Solar panels in Birmingham: are they worth it?

If you’re lucky enough to live among the scenic canals, fascinating architectural variety, and thriving sporting scene in Birmingham, and you’d like to cut your energy bills, solar panels might be the answer.

From Sutton Coldfield to Longbridge, Birmingham gets more than enough sunlight for solar homes to cut their electricity bills by hundreds of pounds every year.

In this guide, we’ll explain how much solar panels cost in Birmingham, how the city’s weather affects them, and which government grants could help you with the upfront cost.

We install in Birmingham, so if you’re wondering how much you could save with a solar & battery system, enter a few details below and we’ll provide an estimate.

What are the best installers in Birmingham?

1. Sunsave

At Sunsave, our mission is to make solar accessible to all UK households, which is why we provide the country’s first solar subscription service.

Sunsave Plus comes with no upfront cost – instead, you’ll pay a completely fixed monthly fee, which allows you to start saving on your energy bills immediately.

We’ll give you best-in-class kit, and expert advice on the best export tariffs around, to help you make significant energy bill savings – and we’ll always be just a call or email away throughout your term.

We’ll follow through too, with practical assistance that allows you to make the most of your installation.

Every Sunsave Plus system is covered by the 20-year Sunsave Guarantee, which includes 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, a free battery upgrade, a free inverter replacement (if required), and downtime cover.

Also, your system will be insured by Aviva against damage, fire, and theft.

Our customers say lovely things about our work, and have left us 200+ five-star ratings on Trustpilot, as well as reviews that praise our staff for their supportive, efficient, knowledgeable approach.

To learn more, read our reviews page.

2. Solec Generation

This family-run company is relatively new, having only sprung up in Dudley in 2023, but it’s quickly earned a sterling reputation.

The efforts of directors Joanne and Stuart Ashton have been rewarded with a steady stream of praise from happy customers, who’ve been particularly impressed by Stuart’s knowledgeable, helpful attitude.

One reviewer summed up many people’s opinions by highlighting the “respect and care taken at every aspect of the install”, while another said Stuart “advised, supplied, and fitted” their system, and “even helped with tariff advice.”

Solec Generation also uses products made by manufacturers like JA Solar, Jinko Solar, and LONGi, which have all appeared on our rundowns of the most powerful and most efficient solar panels.

3. Edan Power

Anita and PK Chopra launched Edan Power in 2018, making this company the oldest on our list.

From a red-brick building on an industrial estate in north Birmingham, the married couple have established their firm in the local community, where they support charities like Acorns Children's Hospice and the Trussell Trust.

They have dozens of sparkling reviews from happy solar households, commending the “very professional” and “very helpful” way that the team dealt with the process.

The firm also installs boilers and insulation, and has launched related companies Edan Pay and Edan Heating, which shows how much of a success the original firm has been.

4. Go Greener Energy

This solar installation company was launched in 2022 by local boy Craig Siviter, who grew up in nearby Netherton, in Dudley.

It’s become a team of trusted professionals who install solar & battery systems all the way from Cheshire down to Oxfordshire, including the entire West Midlands area.

If you choose Go Greener Energy, you’ll get solar panels from brands like AIKO – one of the largest solar panel manufacturers in the world – installed by “fantastic, friendly staff”, according to reviews.

Customers of this Sutton Coldfield-based firm also like Craig, calling him “informative and knowledgeable, with no pressure to purchase”.

How much do solar panels cost in Birmingham?

A 4.95 kilowatt-peak (kWp) solar panel system costs £12,750 to buy and have installed in Birmingham, on average, according to local MCS data.

The price you end up paying will depend on lots of factors, including the system’s size, the installation’s complexity, the installer you pick, and your home’s location.

We've also included the approximate cost of getting a battery with each installation, as this can massively boost your savings.

It enables you to use more of the electricity your panels produce, buy less electricity from the grid, and reduce your energy bills.

A battery opens up other opportunities too, such as signing up to one of the best export tariffs, taking advantage of a time-of-use import tariff with off-peak periods, and joining grid flexibility services like virtual power plants.

These money-spinning benefits may be why around 94% of new solar panel installations in the UK now include a battery, according to data from Flexi-Orb and the Energy Performance Validation Scheme (EPVS).

We install in Birmingham, so if you’re wondering how much you could save with a solar & battery system, enter a few details below and we’ll provide an estimate.

Are there any grants for solar panels in Birmingham?

There are a couple of ways that you can get free or discounted solar panels in Birmingham, which we’ll run through below.

These are mostly focused on the most underprivileged households, though business owners can also take advantage of Birmingham City Council’s BEAS Grant Programme.

This £15 million scheme enables small and medium-sized enterprises in the West Midlands to get up to £100,000 in funding for energy efficiency measures such as solar panels.

