Solar Panel Companies UK (2026): The Full List, Who to Trust & Who to Avoid
There are around 3,000 MCS-certified solar installers in the UK, a dozen national brands advertising on your TV and phone, and three energy suppliers who’d like to sell you panels with your electricity. Most are fine. Some went bust this year with customers’ deposits. This guide sorts them: the energy suppliers, the national installers, the local firms and the brokers, compared on the things that actually matter — published prices, who turns up to fit it, and how long they stand behind the work — plus the recent collapses and how to make sure your company isn’t the next one.
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The four types of solar panel company
“Solar panel company” covers four very different businesses, and knowing which one you’re talking to explains most of what happens next.
- Energy suppliers. Octopus, E.ON Next and British Gas now sell solar to their customers, with published prices and an export tariff that’s only available if they installed your system. Octopus uses its own teams; the others contract regional installers.
- National installers. Companies whose whole business is fitting solar (and often heat pumps and boilers) across the country — Project Solar UK, Glow Green, Heatable, Solar Fast, Soly, Solar4Good, Geo Green Power and others. Scale, finance, marketing budgets; some employ their fitters, many subcontract.
- Local and regional MCS installers. Roughly 3,000 firms, from two-van operations to 50-person regional companies. The people who quote are usually the people who fit. This is where the best value and the longest workmanship guarantees generally are — and also where you need to check trading history most carefully.
- Brokers, comparison sites and lead-generators. Companies that don’t install anything: they collect your details and sell them to installers, or (like us) introduce you to one they’ve vetted. The difference between a good one and a bad one is whether they tell you that’s what they do. See below.
UK solar panel companies compared (2026)
The companies below are the national names you’ll actually encounter. Figures are as published by each company or by independent review sites in 2026; workmanship (labour) warranty is the one to look at hardest, because it’s what covers the roof and wiring after the fitters leave. Trustpilot scores are company-wide, not solar-only.
| Company | Type | Founded | Coverage | Who installs | Workmanship warranty | Published price? | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Octopus Energy | Supplier | 2015 (solar 2023) | GB | Own teams | See review | Yes | JA Solar + Enphase; best tariffs (Flux); £500 deposit |
| E.ON Next | Supplier | — | Mainland GB | Regional contractors | 2 yrs (as listed) | Yes — £4,995 / £6,495 | Aiko 485W panels; 17.5p export tariff; 0% finance to 3 yrs |
| British Gas / Hive | Supplier | — | GB | Partner installers | 10 yrs (stated) | Yes — from £5,610 (8 panels) | Subscription from £69/mo; Solar Saver tariff; partner changed after Effective Home’s collapse |
| Project Solar UK | National installer | 2011 | UK | Own teams | 10 yrs + lifetime product guarantee | No | Largest UK installer (45,000+); solar only |
| Glow Green | National installer | 2011 | UK | Mixed | 5 yrs | No | Price-match; 20-yr warranty on subscription model; 4.8 TP |
| Heatable | National installer | 2017 | UK | Contractors | 2 yrs | Yes — ~£5,300 (7 panels) | Online 3D quote tool; single panel brand; 4.8 TP (10k+) |
| Solar Fast | National installer | 2006 | Mainland GB | Own teams | 2 yrs | No | Longest-established national; DMEGC panels; 4.7 TP |
| Soly | National installer | 2013 NL · UK 2023 | UK | Contractors | Up to 12 yrs | Yes — from £6,392 (6 panels + battery) | Longest labour warranty; new to UK |
| Solar4Good | National installer | 2020 | UK | — | 10 yrs | No | Choice of Jinko/Aiko/Trina/JA; 4.8 TP |
| Geo Green Power | National (dom. + comm.) | 2010 | UK | Own teams | 2 yrs | No | Strong commercial book (JCB, Mercedes); 4.8 TP |
| Egg (Cracking Energy) | National | 2010 | UK | — | Not stated | No | EV-charging heritage; interest-free plans |
| Warma UK | National (grants focus) | 2016 | UK | — | 2 yrs | No | Longi panels only; grant-funded work |
| Greener Energy Group | Regional | 2014 | Scotland, N. England | Own teams | Not stated | No | Scotland specialist; 4.5 TP |
| 0800 Repair | Regional | 2017 | North of England | Own (in-house academy) | Limited detail | No | 4.8 TP on 31,000+ reviews (all services) |
| Good local MCS installer | Local | Varies | ≈ 40 miles | Themselves | 10 yrs, insurance-backed | On survey | £1,000–£2,500 cheaper on same kit; brand choice — how to find one |
Read the workmanship column twice. Two years is common among the biggest names; ten is standard among good independents. The panels will outlast either — what fails is a roof hook, a cable, an isolator, and that’s workmanship. Solar panel warranties explains which ones actually pay out.
