Best Solar Panels UK
Would you like to know which are the best solar panels in the UK? NimbleFins experts have analysed data on some of the more popular and best solar panel manufacturers—comparing price, degradation, power output, efficiency and warranties. We also compare the best solar panel installers that install that work around the country and locally. Plus we have researched the best solar batteries, including critical information such as storage capacity, warranties, depth of discharge, and where they're made. After reading this article, you will have clear information to help you choose the best solar panels for your needs.
For finding the best panels and batteries, we've selected some of the more popular manufacturers in the UK that we've seen a lot of when getting solar panel quotes from a range of companies; for identifying some of the best installers, we first ranked (the often larger) solar panel installers that operate nationally—but also have links to our research on smaller companies in our best solar panel installers by region article.
Best Solar Panels
Looking for the best solar panel system for your home? A system is only as good as the PV panels that generate the energy. Below, we've ranked some popular UK solar panels after analysing data on their cost, degradation, power output, efficiency, and warranties.
Best Photovoltaic Panels
The SunPower Maxeon 6 AC ranked #1 in our list of the best solar panels. It's known to be a great solar panel, and we've backed this up with data—a solid performer all around. Aiko's N-Type ranked #2 followed by the Jinko Tiger Neo N-Type.
As you can see in the table below, the best solar panels rank well by having low degradation, good power output, high efficiency and long warranties.
| Overall Rank | Manufacturer | Model | Average price (excl installation) | Min Output, at 25 years | Max Power Output | Max Efficiency | Panel Warranty | Performance Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SunPower | Maxeon 6 AC | £522 | 92.0% | 445W | 23% | 25 or 40 years | 25 or 40 years |
| 2 | Aiko | N-Type Black Hole A MAH54Mb | £112 | 90.6% | 450W | 23% | 15 years | 30 years |
| 3 | Jinko | Tiger Neo N-Type 54 | £94 | 89.4% | 445W | 22% | 25 years | 30 years |
| 4 | REC | Alpha Pure-R | £168 | 92.0% | 430W | 22% | 25 years | 25 years |
| 5 | Longi Solar | Hi-MO 6 LR5-54HTB-430M | £83 | 88.9% | 435W | 22% | 15 years | 25 years |
| 6 | JA Solar | JAM54D41 LB | £91 | 89.4% | 435W | 22% | 12 years | 30 years |
| 7 | Perlight | NTA 430W N-Type Mono Black Module | £162 | 89.4% | 430W | 22% | 30 years | 30 years |
| 8 | Suntech | Ultra V | £170 | 92.0% | 560W | 22% | 12 years | 25 years |
| 9 | Suntech | Ultra V Mini 405Wp | £160 | 92.0% | 415W | 21% | 12 years | 25 years |
| 10 | Sharp | 425w NU-JC425B | £299 | 89.5% | 425W | 22% | 25 years | 30 years |
| 11 | JA Solar | JAM78S30 Mono Half-Cell MBB | £161 | 84.8% | 605W | 22% | 12 years | 25 years |
| 12 | Trina Solar | Vertex S 410w All Black Panel | £169 | 92.0% | 410W | 21% | 15 years | 25 years |
| 13 | JA Solar | JAM54S31 Mono Half-Cell MBB Short Frame | £75 | 84.8% | 395W | 20% | 12 years | 25 years |
After combing through the data, here is a quick overview of what stood out to us the most about each panel listed in the table above:
- SunPower Maxeon 6 AC: Longest warranty (40 years if you register), tied with Aiko for best efficiency (23%) and tied with REC, Suntech and Trina for lowest degradation at 25 years; more expensive
- Aiko N-Type Black Hole A MAH54Mb: Tied with SunPower for best efficiency; long 30-year performance warranty; reasonably priced
- Jinko Tiger Neo N-Type 54: Economical panels with a long warranty and good efficiency markers
- REC Alpha Pure-R: Tied with SunPower for lowest degradation at 25 years; impressive 22.3% efficiency and 25-year warranties
- Longi Solar Hi-MO 6 LR5-54HTB-430M: Economical pricing and good efficiency, but weaker on the degradation stats
- JA Solar JAM54D41 LB: Another economical panel; average all rounder
- Perlight NTA 430W N-Type Mono Black Module: One of longest warranties (30 years for panels and performance)
- Suntech Ultra V: Second best warranties; otherwise average stats
- Suntech Ultra V Mini 405Wp: Great degradation stats, as panels maintain 92% of max power at 25 years
- Sharp 425w NU-JC425B: One of best warranties (25 years panels/30 years performance), one of more expensive panels
- JA Solar JAM78S30 Mono Half-Cell MBB: Degradation not as good (guaranteed 84.8% at 25 years); less efficient
- Trina Solar Vertex S 410w All Black Panel: Tied with SunPower and REC for least degradation); less impressive on other stats
- JA Solar JAM54S31 Mono Half-Cell MBB Short Frame: Degradation not as good (guaranteed 84.8% at 25 years); worst efficiency in the group (but still 20.2%)
You can typically find information for solar panels you're considering in the equipment data sheet. Your installer should be able to provide you with data sheets for any solar panels you're considering, or you can often find them on a manufacturers website or simply by Googling. Here is a snapshot of part of a data sheet from JA Solar—as you can see, here you'll find stats on max power, efficiency and degradation, in addition to useful information such as weight and dimensions.