Buildings Retrofit Pilot

This scheme is set to provide £167 million of funding to the oldest, coldest households in the West Midlands, to pay for measures like heat pumps, solar panels, and insulation.

Instead of providing support through solar panel grants like the Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG), the UK government has agreed to hand the reins – and money – to the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

For three years until September 2028, the WMCA will give this funding to local authorities and housing associations to improve up to 14,000 of the least energy-efficient homes in the region.

Households won’t be able to apply for funding themselves. Instead, you’ll have to wait for your local authority to decide that you deserve an award.

If you’re in the right postcode, receive a qualifying benefit, or earn below the household income limit, you may qualify.

However, local authorities can refuse to award funding to a household “if they do not feel they have a low income or are not at risk of fuel poverty”.

Solar Together Birmingham

Solar Together uses the power of collective buying to get cheaper solar installation prices for residents and business owners in a particular area.

The scheme, by Dutch company iChoosr, has negotiated 30-35% discounts on the standard market rate in Essex and Bristol.

You can join if you’re a homeowner, small or medium-sized business owner, or tenant – as long as you have your landlord’s permission.

Solar Together came to Birmingham and the wider West Midlands region in 2025, and though the scheme is not currently active in the area, it should be back before too long.

The initiative does have some notable drawbacks, and it’s worth finding out about them before proceeding. Read our guide to Solar Together to make sure you’re in the know.

National grants

You may be able to benefit from one national solar panel grant that applies to households in Birmingham, which we’ve run through in detail below.

This programme is primarily aimed at underprivileged, energy-inefficient households though, which means most people aren’t eligible.

To find out which grants you could qualify for, use our grant eligibility checker.

How many homes in Birmingham have solar panels?

12,894 homes in Birmingham have solar panels, according to government data from November 2025.

That means roughly 3% of the city’s 423,500 households have made the switch.

Though that’s lower than the UK average of 5.5%, it’s higher than the 1.7% of London households and 2.3% of Edinburgh homes that have gone solar.

Is Birmingham sunny enough for solar panels?

Birmingham is certainly sunny enough for solar panels.

When it comes to ‘solar irradiance’ – which describes the sun’s intensity in a certain area – the home of Julie Walters, Duran Duran, and Benjamin Zephaniah receives more sunlight than most areas of the UK.

Solar irradiance is the amount of energy that travels from the sun to a particular spot on Earth, and is measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre.

The higher the solar irradiance is in your location, the more daylight your panels can convert into electricity, and the more you’ll save on your energy bills.

Dunsop Bridge, a village in Lancashire that the Ordnance Survey has dubbed the geographic centre of Britain, receives around 850kWh per m².

That’s according to the European Commission's Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS), which regularly updates its solar irradiance data.

You’ll get about 3.9% more in Birmingham, which puts you in a great position to cut your electricity bills with solar.

Advances in solar and battery technology have made it worthwhile to go solar wherever you are in the UK, even in places that receive lower than average amounts of daylight – but Brummies don’t have to worry about that.

Typical solar panel output in Birmingham

A 4.6kWp solar panel system will generate 3,477kWh of electricity per year in Birmingham, according to the European Commission’s PVGIS tool.

That should be more than enough to cover most of your annual electricity usage with solar energy, as the average UK household uses 3,400kWh per year.

We’ve used a 4.6kWp array because it was the average UK system size in 2024, and we chose a 35° roof as it’s a standard angle for UK roofs.

Our calculations are also based on a west-facing system, so if you have a south-facing roof, you could generate even more solar electricity – 4,444kWh, to be exact.

These figures show how productive solar panel systems can be in Birmingham nowadays, thanks to technological advances.

Your output won’t be the same all year round, though – in fact, your panels will usually generate more electricity than you need in summer. If you sign up to a solar export tariff, you can earn money by selling this excess energy to the grid.

This will give you a financial buffer during winter, when your panels will produce less electricity and you’ll have to rely more on the grid.

Is it worth getting solar panels in Birmingham?

It’s definitely worth getting solar panels in Birmingham, even if the weather is often rainy.

The city’s irradiance levels are higher than the UK average, which means a solar installation can generate more than enough electricity for you to make an excellent return on your investment.

You can save hundreds of pounds per year by going solar, which may explain why thousands of households in Birmingham have already made the switch.

If the upfront cost’s too expensive for you, it’s worth considering Sunsave Plus, our all-in-one, bespoke residential solar and battery solution that’s delivered as a monthly subscription with no upfront cost.

Every system comes with the Sunsave Guarantee, which includes 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, a free battery upgrade, a free replacement inverter (if needed), and downtime cover.

Your system will also be insured by Aviva against damage, fire, and theft.

We install in Birmingham, so if you’re wondering how much you could save with a solar & battery system, enter a few details below and we’ll provide an estimate.

Solar panels in Birmingham: FAQs