Get money off your solar and battery installation

Santander mortgage and personal current account customers who get their solar panels installed through Octopus will receive a £1000 discount off their purchase price when place an order before 31st July 2024. Offer can be withdrawn at any time.

You could also get up to £500 home energy cashback from Santander if you borrow money from Santander to make energy-efficient home improvements using their trusted suppliers, including Octopus Energy. Offer available to Santander mortgage and personal current account customers only. £250 home energy cashback if you borrow between £5,000 and £9,999. £500 home energy cashback if you borrow £10,000 or more. Terms and conditions apply. Any money borrowed on your mortgage will be secured against your home. All loan applications are subject to status. If you would like to find out more about the home energy cashback Santander has available and the options to borrow the money you need for improvements, please visit https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/support/greener-living/greener-homes/green-improvements. Cashback offer can be withdrawn at any time.

If you’re happy with the initial quote, we will take a fully refundable £500 deposit, arrange a survey and review of your property before giving you a date for your installation. The £1000 discount is then taken off your final sales agreement price with Octopus.

Before going ahead with your installation, we'll need to make sure of a few things first. Firstly you will need a clear space on a pitched (not flat) roof that can fit at least 2 solar panels. See our FAQ on how much space you'll need for more info.

It's important that this part of your roof sees the sun throughout the day, so a north facing roof is unsuitable. We'll also need to be able to install scaffolding below this part of the building in order to complete the installation.

Next, you'll need to decide if solar panels make money-sense. The higher your energy usage at home, the more beneficial solar panels and a battery will be (you'll be saving the money you would have otherwise spent on bills, and this will go towards paying back the cost of your solar system). If you have a low usage, it's worth keeping in mind that your payback period will be longer, but this is something we can discuss in your consultation.

Finally, it's worth keeping in mind that we can't install on properties with a 3 phase electricity meter just yet, but we are working hard on a solution.

Fill out our quick online form.

We’ll send over a personalised quote within 1 working day, with a price that covers everything you’ll need for a standard solar and battery installation. We'll then take a £500 advance payment (fully refundable until the day before scaffolding installation).

Next our Solar Design Specialists will work with you to design the ideal system for your home, using state-of-the-art software to visualise the path of the sun and where to best position your solar panels. You’ll have the option to change the design to fit your budget, and remove the battery if you choose to.

We’ll ask you to fill out a remote survey form to ensure your solar design is spot-on before installation. If you’re not able to complete the remote survey, we will arrange a date for a surveyor to visit your property.

Finally we’ll find a suitable date for your installation. Installation should take 2-4 days, depending on the size of your system. We will also schedule time on either side of this to put up and take down the scaffolding at your property. Once installation is complete, we’ll request the remainder of the total cost.

We’ll be here to answer any questions or concerns that you have throughout the process, and our aftercare team will be available by phone 7 days a week once your installation is complete.

Before going ahead with your installation, we'll need to check a few things first. First, you will need a clear space on a pitched roof (not flat) that can fit at least 2 solar panels.

It's important that this part of your roof sees the sun throughout the day, so a north facing roof may be unsuitable. We'll also need to be able to install scaffolding below this part of the building in order to complete the installation.

Please note that we can't install in flats or properties with a 3 phase electricity meter just yet. And at present we are only able to install system systems on roofs with clay or concrete roof tiles.

A battery will allow you to store any electricity you don't use, so that instead of exporting the energy back to the grid, you can use it later when the sun isn't shining. The initial cost for a battery is higher than solar panels alone, but it's a great idea if you wish to be self-sufficient and avoid spending money on pricey electricity from the grid in the long-run. You can also guarantee that the majority of the electricity you're using is 100% clean, green and home-generated.

This depends on both how much electricity you generate and when you use it most. For example, if you tend to use a lot of energy in the evening, we’ll probably recommend a battery. This is because you won’t be there to use the energy when the sun is brightest during the day; instead you can store the electricity in the battery for use in the evening. Our lives are varied, so there are many more circumstances that might impact this decision - but this is something that our solar advisors will be able to help you with.