Energy suppliers: Octopus, E.ON, British Gas, EDF and OVO
The suppliers’ pitch is simplicity: one company for panels, battery, tariff and bill. The reality varies a lot between them.
- Octopus Energy is the one to beat — it employs its own installers, publishes prices (roughly £8,600–£9,000 for 8 panels with a 5kWh battery, £11,115 for 12 panels with 10kWh), fits JA Solar panels with Enphase microinverters, and pairs it with Flux and Intelligent tariffs that no one else matches. The trade-offs: no choice of panel brand, a higher entry price than most locals, and strict exclusions (flats, flat roofs, north-facing). Full Octopus solar review.
- E.ON Next has the sharpest published price in the country for premium panels — £6,495 for twelve Aiko 485W — plus a 17.5p export tariff and 0% finance over three years, but installs through regional contractors, lists a two-year workmanship warranty, and doesn’t name its inverter. Full E.ON solar review.
- British Gas sells through Hive: from £5,610 for eight panels, a subscription option from £69 a month, a stated 10-year warranty and its Solar Saver tariff. Its exclusive installation partner from 2024, Effective Home, entered administration in June 2026, so ask who is installing now and check them independently. Full British Gas solar review.
- EDF and OVO both sell solar through installer partnerships that have changed more than once; treat them as a referral to whichever installer is currently behind the badge, and vet that installer as you would any other.
The supplier tariffs are worth real money — E.ON’s SEG rates and Octopus’s Flux can add £150–£300 a year over a standard export rate — but you only get the best rates if they installed the system, so factor the tariff into the comparison rather than treating it as a bonus.
National solar installers
The national installers split into two camps. Those with their own crews — Project Solar UK, Solar Fast, Geo Green Power — behave more like a very large local firm, with consistent quality and, in Project Solar’s case, a 10-year labour guarantee. Those built on a sales and quoting platform — Heatable’s 3D quote tool, Soly’s upfront pricing, Glow Green’s price-match — deliver a slick front end and then place the job with regional contractors, so the install you get depends on who covers your postcode. Neither model is wrong; the second just means asking “who is actually coming?” before you sign.
Three things to know when a national quotes you. Their price is usually the ceiling, not the floor — ask for the itemised version and expect movement. Their “lifetime” or “30-year” guarantees are mostly the panel manufacturer’s warranty restated; look for the labour figure. And a national firm’s Trustpilot score usually covers boilers, heat pumps and everything else it sells, so filter the reviews to solar and read the three-star ones. How to choose a solar installer has the full question list.
Local MCS installers — and “solar panel companies near me”
For most homes, a good local installer is the best-value option in the country: typically £1,000–£2,500 cheaper than a national or supplier for identical kit, a choice of panel and battery brands, a ten-year insurance-backed workmanship guarantee, and the same people for survey, install and aftercare. They’ll also take on the awkward houses the nationals decline — slate roofs, conservation areas, three storeys, flat roofs.
The catch is that quality varies more, because there are 3,000 of them. When you search “solar panel companies near me”, Google’s map ranks on proximity and reviews, not competence, so treat it as a longlist and run the ten-minute vet on anyone you shortlist. Our installers near me guide explains what “local” should mean (under about 40 miles, three-plus years trading, MCS and HIES/RECC), and our area guides cover the local market, council schemes and grid operator for London, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Southampton, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Exeter, Bath, Oxford, Bournemouth, Crawley, Wiltshire and Dorset.
