Three real solar quotations, rebuilt from the rates

The rates on this page are not an estimate of our prices. Put three real jobs through them and they come back to the pound.

Each total is exactly as quoted, VAT at zero. The rate card below is what produced them.

5 panels £3,798 String inverter
11 panels, 2 batteries £9,774 Hybrid inverter
9 panels, 2 batteries £9,347 Three-phase inverter

Roofs we have already covered

Our own solar and battery installations, photographed on the day.

All 39 projects

Air source heat pump with roof-mounted solar in Winchmore Hill N21

Heat pump and solar N21 Winchmore Hill Air source heat pump with roof-mounted solar The panels sit across the rear pitch and the heat pump at the side of the house, which is the pairing that lets the pump run on its own generation through the middle of the day. Read the case study

Air source heat pump with solar and battery storage in Tottenham N15

Heat pump, solar and battery N15 Tottenham Air source heat pump with solar and battery storage The whole electrical side on one wall: inverter, battery modules and every isolator in reach, with the conduit dressed in straight runs so a fault years from now can be traced without stripping the wall. Read the case study

Solar panels on a brick wall and on the roof in Wimbledon SW19

Solar SW19 Wimbledon Solar panels on a brick wall and on the roof Some panels flat against a brick wall on black rails, the rest in a row along the roof slope with bird spikes along the lower edge and every frame bonded to earth. Read the case study

Solar panels on ballasted frames, flat roof in Cricklewood NW2

Solar and battery NW2 Cricklewood Solar panels on ballasted frames, flat roof Low-tilt frames standing on the pebble finish of a new-build flat roof and held down by weight, so nothing is fixed through the waterproofing, with a clear strip left along the parapet to walk and work from. Read the case study

Roof-mounted solar array in Brentford TW8

Solar TW8 Brentford Roof-mounted solar array Two panels on the slate roof of a single-storey extension, each with its own microinverter, and bird mesh clipped round the edge so nothing can nest underneath. Read the case study

Solar panels on ballasted trays, flat roof in Anerley SE20

Solar SE20 Anerley Solar panels on ballasted trays, flat roof Six panels on the flat dormer roof, tilted on weighted trays rather than bolted down, so the roof covering is not pierced anywhere and the array still faces the sun instead of lying flat. Read the case study

Samsung heat pump with Tesla Powerwall in Hemel Hempstead HP1

Heat pump and battery HP1 Hemel Hempstead Samsung heat pump with Tesla Powerwall Heat pump and battery on the same elevation, so the pump can be run off stored generation through the evening peak instead of off the most expensive electricity of the day. Read the case study

Vaillant air source heat pump with solar panels and a battery in Finsbury Park N4

Heat pump, solar and battery N4 Finsbury Park Vaillant air source heat pump with solar panels and a battery The panels on the roof run the heat pump through the day and the battery carries it into the evening, so the house buys far less from the grid. The unit sits on raised feet against the rear wall. Read the case study

Fox ESS hybrid inverter and CQ7 battery in Cricklewood NW2

Solar and battery NW2 Cricklewood Fox ESS hybrid inverter and CQ7 battery The battery stands outside on the roof terrace on its own paving base, which these IP65 rated LFP modules are built for, with the inverter and the isolator on the wall above it and the cables dropped in one enclosed run. Read the case study

Solar panels on a tiled pitched roof in Anerley SE20

Solar SE20 Anerley Solar panels on a tiled pitched roof The rest of the same array on the tiled slope, laid out around the two roof windows rather than over them, so the loft rooms keep their daylight. Read the case study

DC cabling in galvanised steel conduit in Anerley SE20

Solar SE20 Anerley DC cabling in galvanised steel conduit The cables from the roof brought down the rendered wall in galvanised steel conduit, clipped in straight runs into a junction box, instead of loose cable tied to the downpipe. Read the case study

Every line, at our rates: every line, at our rates

Nobody in this trade publishes this. It is the only way to tell whether a quotation is fair.

A five panel system with a string inverter is £3,900 to £5,050 installed. Eleven panels with two batteries is £9,450 to £11,750, and a real quotation at that size came to £9,774.

Panels are £72 to £90 each and fitting them is £100 to £120 each, so the cost per panel falls as the array grows and the fixed costs spread.

Solar and battery rates, VAT zero rated
Item	Goods	Fitting
Panel, 445 to 500 W	£72 to £90	£100 to £120 each
Panel, Aiko All Black premium	£170	Materials included in the rate
String inverter	£250	£1,100 to £1,200
Hybrid inverter, 5 kW	£650 to £689	£1,100 to £1,500
Three-phase inverter	£1,197	£1,100 to £1,500
Battery, 5 kWh Fox ESS EP5	£1,050 to £1,235	£990 to £1,100 each
Battery, Tesla Powerwall 3	£7,295	£1,500
MCS certification and documentation	None	£725 to £825
Scaffolding	None	£540
Installation materials	£473 to £1,179	Scales with the system

Reconstructing three real quotations from the rates above returns £3,798, £9,774 and £9,347 against actual totals of £3,798, £9,774 and £9,347. The model is the rate card, not an approximation of it.

What the price includes. Nothing added later.

Everything below is inside the figure.

ScaffoldingIn the figure. On a London terrace it is almost always needed, and leaving it out of the headline is how a quotation grows after you accept it.
MCS certificationRegistration NIC-601634. It is what makes the export tariff claimable and what a mortgage valuer or a buyer's surveyor will ask for.
Flat roofs includedA London flat roof on tilted ballasted frames gets close to a south-facing pitch, and it needs no roof penetration at all. We fit more of these than pitched arrays.

Questions people actually ask

How much does one panel actually generate?

A 460 W panel on a reasonable London roof returns roughly 390 kWh a year, so 5.1 kWp of them is about 4,335 kWh.

What that saves depends entirely on how much of it you use rather than export, which is the argument for a battery.

Is a battery worth it?

A 5 kWh battery adds about £2,040 to £2,335 and lifts self-consumption from roughly half to around three quarters.

It is worth more if you have a heat pump or air conditioning, because both shift load into the evening when the panels have stopped. See battery costs.

Why is there VAT of zero?

Installing energy saving materials in residential property is zero rated until 31 March 2027, after which it is scheduled to return to 5 per cent unless it is extended.

We are VAT registered under GB471566866 and commercial work is treated differently.