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Paying for it

How you pay changes what the system costs you.

Savings, a mortgage or a loan: how you pay doesn’t change what the roof saves, but it changes what the system costs you in the end, and so how long it takes to pay back.

Get my estimate Three ways to pay
Common ways to pay
Three
Shortest payback
From savings
Before you sign
Cost beside saving

Why it matters

Borrowing adds to the price, so it moves the payback.

The payback on your estimate assumes you pay the installed price and nothing more. On the example estimate that is £7,200⁠–⁠£8,900 without a battery, paid back in about seven years from a saving of about £1,080 a year. Borrow the money and the cost grows by whatever the borrowing costs, while the saving stays the same, so the payback stretches.

Your payback, worked out
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Paying for it

Savings, mortgage or a loan. Put the numbers side by side.

Most homeowners pay for solar in one of three ways. Paying from savings gives the shortest payback, because nothing is added to the price.

Some add it to their mortgage, as a further advance or when they remortgage. The rate is often lower, but it’s spread over longer, so look at the total you’ll repay, not only the monthly figure.

Others take a loan, sometimes offered through the installer. It can be the simplest route, and it’s where the small print matters most: the rate, the term, any fee for paying early and what happens if you move.

Whichever you choose, put the monthly cost beside the monthly saving on your estimate before you sign anything. We don’t arrange or recommend finance, and none of this is financial advice.

How the saving adds up

Before you sign

Five things to check on any finance offer.

We don’t arrange or recommend finance, and this isn’t financial advice. These are the lines worth reading before you sign.

  1. Cost beside saving

    Set the monthly cost beside the monthly saving on your estimate.

  2. The rate

    What the borrowing costs, and what it adds to the total you’ll repay.

  3. The term

    How long you repay for. A longer term lowers the monthly figure and raises the total.

  4. Paying early

    Any fee for paying it off early.

  5. If you move

    What happens to the agreement if you sell the house before it is paid off.

How we read a quote

Payback

Year by year, the saving pays for the system.

What the example roof saves each year covers what it cost installed in about seven years without a battery, about ten with one, if tariffs and use stay as assumed. After that the saving keeps coming, less upkeep such as a replacement inverter.

Units you no longer buy

Power your roof makes while you’re using it, at the price you would have paid.

Units you’re paid for

What you don’t use goes to the grid, paid at your export rate.

What moves it

How much of the roof’s power you use, and a battery. These figures assume 30p a unit and 16p for export; both vary by supplier.

Battery, priced both ways

In the app

Choosing a route in the app.

In the LuminAsset app, coming soon to iOS and Android, you’ll choose between two routes: buying the system, paid for any of the ways above, or a Power Purchase Agreement.

The app will set out how a Power Purchase Agreement works before you decide. If you rent rather than own, you’ll be able to add your landlord’s details and see where their approval stands.

The LuminAsset app
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Paying for it · questions

Asked about paying for it.

01Does the payback on my estimate include borrowing?

No. It assumes nothing is added to the installed price, which is why paying from savings gives the payback on your estimate. Borrowing adds its cost on top, and stretches the payback.

02Does paying monthly change the saving?

No. The saving comes from the units you no longer buy and the units you export, however you pay. What changes is the cost set against it.

03Does adding a battery change the sums?

Yes. On the example estimate it adds £4,500 to the price and changes the saving, so the payback is about ten years instead of about seven. Borrowing for it stretches that further.

04What if I move before a loan is paid off?

That depends on the agreement, so it is one of the lines worth reading before you sign.

Every question

From the guides

Read more before you decide.

Every guide explains one part of the job in plain English.

Rooftops carrying solar panels in low evening sun, chimney smoke rising

Before you buy · 5 min read

Reading a solar quote, line by line

What each line of a solar quote should say, what is often missing, and the questions worth asking before you sign.

Read the guide
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Money · 5 min read

Export payments, in plain English

How the Smart Export Guarantee works, what has to be in place before payments start, and why part of a solar saving is export income.

Read the guide

Keep reading

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