Let us know if you've like us to add any other companies in the comments section at the bottom and we'll do our best to include them.
Most Popular Solar Panels
At the Solar & Live London event in April 2024, NimbleFins learned that EUPD Research surveyed UK installers and found the three solar brands with the widest distribution in the UK were JA Solar, Trina Solar and LONGi Solar. JA Solar is in the portfolio of 39% of the installers surveyed, following by Trina (28%) and LONGi (25%). Their survey also identified JA Solar as having the best brand awareness amongst UK installers, followed by Jinko Solar and LONGi Solar. You could say that this EUPD survey indicates that the four most popular solar panel brands in the UK are: JA Solar, Trina Solar, LONGi Solar and Jinko Solar.
Best Solar Installers
The experts at NimbleFins have researched scores of solar panel installers, looking for the best. Below is a list of some of the highest-rated, national solar panel installers, listed in alphabetical order. To help you pick the best one for you, we've included information on customer ratings from Trustpilot and Google and their workmanship warranties. All companies in the list are MCS certified and have a Trustscore of at least 4.0. We've also included information on other certifications and memberships (Solar Trade Association, Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd and TrustMark).
These companies install nationally, although we did include information on where they're based as we find many readers want this information as well. And for more information on these installers and more, please reference our page on solar panel installers.
| Installer | STA | RECC | TrustMark | Customer Ratings Rank^ (out of 15) | Workmanship Warranty | Based in | Brands include | Year Incorporated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Effective Home | no | no | yes (2 years) | 13 | 2 years | Doncaster (Yorkshire) | JA Solar, Longi, SolaX, Sunsynk, Tigo | 2016 |
| Egg (Cracking Energy) | no | yes | yes (3 years) | 7 | 2 years | Leeds (Yorkshire) | Longi, SolaX, SolarEdge, Tesla | |
| Empower Energy | no | yes | no | 2 | Ringwood, Hampshire (South East) | CanadianSolar, SolarEdge | 2010 | |
| LMF Energy Services (esolar) | no | no | no | 5 | Wirral, Merseyside (North West) | Trina Solar, Solis, Dyness | 2016 | |
| Evergen | no | no | no | 14 | 5 years | Slough, East Sussex (South East) | various | 2011 |
| Evergreen Power Solar | no | no | yes (2 years) | 9 | matches manufacturer product warranties | Croydon (Greater London) | Sharp, GivEnergy | 2013 |
| Fusion8 | yes | no | no | 1 | 10 years | Hove (South East) | Jinko, Q-Cells, Trina Solar panels; GivEnergy and Solis inverters; GivEnergy batteries | 2020 |
| Geo Green Power | yes | yes | yes (5 years) | 11 | 2 years | Nottingham (East Midlands) | JA Solar, CanadianSolar, Sharp, Hyundai, Panasonic, Renesola, SolarWorld, REC, SunTech | 2010 |
| Glow Green | no | yes | yes (< 1 year) | 9 | 5 years | Bournemouth (South West) | JA Solar. Perlight, Trina Solar, SolarEdge, myenergi, Tesla, PureDrive | 2011 |
| Heatable | no | no | yes (< 1 year) | 4 | 24 months | Cheshire (North West) | REA, Enphase inverters, Enphase, Alpha ESS, GivEnergy or Tesla batteries | 2013 |
| Joju Solar | no | yes | no | 6 | London | SunPower, ReneSola | 2016 | |
| Project Solar | no | no | yes (4 years) | 7 | 10 years | Burton, Staffordshire (West Midlands) | Project Solar, SunPower, Tesla | 2011 |
| Pure Energy | no | no | no | 12 | n/a | West Thurrock, Essex (East of England) | Jinko, SolarEdge, Hanchu, Alpha ESS, myenergi, Growatt | 2017 |