We’ve already done the vetting
MCS register, HIES/RECC membership, insurance, Companies House and reviews checked before any installer can quote through us. One local match, free survey, fixed price — and we’ll tell you to compare it.
Get My Free Local Quote →Brokers, lead-generators and “free solar” companies
A large share of the “solar panel companies” you’ll meet online don’t install anything. Comparison sites, “get 3 quotes” forms and most of the “free solar panels — check your postcode” adverts are lead-generation businesses: your details are sold to three or four installers for £30–£80 each, and the calls start within the hour. That’s not illegal, but you should know it’s happening, and the best installers rarely buy those leads.
We’re an introducer too, so here’s the honest version of the distinction. A good introducer tells you it doesn’t install, tells you how it’s paid (by the installer, only if you go ahead), checks the installers it works with, and sends your details to one at a time rather than auctioning them. A bad one invents a government scheme, hides who it is, and sells you to whoever pays most. If a website won’t tell you which company will quote you, close it. Our free solar panels guide decodes the adverts and solar panel scams covers the doorstep and phone versions.
Solar panel companies to avoid — and the ones that collapsed
We won’t publish a blacklist of trading companies: reviews are gameable in both directions and a firm that was poor in 2023 may be excellent now. What we can do is tell you the warning signs, and what happened to the companies that failed in the last year.
Walk away if a company…
- Isn’t on the MCS installer register under its exact trading name.
- Quotes a firm price without a physical or detailed remote survey.
- Offers a discount that expires today, or a “government scheme” you can’t find on GOV.UK.
- Won’t name the panel, inverter and battery make and model in writing.
- Wants more than a modest deposit before survey, or full payment before commissioning.
- Isn’t a member of HIES or RECC (no deposit protection, no ombudsman).
- Has under two years’ trading history at Companies House and no explanation.
- Is vague about who physically does the install.
Recent failures — and the lesson
- Effective Home (national; British Gas’s Hive Solar partner from 2024) — administration 26 June 2026. Two-year workmanship warranties died with it unless insurance-backed; customers reported abandoned installs and lost deposits. Lesson: a big-brand badge isn’t a guarantee.
- Snug Energy (Doncaster) — voluntary liquidation December 2025. Lesson: check Companies House filings, not just reviews.
- GivEnergy Ltd (battery and inverter manufacturer, one of the UK’s most-installed) — administration 9 April 2026, ceased trading, “no further hardware warranties will be honoured”. The app still works; the warranty doesn’t. Lesson: a manufacturer warranty is only as good as the manufacturer.
If you already own a system from a company that’s gone under, the panels keep working and the manufacturer warranties on panels and (non-GivEnergy) batteries survive; what you lose is workmanship cover and aftercare. Solar panel repairs and servicing cover finding a new installer to take the system on.
How to protect your deposit and warranty
- Pay the deposit by credit card. Section 75 makes the card company jointly liable for £100–£30,000 if the installer fails. Debit-card chargeback is weaker and time-limited.
- Use a HIES or RECC member. Both run deposit-protection and insurance-backed guarantee schemes — but HIES deposit protection runs for a limited window from signing (120 days), so don’t let a job drift for months on a paid deposit.
- Get the workmanship guarantee insurance-backed. An IBG means the guarantee is honoured by an insurer if the installer ceases trading. It’s the single most useful piece of paper in the pack.
- Register the manufacturer warranties yourself — panels, inverter, battery — rather than relying on the installer to do it.
- Keep the MCS certificate, the electrical certificate and the commissioning photos. They’re what a replacement installer, your insurer and the export-tariff supplier will ask for.
