Like any home improvement, a solar panel system can succeed or fail based on its installer.

It’s crucial to make the right choice for your home – so we’ve chosen six key factors to assess all 4,792 solar installers accredited by either The Home Insulation and Energy Systems Quality Assured Contractors Scheme (HIES) or Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC).

Our final rankings only include companies that have come through this series of tests intact, with the best customer service ratings on the market.

If you'd like to see the savings you could get from a solar & battery system, just answer a few questions below, and we’ll provide an estimate.

What are the best solar panel installers in the UK?

Here are our top solar & battery installers in the UK.

These companies have passed six key tests in securing the most stringent accreditations and certifications, as well as excellent reviews – all of which has allowed them to finish ahead of more than 4,700 competitors.

These solar & battery installers made the list because they met the following six key criteria:

• Certified by MCS or Flexi-Orb
• Accredited by RECC or HIES
• Approved by TrustMark
• Registered with NAPIT or NICEIC
• Rated 95% or higher by a minimum of 150 customers on at least one top review site
• Offer a workmanship warranty of at least five years

We also took note of which installers provide solar & battery packages with maintenance services with no upfront cost, as this allows more households to go solar – and make meaningful money doing it.

Sunsave was the only top-rated company that fulfilled this particular requirement.

We explain our methodology in more depth at the end of the article.

1. Sunsave

2. 1st Call Services

Managing director and local boy David Turner cut his teeth working as a service engineer for Sheffield City Council and Glow-worm, before starting his own business in 2004.

His company has been a force in the world of plumbing since then, and has expanded into solar installations with similar success.

That's how it's managed to rack up more than 270 reviews as a Which? Trusted Trader – more than the vast majority of solar installers on the platform.

Turner has dropped "Gas" from his firm's original name – 1st Call Gas Services – and made renewable installations one of its three main prongs.

The company's explained: "While our name, logo, and structure have evolved, our commitment to customer care, reliability, and high standards remains unchanged."

Key points

3. Atlantic Renewables

4. Thomson Electrical & Energy Solutions

5. Actismart

6. RR Electrical and Solar

7. Infinity Energy Services

8. Solar Maintenance Solutions

9. Alps Electrical

In some ways, this solar company, led by married couple Andy and Isabella Pemberton, is a classic family-run firm.

Its founder launched the business in 2000, after starting as an electrical apprentice at 16, then working as a qualified electrician at homes, schools, and hospitals in Teesside, as well as power stations and offshore oil platforms.

But that was before his life changed. Andy formed the band Journey South with his brother Carl, finished third on X Factor, and released a number one album that's sold more than 400,000 copies.

He eventually returned home, reopened the business, and tuned it into a local powerhouse.

Ironically considering his band's name, Pemberton's firm only operates northwards of their base in the small Teesside town of Yarm.

Alps Electrical serves customers all over Yorkshire and north east England – but it mostly serves its local Teesside community.

Key points

10. Yorkshire Automation

11. South East Solar and Electrical

12. Cinergi

13. GSM Electrical Fife

How to choose a solar panel installer

There are thousands of solar installers in the UK, so it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available to you.

But if you look for a company that succeeds in a few key aspects, you should be able to make the right decision for your household.

1. Customer reviews

This is the most important category. You don't need to find a company with perfect ratings, but in a world where good installers encourage their customers to leave reviews, you should check that a firm's feedback is generally positive.

Trustpilot, Checkatrade, Which?, and Google Reviews are all reliable sources for these reviews.

2. MCS or Flexi-Orb certification

Your installer should be certified by the MCS or Flexi-Orb, so that your system comes with the same stamp of approval.

This not only helps to ensure that your installation is carried out to a high standard, but also allows you to benefit from export income.

All export tariff suppliers require domestic systems to come with an MCS or Flexi-Orb certification – and not having one means missing out on hundreds of pounds per year.

A top-tier installer will also be accredited by RECC or HIES, Trustmark-approved, registered with NAPIT or NICEIC, and a Which? Trusted Trader.