| Solarsense | yes | yes | yes (3 years) | 14 | 24 months | Bristol (South West) | SunPower, Tesla, GB-Sol | 2000 |
| UPS Solar | no | yes | yes (< 1 year) | 2 | Preston, Lancashire (North West) | Sharp, Q Cell, JA Solar, Fox ESS | 2022 |
There may be other companies better suited to your needs. And you might also want to consider smaller, local companies.
Best solar panel installers by region
To learn about local solar panel installers near you, please click on your region below:
Best Solar Battery
What's the best solar battery? It depends on what you're after—value, storage capacity, lifespan, or where it's made.
We've consolidated a lot of this information in the table below to help you compare solar panel batteries that can be used with (or even without) solar panel PV systems for the home. We also include our sense of where the battery falls in the scope of the market, from 'value' to 'ultra'.
For more information on battery costs, why you need a home battery with solar, and analyses of what size battery you need, how long they last and more, see our in-depth article on solar panel batteries.
| Best Batteries | Battery storage | Warranty | Cycles | Depth of Discharge | Country of Origin | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GivEnergy LiFePO4 Giv-Bat | 5.2kWh | 52MWh / 12 years | unlimited cycles over 12 years | 80% | Headquartered in Stoke on Trent in the UK and manufactured in China (using their own factories) | premium |
| PureStorage II | 5kWh | 10,000 cycles (equiv to 27 years of 1 full cycle/day) | 10,000 | 90% | Designed and Developed in the UK (‘All-in-One’ PureStorage II is also built in the UK) | ultra |
| Pylon US5000 | 4.8kWh | 10 years | 6,000 | 95% | China | value |
| SolarEdge Home Battery 400V | 9.7 kWh | 10 years | n/a | up to 94.5% | Various (7 manufacturing facilities e.g. China, South Korea, Israel, etc.) | premium; known for shaded systems |
| SolaX Triple Power | 5.8 kWh | 10 years | 6,000 | 90% | China | premium |
| SunSynk | 5.32kWh | 10 years | 6,000 | 80% | China | value |
| Tesla Powerwall | 13.5kWh | 10 years | unlimited cycles over 10 years | 90% | ultra |
How to compare the best solar quotes for you
Not sure how to choose an installer, a solar panel manufacturer/model or a battery? We've prepared an in-depth article highlighting the important ways to compare solar panel systems, addressing these questions and more. Of particular note, we've compared solar panels based on factors like efficiency, warranty and price.
And for general information regarding how much you might need to pay, read our in-depth analysis on the cost of solar panels in the UK.
Methodology
To rank the best solar panels, we gathered dozens of bits of data on some panels we think UK consumers are more likely to come across—for instance, we included panels that some of the large, national installers work with and quoted for us as a potential customer.
We first ranked the panels for each category (price, power, efficiency, degradation, panel warranty and performance warranty). Then, we averaged these rankings and ranked again, determining the 'best' panels across these 6 metrics. Note, prices are notoriously hard to find when it comes to solar panels; these estimates are averages from speaking to installers and researching prices at online sellers. Prices may differ.
The 'best' panel for you will certainly depend on your individual needs, but hopefully this information will help you in your search. For example, if you have limited roof space then panel efficiency and power might be priorities for you, while someone else might prioritise price or warranty.