The Short Answer
There's no VAT on solar panels, home batteries, heat pumps or insulation when a business installs them in your home, until 31 March 2027. From 1 April 2027 it goes back to 5%. On a typical £6,000 solar system that's £300 more; on a £12,900 heat pump, about £645.
The catch most people miss: the 0% only applies to installation. Buy the kit from a shop or online and fit it yourself, and it's 20%, now and later. That includes plug-in solar. See what waiting would cost you below.
0% VAT countdown
0% VAT ends on 31 March 2027. What would waiting cost you?
Prices are before VAT. Edit them to match your quotes.
VAT if fitted by 31 March 2027
£0
VAT from 1 April 2027
£300
Cost of waiting
£300
Rates from HMRC VAT Notice 708/6. For homes and charitable buildings in the UK. Default prices are typical: a 4kWp solar system, a 10kWh battery, an air source heat pump at about the £12,900 median before the grant.
What's 0% (and What Isn't)
| Item | Fitted by a business | Bought to fit yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Solar panels (with inverter and cabling) | 0% until 31 March 2027, then 5% | 20% |
| Home battery, with solar or on its own | 0% until 31 March 2027, then 5% | 20% |
| Air source and ground source heat pumps | 0% until 31 March 2027, then 5% | 20% |
| Ground source groundworks (boreholes, trenches) | 0% until 31 March 2027, then 5% | n/a |
| Insulation and draught stripping | 0% until 31 March 2027, then 5% | 20% |
| Heating controls (thermostats, TRVs) | 0% until 31 March 2027, then 5% | 20% |
| Solar diverter | 0% until 31 March 2027, then 5% | 20% |
| Plug-in (balcony) solar kit | n/a | 20% |
All from HMRC's VAT Notice 708/6, which covers installations in homes and charitable buildings across the UK. Batteries were added on 1 February 2024, including a battery retrofitted to existing panels and a standalone battery that only charges from the grid. A battery fitted at the same time as new panels is treated as part of one zero-rated job.
The Retail Trap
HMRC is clear that the relief is for the service of installing, and that "the sale of energy-saving materials by a retailer is always standard-rated". Two examples where that bites:
- Plug-in solar. Legal in Great Britain since 27 August 2026, but you buy it and plug it in yourself, so it carries 20% VAT. Our plug-in solar guide takes that into account.
- DIY loft insulation. Rolls from a DIY shop are 20%. If an installer supplies and fits them, the whole job is 0%. For a bare loft that can make the fitted price closer to DIY than you'd think.
There's one useful wrinkle the other way: if you buy materials yourself and pay a business to install them, the installation service is zero-rated, though the materials you bought still had 20% on them.
Bigger Building Jobs: Keep It Separate
If energy-saving work is part of a bigger job, it can lose the relief. HMRC's own example: fitting thermostatic radiator valves as part of a contract to build an extension is one standard-rated supply. If the homeowner asks for the valves separately, after the extension work has started, that's a separate job that qualifies.
So if you're adding solar during a re-roof, or a heat pump during an extension, ask for the energy-saving work on its own quote and invoice. Whether it's one supply or two depends on the facts (separate pricing, whether the parts are available separately, timing), so get your builder or accountant to confirm.
Beating the 1 April 2027 Deadline
Don't leave it to March. Surveys, quotes, network approval for larger solar systems and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme voucher all take time, and installers will be busiest in the final weeks. HMRC's notice sets the dates of the relief but not how a job that straddles 1 April 2027 is treated, so ask your installer to confirm the VAT rate on your quote and invoice, and aim to be fitted with a clear margin.
For a heat pump, the £7,500 grant comes off the price on top. For solar, the VAT saving is one of several ways to cut the cost: see every option in our solar panel grants guide, or check whether solar is worth it for you and what heat pumps cost.
What You Don't Need
- A VAT certificate or form. For homes, the installer simply charges 0% when the work qualifies. You don't apply for anything.
- To rush a decision you're unsure about. After 1 April 2027 the rate is 5%, not 20%. On a £6,000 system that's £300: real money, but not worth a bad installer.
Get fitted while it's still 0% VAT
Surveys, quotes and installs take weeks, and installers get busy near a deadline. Get free, no-obligation quotes from MCS-certified installers now and ask them to confirm the VAT rate on the quote.
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