Best solar panel company by what you need
| If you want… | Look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The lowest published price for premium panels | E.ON Next | £6,495 for 12 × Aiko 485W is ~£1,115/kW — review |
| The best tariffs and own-employed installers | Octopus | Flux / Intelligent tariffs, in-house teams — review |
| The longest workmanship warranty from a national | Soly · Project Solar UK | Up to 12 years / 10 years + lifetime product guarantee |
| Nothing upfront | British Gas subscription · Glow Green subscription | From £69/mo; check total cost over the term against a loan |
| 0% finance | E.ON Next (to 3 yrs) | Rare in solar; most installer finance is 8–12% APR |
| The lowest overall price and brand choice | A vetted local installer | £1,000–£2,500 under the nationals on the same kit — find one |
| Scotland | Greener Energy Group · local MCS firms | Nationals thin out north of the Central Belt; see Scottish funding |
| Grant-funded work (ECO4 / Warm Homes) | Warma UK · your council’s delivery partner | Only if you qualify — check first |
| A difficult roof | Local specialist | Slate, listed, conservation, flat — nationals often decline |
| Panels for a business | Geo Green Power · regional commercial firms | See commercial companies |
Commercial solar panel companies
Commercial installers are a different set: firms that design 50kW–1MW rooftop and ground-mount systems, handle G99 for three-phase sites and structural surveys, and understand the tax position (100% first-year allowance, business-rates exemption to 2035). Some nationals — Geo Green Power especially — do both; most domestic installers don’t go above about 30kW. Prices run £450–£1,300 per kWp depending on size, and payback for a daytime-heavy business is often four to seven years. Our commercial solar panels guide covers the numbers, with specific pages for farms and schools.
Solar panel maintenance, cleaning and repair companies
A separate trade has grown up around existing systems, and it’s worth knowing what you actually need before you book anyone. Cleaning companies charge £80–£200 a visit; most pitched roofs in the UK don’t need it more than every few years, if at all — do solar panels need cleaning. Maintenance and servicing firms offer £100–£200 inspections every three to five years, useful but optional — maintenance and servicing. Repair companies matter when the inverter fails or the original installer has vanished — repairs, inverter faults and inverter replacement cost. And pigeon-proofing is its own cottage industry at £300–£900 — pigeon-proofing solar panels. For any of these, the same MCS-or-equivalent and reviews checks apply; there’s no certification scheme for cleaners, so go on insurance, references and whether they use deionised water and soft brushes rather than a pressure washer.
Companies that make the panels
People also search “solar panel companies” meaning the brands on the panels, which is a different question. No UK company manufactures mainstream residential panels at scale; what installers fit comes from Jinko, Longi, JA Solar, DMEGC, Trina and Canadian Solar (value and mid-market), Aiko and REC (premium), with SunPower/Maxeon at the top end. The brand moves a 10-panel system’s price by £500–£1,500 and matters less than the installer — see best solar panels UK, and our individual reviews of Jinko, Longi, JA Solar, DMEGC, Aiko, REC and SunPower. On the battery side, the GivEnergy collapse has reshuffled the market: best solar batteries covers who’s left standing, and the batteries hub has the prices.
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Get My Local Solar Price →The ten-minute vetting checklist
- MCS register: search the exact company name at the MCS site. Not a logo — the entry. Note the certificate number.
- HIES or RECC: confirm membership on the scheme’s own site. This gives you deposit protection, an insurance-backed guarantee route and an ombudsman.
- Companies House: incorporation date, filed accounts, any previous names or dissolved companies at the same address. Three-plus years and clean filings is the comfort zone.
- Reviews: Trustpilot and Google, filtered to solar, sorted by three-star. Look for how problems were handled, not how many five-stars there are.
- Who installs: ask directly. If it’s a subcontractor, get the name and repeat step 1.
- Insurance: public liability (£2m+) and, ideally, the IBG provider named.
- The quote: named panel, inverter and battery models; MCS-method generation estimate; itemised price; workmanship warranty in years; deposit terms.
Any company that’s genuine will pass all seven without friction. Then get a second quote on the same specification — prices for identical systems vary by £1,000–£2,000 in the same town — and decide. Solar panel cost tells you what the number should look like, and are solar panels worth it whether to proceed at all.
The bottom line on solar panel companies
The best solar panel company in the UK is the one that’s MCS-registered, HIES or RECC-protected, names its kit, sends its own people and gives you ten years on the workmanship — and for most homes that describes a good local installer rather than a national brand. Use the suppliers and nationals for what they’re good at: a published price to benchmark against, 0% finance if you need it, and an exclusive tariff if you’re already their customer.