3. Maintenance support

Ensuring your solar & battery system keeps functioning properly is a crucial step towards maximising your solar savings.

And even if everything works smoothly, parts of your system will eventually need replacing. Some technical experts in the industry estimate that a solar & battery system will require three maintenance call-outs in the first 20 years.

That includes one for the panels, one for the battery, and one for the inverter.

Batteries tend to last 10-12 years before they need to be replaced, while 34% of inverters fail by year 15, according to a study by Bern University of Applied Sciences.

Having to sort out inspections, repairs, and replacement parts can be expensive and stressful – yet many installers still don't offer any sort of maintenance package.

Fortunately, every Solar & Battery Plus system is protected by the Solar & Battery Guarantee. This 20-year package provides you with 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, a free battery upgrade, a free inverter replacement if necessary, downtime cover, and insurance.

4. Longevity/endurance

It's best to look for installers that have proven themselves, both by sticking around for a few years, and by amassing a large number of glowing customer reviews.

Many good companies go bust before their time, but not many bad installers survive for long.

A firm that's a little older should also have more experience with what does and doesn't work in your area, especially if it offers a maintenance package and therefore regularly provides aftercare.

How did we choose the best solar panel installers?

We conducted a thorough, objective analysis of the thousands of solar & battery installers operating across the UK.

Before starting this process, we decided that for a company to be the best, it has to hold the accreditations and certifications with the highest bars for entry.

When you hire one of these installers, you should be able to rest easy, knowing you’ll be treated well – but of course, the proof is in the pudding.

So we scoured the most reputable review sites to find out which companies had the best ratings from a large enough number of customers.

We also assessed whether these installers offer solar & battery packages with no upfront cost, since aftercare is crucial and the initial price tag is stopping many households from going solar.

On a related note, we also required qualifying businesses to provide a minimum five-year workmanship warranty.

With all of this information, we were able to find the best installers.

Here are the factors we took into account:

• Accreditations
• Customer review score
• Workmanship warranties
• Solar & battery packages

Customer review score

We decided that only installers with an average score of 95% or higher from their own customers would qualify for our list.

Since small samples aren’t indicative, we set the minimum number of ratings at 150.

And with far too many dubious review sites trying to convince consumers they know best, we limited our scope to organisations we can rely on: Trustpilot, Which?, Checkatrade, and Google.

As these sites use a mixture of rating systems – either ranking installers out of five or 10 – we’ve standardised scores by turning them into percentages, so they’re easy to understand.

Workmanship warranties

This is a crucial requirement, as it ensures peace of mind for solar homes.

MCS requires its certified installers to provide a two-year workmanship warranty, but this is just the bare minimum.

We looked for installers that go beyond what they have to do, and focus instead on providing the best service possible.

Even if the flaws in your installations aren't immediately obvious, this length of warranty should ensure you're still covered when they come to light.

Solar & battery packages

The best installers offer solar & battery packages with no upfront cost, that allow you to spread your payments across up to 20 years.

They should also ideally include 24/7 monitoring, maintenance support, downtime cover, and a free battery upgrade.

For these reasons, solar & battery packages are the main way in which the industry can save households meaningful money by putting power in their hands.

It was therefore important that we noted which of the best installers offer this invaluable service, which removes the main barrier to going solar: the initial price tag.

About half of UK households have less than £5,000 in savings, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Without a solar & battery package, they have no route to the lower electricity bills that a system can provide.

We don’t include solar products that require a roof lease in this category, as they come with a long list of disadvantages.

Next steps

We’ve found the 13 best solar panel installers in the UK, so you don’t have to.

The next step is to contact the installers that cover your area, and ask them for a free survey and quote.

However, there’s only one top installer that provides a solar & battery package which means you can get solar panels and a generous aftercare and support package with no upfront cost.

If you would like to see the savings you could get from a solar & battery system, just answer a few questions below, and we’ll provide an estimate.

Best solar panel installers: FAQs