding in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Energy support for homes is partly devolved, so what you can get for solar depends on which side of a border you live. Here is each nation in turn, with what is real now and where to go to check it.
The short answer
No nation has a general solar grant. England (councils' Local Grant) and Wales (Nest) have low-income schemes that can include solar. Scotland stopped funding solar PV in June 2024. Northern Ireland names no support beyond 0% VAT, which runs to 31 March 2027 across the UK.
Facts checked at source on 2 and 3 November 2026 · Solar PV Panels Grants is an independent explainer from SEO-DONS LTD, not a scheme
The same question, four answers
Two things apply across the UK. VAT is a UK tax, so the zero rate on installed solar in a home applies everywhere until 31 March 2027. And the government describes the Warm Homes Loan Scheme as UK-wide for owner-occupied homes. Beyond those, almost everything changes at the border.
England and Wales each have a means-tested scheme that can put solar on a lower-income home, but they work differently: in England through councils, in Wales through one national scheme. Scotland, which once funded solar through Home Energy Scotland, now funds heat pumps and insulation but not solar PV. Northern Ireland has no scheme for home generation at all, and the SEG, which pays for exports, applies in Great Britain only.
England: councils and the Local Grant
In England, the route that can pay for solar is Warm Homes: Local Grant. Councils run it, alone or in groups, for privately owned homes with an EPC rating of D to G and household income usually of £36,000 or less, or with an eligible postcode or benefit. Solar panels are among the measures councils can fund, and a battery can be funded only alongside solar. The council organises and pays its own contractors, and can deliver work until 31 March 2028.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme applies in England, but pays only for heat pumps and biomass boilers. ECO4 ends on 31 December 2026 with no successor. For households outside the Local Grant, the options are the loan scheme, the VAT relief and export payments.
Wales: Warm Homes Nest
Warm Homes Nest is the Welsh Government's scheme for low-income households, and its packages can include rooftop solar panels as well as heat pumps and insulation. It is open to owners and private tenants. The Welsh Government's annual report describes two routes in: a means-tested benefit with a home rated E, F or G, or a health route for people with certain conditions living in a home rated D or lower.
For eligible households the work comes at no cost, and it is carried out by the Nest team's Wales-based installer network, not an installer you choose. A boiler is repaired or replaced only where there is no working heating or hot water. Warm Homes: Local Grant does not apply in Wales, but the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and the loan scheme do.
Scotland: no solar PV funding since June 2024
Home Energy Scotland is the Scottish Government's advice and funding service. A Scottish Government freedom of information release of August 2026 confirms that solar PV was funded "up to June 2024". Today the only solar technology it supports is the hybrid PV-T panel, which produces heat and electricity, and only by loan: up to £5,000, with no grant element. Batteries are not listed.
Heat pumps are still supported. Home Energy Scotland lists a grant of up to £7,500 and an optional loan of up to £7,500 for eligible homes, with an extra £1,500 in rural areas, all subject to its own conditions. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not apply in Scotland, and Warm Homes: Local Grant is England only.
So in Scotland, the honest answer for solar is the same as for an able-to-pay household in England: VAT relief, export payments and the UK-wide loan scheme.
Northern Ireland: the VAT rate only
nidirect, the Northern Ireland government's information site, describes the support for people who want to generate their own electricity. When we checked it, the only financial support it named for homeowners was the zero VAT rate on installed solar panels, which applies across the UK until 31 March 2027.
The SEG is a Great Britain scheme, so suppliers in Northern Ireland are not obliged to offer an export rate. Some may offer one on their own terms; ask your supplier. ECO4 and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme also don't apply in Northern Ireland.
If you are offered a "grant" for solar in Northern Ireland, ask which scheme by name, and check it on nidirect yourself before going further.
Every scheme, every nation
| Scheme | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low-income scheme that can include solar | Warm Homes: Local Grant | Warm Homes Nest | None for solar PV | None named |
| Heat pump funding | Boiler Upgrade Scheme | Boiler Upgrade Scheme | Home Energy Scotland | None named |
| Warm Homes Loan Scheme | Yes, owner-occupied | Yes, owner-occupied | Yes, owner-occupied | Yes, owner-occupied |
| 0% VAT on installed solar | To 31 March 2027 | To 31 March 2027 | To 31 March 2027 | To 31 March 2027 |
| SEG export payments | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (Great Britain only) |
| ECO4 | Ends 31 December 2026 | Ends 31 December 2026 | Ends 31 December 2026 | Not applicable |
What is open to every household
Outside the two means-tested schemes, the routes are the same in every nation, apart from export payments in Northern Ireland.
0% VAT on installed solar in a home, to 31 March 2027. The relief explained.
The Warm Homes Loan Scheme, borrowing for owner-occupied homes. How it works.
Export payments under the SEG, in Great Britain. How they work.
For renters and landlords in each nation, see renters and landlords.
Questions by nation
Are there solar panel grants in Wales?
Warm Homes Nest can include rooftop solar in packages for low-income owners and private tenants who meet its conditions: a means-tested benefit with an EPC rating of E to G, or a health route at EPC D or lower. There is no general solar grant in Wales.
Are there solar panel grants in Scotland?
Not now. Home Energy Scotland funded solar PV up to June 2024. It now supports only hybrid PV-T panels, by loan, and does not list batteries.
Is there solar funding in Northern Ireland?
nidirect names no financial support for homeowners generating their own electricity beyond the zero VAT rate. The SEG applies in Great Britain only.
Does the Boiler Upgrade Scheme apply in Scotland?
No. It covers England and Wales. Scotland funds heat pumps through Home Energy Scotland instead.
Where these facts come from
- GOV.UK — Apply for Warm Homes: Local Grant (England) — checked 2 November 2026
- Welsh Government — Warm Homes Nest scheme annual report 2024 to 2025 — checked 2 November 2026
- Home Energy Scotland — grants and loans — checked 2 November 2026
- Scottish Government — FOI release on Home Energy Scotland solar funding (August 2026) — checked 2 November 2026
- nidirect — support to generate your own electricity — checked 20 October 2026
- GOV.UK — Boiler Upgrade Scheme: what you can get — checked 3 November 2026
- GOV.UK — Warm Homes Loan Scheme factsheet (27 October 2026) — checked 3 November 2026
- HMRC — VAT Notice 708/6, energy-saving materials — checked 3 November 2026
- Ofgem — SEG generator guidance (PDF) — checked 2 November 2026
- Ofgem — Energy Company Obligation (ECO) — checked 2 November 2026
Not sure which route, if any, fits your home?
Tell us where you live and what you are looking into. Your message reaches SEO-DONS LTD, the publisher of this explainer, and we answer by email. We are not a scheme and cannot approve anything, but we can point you to the right door.
What happens next
- Your message reaches SEO-DONS LTD, which publishes this explainer.
- We reply by email with the scheme or council page that fits, if there is one.
- Any application is between you and that scheme.