Whoever you pick, pay the deposit by card, get the guarantee insurance-backed and keep the paperwork. Effective Home’s customers had a British Gas badge on the brochure; the ones who’d done those three things are the ones who were fine.
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Solar panel companies: frequently asked questions
What are the best solar panel companies in the UK?
There isn’t one best company, because the trade-offs differ. For published prices and tariff integration the energy suppliers lead — Octopus (own installers, best tariffs), E.ON Next (cheapest premium panels, 0% finance) and British Gas (Hive, 10-year warranty, subscription option). Among national installers, Project Solar UK is the largest with a 10-year labour and lifetime product guarantee, Soly offers up to a 12-year labour warranty, and Glow Green, Heatable and Solar Fast score 4.7–4.8 on Trustpilot. For price, choice of equipment and a ten-year workmanship guarantee, a vetted local MCS installer usually beats all of them by £1,000–£2,500 on the same specification.
Which solar panel companies should I avoid in the UK?
Avoid any company that isn’t on the MCS installer register, that quotes without a survey, that offers a price only valid today, that asks for more than a modest deposit before a survey, or that won’t name the panel, inverter and battery brands in writing. Recent history shows why the checks matter: Effective Home, a national installer and British Gas’s former Hive Solar partner, entered administration on 26 June 2026; Snug Energy went into liquidation in December 2025; and battery maker GivEnergy Ltd ceased trading on 9 April 2026, ending its hardware warranties. Pay by credit card, use a HIES or RECC member for deposit protection, and get an insurance-backed workmanship guarantee.
Is it better to use a national solar company or a local installer?
A good local MCS installer is usually £1,000–£2,500 cheaper for the same kit, lets you choose brands, gives a ten-year workmanship guarantee and sends the people who fitted it when something needs looking at. A national company or energy supplier offers published prices, finance, a bigger balance sheet and, in Octopus’s and E.ON’s case, an exclusive export tariff — but often installs through regional subcontractors and gives two to five years’ workmanship cover. Get one of each and compare like for like; the national quote is a useful benchmark even if you don’t take it.
Do energy companies install solar panels?
Yes. Octopus Energy installs with its own teams and publishes prices; E.ON Next sells fixed packages from £4,995 installed by regional contractors; British Gas sells through Hive with a 10-year warranty and a subscription option from £69 a month; EDF and OVO sell solar through installer partnerships that change periodically. The advantage is the paired export tariff — E.ON’s 17.5p and Octopus’s Flux are the best examples — and the disadvantage is limited equipment choice and, apart from Octopus, subcontracted installation.
How do I check if a solar panel company is legitimate?
Five checks in ten minutes: find the exact company name on the MCS installer register (not just a logo on their website); check it’s a member of HIES or RECC, which gives deposit and warranty protection; look it up on Companies House for trading history and filed accounts; read the three-star reviews on Trustpilot and Google, which are the honest ones; and ask which company will physically do the installation. A legitimate firm passes all five without hesitation.
What is the biggest solar panel company in the UK?
By residential installations, Project Solar UK describes itself as the country’s largest solar installer with over 45,000 systems fitted since 2011. By reach, Octopus Energy — the UK’s largest electricity supplier — has become one of the biggest installers since launching solar in 2023. Among manufacturers, no UK company makes mainstream residential panels at scale; the panels on British roofs come from Jinko, Longi, JA Solar, DMEGC, Aiko, REC, Trina and Canadian Solar.
Company details, warranty lengths, prices and review scores are as published by the companies or by independent review sites in September 2026 and change frequently; always confirm current terms directly. Administration and liquidation dates are as recorded in public notices — Effective Home Ltd (26 June 2026), GivEnergy Ltd (9 April 2026; see the Energy Storage Association’s guidance) and Snug Energy (December 2025). Inclusion in or omission from this page is not a recommendation or a warning about any company. Going Solar UK is an independent introducer paid by installers, has no commercial relationship with any company named above, and cannot vouch for individual installations.