For your home · Cost guide 2026
What solar panels and a battery cost in the West Midlands.
Solar panels and battery cost is the question we are asked first, and most answers online are a sales figure. This page uses the official numbers instead: the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's cost data for every MCS-certified install in the West Midlands, the MCS battery statistics, and the Ofgem rates that decide what the system saves. Then we explain why your fixed price will differ from the average, and in which direction.
MCS-certified for solar PV and battery storage (NIC-600049) · We install across Birmingham, the Black Country, Worcestershire and Staffordshire from our base in Oldbury, and regularly travel 30 to 40 miles, Telford, Coventry, Shrewsbury and Stafford included. If you are on the edge of that, just ask.
The cost, in short
- Solar, West Midlands average: £1,778 per kW up to 4 kW and £1,628 per kW for 4 to 10 kW in 2025/26, so a 4 kWp roof is about £7,112 and 6 kWp about £9,768 as an average job.
- Battery: £1,280 per kWh under 6 kWh, £870 for 6 to 11 kWh, £670 for 11 to 30 kWh; roughly £8,526 for a typical 10 kWh unit installed.
- Together: a 4 kWp roof with a 10 kWh battery comes to about £15,638 on the averages; packages are often less, awkward roofs more.
- VAT: 0% on home solar and battery installation until 31 March 2027, then 5%.
- Saving: about £681 a year for a 4 kWp roof without a battery and £846 with one, on published rates and stated assumptions (below).
- Our price: fixed, itemised, from a survey of your roof and your smart-meter data, across the Black Country, Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Telford, Coventry, Worcester, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton.
Solar panels
The official cost per kW, West Midlands, 2025/26.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes the total installed cost of every MCS-certified solar system by region and size band. These are the West Midlands rows for the 2025/26 financial year, 21,961 installations, mean £1,700 per kW across all sizes.
| System size | Mean cost per kW | Installs analysed | Example | Average job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 4 kW | £1,778 | 13,619 | 4 kWp, nine 450 W panels | £7,112 |
| 4 to 10 kW | £1,628 | 7,161 | 6 kWp, a larger semi or detached roof | £9,768 |
| 10 to 50 kW | £1,233 | 1,181 | 12 kWp, a large house or outbuilding | £14,796 |
Nationally the medians were £1,595 per kW (0 to 4 kW), £1,546 (4 to 10 kW) and £1,204 (10 to 50 kW), and the domestic retrofit mean, which is the honest comparison for an existing house, was £2,109 and £1,651 per kW for the two smaller bands. The West Midlands sits a little below the national retrofit figure. Two things to read into the table: cost per kW falls as systems get bigger, because scaffolding, the inverter and the paperwork are roughly fixed, and the 0 to 4 kW band is where most Birmingham terraces and semis land.
Source: DESNZ, Solar PV cost data, 2025/26 Total Installed Cost workbook, "Regional costs (TIC)" and "Domestic costs (TIC)" sheets (gov.uk/government/statistics/solar-pv-cost-data). Costs cover equipment and installation and exclude batteries. An average is not a quote: the figures include every job in the region, premium panels and difficult roofs included.
Home batteries
What a home battery costs, by size.
The MCS battery statistics cover batteries fitted to existing homes, 44,033 of them in 2025/26, up from 24,242 the year before. Cost per kWh falls steeply with size, so the useful number is the average installation in each band, which is the band's average capacity times its mean price.
Median £1,300 per kWh. Average size 5.14 kWh, so a typical installation in this band is about £6,579 installed. 16,270 installs sampled.
Median £890 per kWh. Average size 9.8 kWh, so a typical installation in this band is about £8,526 installed. 14,457 installs sampled.
Median £630 per kWh. Average size 15.48 kWh, so a typical installation in this band is about £10,372 installed. 12,176 installs sampled.
