Editorial independence & methodology
✓ No ads. No affiliate links.
✓ No installer pays to appear.
✓ Every price is sourced and dated.
Our promise
Most UK solar "cost" content is published by companies that sell installations, sell referrals, or sell your contact details to companies that do. That conflict shapes the numbers you see. We're built differently: The Cost of Solar carries no advertising and no affiliate links, and no installer pays to appear or rank here. We make money by being trusted, not by selling your details.
How we source figures
Every price, rate and payback figure is drawn from public datasets and named sources — chiefly DESNZ Solar PV cost data, MCS installation records, the Ofgem price cap and Smart Export Guarantee, and HMRC VAT guidance. Each figure carries the month it was last priced, and the cost pages are reviewed monthly so they don't drift stale. We never hardcode an unsourced number into our guides.
How we make money (transparently)
This site is part of the SEO Dons network. Some links point to installers and commercial-solar specialists in that network; those are marked and carry no editorial weight — a company being in the network never changes a price, a verdict or a recommendation. We'd rather lose a referral than mislead a reader.
Who writes this
The Cost of Solar data desk — Editorial & methodology. We compile UK solar pricing from public datasets (DESNZ, MCS, Ofgem) and source every figure. We take no money from installers and carry no affiliate links — our methodology is published in full.
We are recruiting a credentialed MCS-registered reviewer to formally review our cost methodology; until then we lead with full sourcing and published assumptions rather than borrowed credentials.
Spotted an error?
Accuracy matters more to us than being first. If a figure looks wrong or out of date, tell us and we'll check it against source and correct it — dating the change.