What changed in June 2024
Until mid-2024, Home Energy Scotland's Grant and Loan could help with solar panels and batteries, as part of a package with a heat pump or high heat retention storage heaters. The terms published on 5 June 2024 ended that: for applicants who received an application link after 6 June 2024, funding for solar PV and energy storage systems is no longer available (HES terms and conditions).
What remains is narrow. Home Energy Scotland lists a loan of up to £5,000, with no grant, for hybrid PV-T panels (which make electricity and hot water) and for solar water heating (Home Energy Scotland). Ordinary solar PV panels and batteries are not on the list.
The Scottish Government's own figures show the effect. Solar PV measures funded through Home Energy Scotland fell from 3,368 in 2023–24 to 1,319 in 2024–25 and 371 in 2025–26, a fall the report puts down to the removal of eligibility (Heat in Buildings progress report 2026). Our guide to Home Energy Scotland and solar covers what the service still does.
Warmer Homes Scotland
Warmer Homes Scotland is the Scottish Government's main scheme for households struggling to heat their homes, delivered by Warmworks; its current phase started in October 2023 (Warmworks). It is not open to everyone. Home Energy Scotland lists these conditions (Home Energy Scotland):
- you own the home or rent it from a private landlord, and it has been your main home for at least six months (some medical forms waive this);
- the home has a poor energy rating, a floor area of 230 m² or less, and a council tax band from A to G;
- someone in the household receives a qualifying benefit (for example Universal Credit, Pension Credit Guarantee, Council Tax Reduction or Scottish Child Payment), or is aged 75 or over without working heating, or has a DS1500 or BASRiS form.
The scheme's published list of measures does not name solar PV, but it includes "a home renewables system", and the Scottish Government's figures show solar PV or battery measures rising from 313 in 2023–24 to 951 in 2024–25 and 1,369 in 2025–26 (gov.scot). Warmworks assesses each home and decides what it gets; you cannot choose solar on its own.
Area Based Schemes
Councils run Area Based Schemes with Scottish Government money: £64m in 2025/26. They target areas with high levels of fuel poverty and mostly fund solid wall insulation, with owners and housing associations sometimes contributing (gov.scot). Solar does feature: the scheme recorded 2,253 solar PV measures in 2022–23, 1,279 in 2023–24 and 634 in 2024–25 (progress report). Each council designs its scheme around the areas it chooses, so ask your council whether one covers your street.
What everyone gets
| What | How it works |
|---|---|
| 0% VAT | Installed solar panels and batteries in homes carry no VAT until 31 March 2027, then 5% (HMRC). It is applied on the installer's invoice. |
| Export payments | Under the Smart Export Guarantee, which covers Scotland, larger suppliers must offer a tariff above zero for electricity you export; each sets its own (Ofgem). |
| Advice | Home Energy Scotland gives impartial advice at no charge, even though it no longer funds solar PV. |
Export payments need an MCS-certified installation and a meter that records what you export. Our export payments guide explains how to compare offers. For what a system costs before any of this, see solar costs in Scotland.
Scotland and England side by side
Much online advice is written for England. The differences matter:
| England | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme | Yes (heat pumps, not solar) | No: England and Wales only (GOV.UK) |
| Low-income scheme that can fit solar | Warm Homes: Local Grant, through councils | Warmer Homes Scotland; council Area Based Schemes |
| National grant or loan for solar PV for anyone | No grant | No: Home Energy Scotland stopped it in 2024 |
| VAT on installed solar | 0% until 31 March 2027 | 0% until 31 March 2027 |
Grant offers to be wary of
Because "solar panel grants Scotland" is searched so often, it attracts misleading offers. Be cautious of anyone who:
- says a government scheme will pay for panels for any homeowner;
- claims to be from Home Energy Scotland or the council and asks you to sign there and then;
- presents a loan or a finance plan as a grant;
- will not put the scheme's name, the rules and the price in writing.
Real schemes check your eligibility before anything is fitted, and the delivery body, not a salesperson, decides the measures. If you are paying for solar yourself, compare written quotes from MCS-certified installers, as the installer guide on this site explains.