Notice the cliff at the band edges. A 10 kWh battery at the 6 to 11 kWh median is about £8,900; a 13.5 kWh unit priced at the 11 to 30 kWh median is about £8,505, less money for more storage, because the larger band's figure is dominated by big systems. That is the statistical reason a well-sized 10 to 16 kWh battery is usually better value than a small one, and why we size from your evening usage rather than from a brochure. The brands we fit, Sigenergy, Tesla and Duracell, are on our home battery storage page.
Source: DESNZ, MCS-certified domestic battery installation statistics, 2025/26 workbook (published 28 May 2026; statistics in development). Existing homes only; costs include equipment, installation and any VAT; capacities and costs rounded; outliers excluded. Solar fitted at the same time is not included in the battery figures.
What it saves
The arithmetic, with the inputs shown.
Three published numbers decide the saving. Electricity under the Ofgem price cap for October to December 2026 costs 26.32p per kWh. The most common export tariff, Octopus Outgoing Fixed, pays 12p per kWh. And a 4 kWp south-facing roof in Oldbury generates about 3,839 kWh a year on the European Commission's PVGIS model, more than the 2,500 kWh Ofgem now takes as a medium household's annual use.
Every unit you use yourself is worth 26.32p; every unit you export is worth 12p. Without a battery a typical home uses around 40% of its generation; with one, around 70%. Those two shares are design assumptions, not statistics, and the survey replaces them with your own smart-meter data. On them, the 4 kWp roof is worth about £681 a year without a battery and £846 with one, before any time-of-use tariff tricks.
Set against the average costs above, that is a payback measured in years, not months, and it is why we say so plainly: solar is a good long-term investment on most West Midlands roofs, and a battery is what turns a decent one into a strong one, but nobody should buy either on a promise of thousands a year.
What a 4 kWp roof makes where you live
Sources: Ofgem energy price cap, 1 October to 31 December 2026; Ofgem typical domestic consumption values from 1 July 2026 (medium, 2,500 kWh); Octopus Energy Outgoing Fixed; European Commission JRC PVGIS 5.3, 4 kWp south-facing at 35 degrees, 14% system loss.
Your price
Why your fixed price will not be the average.
Panel choice
Aiko Neostar carries a premium over JA Solar or Eurener for more watts per panel and a 30-year performance warranty; on a tight roof it pays, on a big clear roof it may not. The quote shows both.
The roof
Slate, a steep pitch, three storeys or a roof that needs scaffolding on two elevations all add labour. A simple south-facing semi is the cheapest roof there is.
Inverter and grid
Up to 3.68 kW is a G98 notification; a 5 or 6 kW hybrid inverter needs a G99 application first. A hybrid inverter costs more than a string inverter but is what makes a battery straightforward.
Battery size and location
Cost per kWh falls with size. Where it goes matters too: a loft or garage run is simple; a flood-prone ground floor is ruled out under PAS 63100 and needs a different location.
Consumer unit and earthing
Older consumer units and earthing arrangements sometimes need upgrading before a hybrid inverter and battery can be connected; we say so at survey, never on the day.
What is not on the price
No sales visit, no finance pitch, no round-number discount that was never real. One fixed figure, itemised, from the engineer who will install it.
Regulatory facts: The 0% VAT rate on installing solar panels and batteries in homes runs to 31 March 2027, after which it reverts to the 5% reduced rate. A G98 connection covers up to 16 A, which is 3.68 kW, per phase and is notified to the network operator after installation; anything larger needs a G99 application before work starts. BS 7671:2018+A4:2026 (published 15 April 2026) adds Chapter 57 for battery installations and requires batteries in dwellings to be installed to PAS 63100:2024, the BSI fire-safety specification for domestic battery storage.
Where these prices apply
Local pages, with local numbers.
The West Midlands figures above are the honest regional baseline. Each of our area pages adds the local facts that change the design: how many homes already have solar, the housing mix, the network operator and what a roof there generates. Solar panels in the Black Country, Solar panels in Worcestershire, Solar panels in Staffordshire and the town pages for Telford, Coventry, Worcester, Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton. For a business roof, commercial pricing works differently; see commercial solar panels in Birmingham.
For your home
Solar, batteries and chargers for your home
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Home solar panels
Aiko, JA Solar and Eurener panels, sized to your roof and your usage.