On your roof, the number of panels we recommend will depend on the amount of space you have and how much energy you use.

Our panels are 1.7m length 1.1m wide each, and we'll need space for a 40cm gap between the edge of the roof and the solar system. The average number of panels is around 10-12 (4.5kW) and the minimum number we can fit is 2.

In general, the more panels on the roof, the more electricity you will generate, so we’d only recommend a large array if your usage is high. We’ll discuss all of these options with you.

We now install microinverters as standard, which don’t require space inside your home inside your home. However if we are installing a GivEnergy system, you will need space for an inverter measuring: (HxDxW) 440 x 260 x 480 (mm).

If you choose to also have a battery, these come in several sizes:

Enphase

5kWh dimensions: (HxDxW) 980 x 188 x 550 (mm)

10kWh will be 2 of the batteries specified above, and will require a space of 150mm between each battery.

GivEnergy

5.2kWh dimensions: (HxDxW) 515 x 220 x 480 (mm)

9.5kWh dimensions: (HxDxW) 800 x 223 x 480 (mm)

Our expert team is committed to choosing the best quality products for our customers, to ensure that you get the best efficiency, and ultimately make the best savings with your solar installation.

Our solar packages are installed with state-of-the-art 435W PV solar panels from JA Solar, and the IQ8 Microinverter from Enphase as standard. Find out more about panels and inverters here.

For all battery installations, we will offer the industry-leading Enphase IQ Battery as standard. However this is subject to DNO approval, and if we find that this product isn’t suitable for your home, we will offer a suitable alternative for both your battery and inverter, without ever compromising on quality.

All of our equipment comes with a manufacturer warranty:

• Solar Panels: 25 years product warranty and 30 years linear power warranty.
• Inverter: Enphase Microinverters come with a product warranty of 25 years, whilst the GivEnergy inverter is covered by a 12 year product warranty.
• Batteries: 12 years for GivEnergy products and 15 years for Enphase products.

Our customers are also protected by a 2 year Workmanship Warranty Insurance scheme.

Average cost

The cost of installation can depend on how many panels you need, whether you choose to have battery storage and what size of battery you require. The cost of a panel-only installation by Octopus starts from £3,880 (for 2 panels). A 10 panel installation and a 5kWh battery (our most popular system) costs £9,199. Get a quick fixed quote to find out how much it’ll cost for you, based on your home.

How long will it take for my solar system to pay for itself?

Our systems typically pay for themselves in 9 - 12 years.

We compared the typical installation cost and annual bill savings for our most common solar system (10 panels, 5kWh) in 5 different scenarios. The payback period varied from 9 - 12 years depending on the energy tariff.

Of course, each home is unique and this can be influenced by lots of different factors.

We’ll calculate a personalised payback period following our design consultation, to let you know what you might save for your home.

We compared the cost a typical household would pay for their electricity on the April '24 price cap - £1077. To what they would pay with a 10 solar panel & 5kWh battery system (our most popular system) on our Octopus Flux tariff - £52. This is a saving of £1024 or 95% of your total electricity bill.

In the table below, you can check out the typical costs, savings and payback period for an average customer with our most popular system size (10 solar panel & 5kWh battery).

Solar installations from £3,880

Our prices start at £3,880 for a 2 panel installation with no battery.

The UK's highest export rates

Compared to other suppliers, Octopus export rates on Octopus Flux and Intelligent Octopus Flux are significantly higher.

If you need any help with your solar panels and battery after installation, you can contact our Aftercare team 7 days a week on 0808 175 1696. Our phone lines are open 8am - 8pm Monday to Saturday, and 10am - 6pm on Sunday.

If you have a complaint please email solar@octoes.com, or you can find our complaints procedure here.

Public liability insurance provider: QBE UK Limited.

Indemnity Limit: £10 million

Octopus Energy Services Ltd VAT number: 358672751