The Short Answer
A little, and only sometimes. The most recent UK evidence we found is Nationwide's research of 26 June 2026: in England, owner-occupied homes rated EPC A or B sold for 1.6% more than similar D-rated homes (about £4,500 on the average England price), C and E showed little difference from D, and F or G were valued 1.4% lower. Nationwide measured bands, not panels, but on its figures a price difference only shows up where a home moves into A or B, or out of F or G.
On our model of how an EPC is scored, 4kWp of panels adds roughly 15 to 22 points to a mid-D home, depending on its size. That's enough to reach B in some homes and only C in others. If a company leases your roof for its panels, most mortgage lenders in England and Wales need to consent to that lease (and in Northern Ireland they won't accept a roof lease at all), so check yours before you sell. Our view: fit solar for the bills, and treat any value as a bonus.
Work It Out for Your Home
Put in the score and floor area from your EPC certificate. The calculator estimates the new score with 4kWp of panels, then shows Nationwide's figures for the band before and after. Nationwide's figures are for owner-occupied homes in England. If your certificate is old, its score came from an older version of the method, so treat the estimate as rougher.
Solar and house value calculator
Would solar move your EPC band, and is that band worth anything?
EPC points from our RdSAP 10 model for a 4kWp system; price effect from Nationwide's research of 26 June 2026 (England).
EPC score with solar (our estimate)
62 D → 81 B
About 19 points for 4kWp of panels.
What Nationwide found for those bands
Nationwide compares every band with a similar D-rated home. With solar, it becomes B: that band sold for 1.6% more than a similar D.
About £4,500 more
on Nationwide's figures for the new band, which it found sold for more. That's a difference between bands, not a measured effect of panels.
Nationwide's figures are averages for owner-occupied homes in England (buy-to-let differs), after allowing for things like location and bedrooms. They don't cover Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, they aren't a valuation, and the cash figure is our arithmetic on them. The points assume a typical unshaded roof and the heating you choose; oil, LPG and electric heating aren't modelled, and an assessor uses your real system.
What the Evidence Says
Nationwide compared prices of homes in England by EPC band, after allowing for things like bedrooms, location and whether the home was new. Its findings for owner-occupied homes, against a similar home rated D:
| EPC band | Price against a similar D-rated home |
|---|---|
| A or B | 1.6% more (about £4,500 on an average England price) |
| C | Little difference |
| D | The comparison |
| E | Little difference |
| F or G | Valued 1.4% lower (about £4,000) |
Nationwide called the A or B premium "modest". Buy-to-let is different: there an A or B home attracted a 12.2% premium. The same research found 78% of homeowners expect buyers to pay more for an energy-efficient home, and that among homeowners who'd made green improvements in the last ten years, adding solar panels was the most popular.
Two limits on what this tells you. It's about EPC bands, not solar panels themselves, and we found no UK study that measures the panels' own effect on price. And it's England only.
How Much Solar Changes an EPC
An EPC score for an existing home comes from a modelled running cost at fixed prices, not from your bills, and solar generation counts as a credit against that cost. On our RdSAP 10 model, here's what 4kWp does to a 90 sq m home with a gas boiler (the calculator above does the same sum for yours):
| Score now | With solar (our estimate) | Nationwide's effect |
|---|---|---|
| 55 (D) | 74 (C) | None measured |
| 62 (D) | 81 (B) | About £4,500 more on a £281,000 home |
| 45 (E) | 64 (D) | None measured |
Bigger homes gain fewer points, because the same solar credit is spread over more floor area: about 22 points at 70 sq m, 15 at 130 sq m. The model assumes a typical, unshaded roof (the middle of SAP's 720 to 940 kWh a year per kWp) and a gas boiler; it doesn't model oil, LPG or electric heating. An assessor uses your actual panels, roof and heating, so a real certificate can differ from our estimate. Our EPC improvement calculator shows solar next to insulation and heating upgrades.
Can Solar Panels Devalue a House?
Owned panels: we found no UK evidence that they lower prices. Leased panels are the exception to check: where a company leased your roof space to fit panels it owns. UK Finance says most lenders' mortgage conditions in England and Wales require the lender's consent to any lease, roof space included, and set minimum requirements for it. In Northern Ireland, lenders won't accept a lease of roof space at all and need a "lease of rights" instead. For Scotland there's no guidance yet. If your buyer needs a mortgage, their lender may need to consent to it, so find the lease before you list the house.
Selling a House With Solar Panels
The Energy Saving Trust's checklist for buyers is a good guide to what yours may ask about:
- The sale agreement: list the system in the fixtures and fittings.
- Feed-in Tariff: the Energy Saving Trust says the seller should tell Ofgem they no longer own the panels, and the buyer can then apply for the remaining payments, with a change of ownership form. Contracts run 20 to 25 years.
- Smart Export Guarantee: the buyer chooses their own SEG deal; rates vary by supplier.
- MCS certificate and the system's size, and whether there's a battery.
- Warranties: panels usually have a 25-year performance warranty and a 5 to 10-year product warranty; an inverter generally needs replacing after around 12 years.
- Manuals and the generation meter, and the installer's details.
- Insurance and a check-up: the EST tells buyers to check their home insurance covers the panels and to get the system checked by an MCS-certified professional.
Should You Fit Solar to Add Value?
Not on value alone. On our solar model a 4kWp system costs about £6,200 to £6,600 and is worth about £599 a year in bill savings and export payments, which is the real return. If a mid-D home like the one above (score 62) reaches B, Nationwide found homes in that band sold for about £4,500 more on a £281,000 England home; at C, it found little difference. Our view: buy solar for the bills. If you're selling soon, remember Nationwide's evidence is about the EPC band, so the band is what counts on it. See are solar panels worth it for the full payback.
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