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The panel brands we fit
Aiko Neostar, JA Solar and Eurener: the warranties, with sources, and how we choose.
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Home battery storage
Sigenergy, Tesla and Duracell batteries, added to new or existing solar.
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Sigenergy SigenStor installer
The modular five-in-one system we install and commission across the West Midlands.
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Tesla Powerwall 3 installer
Powerwall 3 supplied and installed, with Tesla's warranty condition explained plainly.
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Duracell Energy battery installer
UK-based Dura5 and Dura16 batteries with the Dura-i hybrid inverter: the value option.
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Home EV charger installation
Smart chargers that charge from your own solar first.
Where we install: homes across the Black Country, Worcestershire homes, solar panels in Staffordshire, and solar panels in Telford, Coventry home solar, solar panels in Worcester, Shrewsbury home solar and solar panels in Wolverhampton.
Homeowners, in their own words
5.0 on Google from 44 reviews
- ★★★★★
“Solar panels and battery does as it says on the tin. Harj looked after us from start to finish and was always on hand to explain or help us with anything with the product, even a year later. Panels and the equipment look good. I would recommend this company.”
Ken Tamorama · Google - ★★★★★
“I had solar panels installed with Green Tech Hub, and they were highly professional throughout the process. Their operative was always contactable. I'd highly recommend them for solar panel installation.”
Andrew · Google - ★★★★★
“Very impressed with the director's knowledge. No high pressure sales pitch, just a clear explanation of the best system for us. The fitting was arranged quickly and the engineers were very efficient and tidy.”
Michael Foster · Google
Read all 44 reviews, every one verbatim.
Cost questions, answered straight
How much do solar panels cost in Birmingham and the West Midlands?
The official average for the West Midlands in 2025/26 was £1,778 per kW for systems up to 4 kW and £1,628 per kW for 4 to 10 kW, across 21,961 installations analysed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. That makes a typical 4 kWp roof about £7,112 and a 6 kWp roof about £9,768 as an average job. Packages are often cheaper than the average, because the average includes premium panels, difficult roofs and scaffolding-heavy jobs; we give you a fixed price for your roof rather than a regional mean.
How much does a home battery cost?
It depends almost entirely on size. The MCS data for 2025/26 puts the mean at £1,280 per kWh for batteries under 6 kWh, £870 per kWh for 6 to 11 kWh and £670 per kWh for 11 to 30 kWh. Multiplying each band's average size by its mean gives roughly £6,579, £8,526 and £10,372 for a typical installation in each band, installed. Bigger batteries are cheaper per kWh, which is why a 10 kWh unit is usually better value than two small ones.
Is VAT charged on solar panels and batteries?
Not at the moment. Installing solar panels and batteries in a home is 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, after which the rate reverts to 5%. That applies to the whole installed job, equipment and labour, when the same installer supplies and fits it, which is why buying a battery separately and fitting it yourself can cost more in VAT than having it installed.
How much do solar panels save a year?
For an ordinary household it is in the hundreds of pounds, not thousands, and the battery is what moves it. Using published inputs only, a 4 kWp roof in Oldbury generating 3,839 kWh a year at the Ofgem cap rate of 26.32p and an export rate of 12p is worth about £681 a year if you use 40% of the generation yourself, and about £846 if a battery lifts that to 70%. Those self-use shares are design assumptions; the survey models yours from your smart-meter data.
Why is my quote different from the averages on this page?
Because an average is not a price. The DESNZ figures include every job in the region, from a simple south-facing semi to a slate roof with three scaffold lifts and a consumer unit change, and they are rounded. Your price depends on the panel brand, the roof, the inverter and battery sizes, whether a G99 application is needed and where the battery can safely go. We put the breakdown on the quote so you can see which of those applies to your house.
Get a fixed price for your roof
Send us the postcode, a photo of the roof and roughly what the house uses in the evening. We will come back with a design, an itemised fixed price for panels, battery or both, and the modelled saving from your own numbers.
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