Solar Panels in Liverpool

A south-facing roof in Liverpool generates about 967 kWh per kWp a year on the EU's PVGIS model, and every unit you use saves 27.86p, the highest unit rate of the 14 Ofgem price cap regions in Great Britain. A typical 4.5kWp system would make about 4,352 kWh a year.

How much electricity solar panels make in Liverpool

A south-facing 1kWp system at 35 degrees in central Liverpool generates about 967 kWh a year, according to the EU's PVGIS model. That ranks 14 of the 20 areas we cover, which run from 850 kWh in Glasgow to 1,119 kWh in Dorset. East and west roofs still work, at roughly a fifth less.

PVGIS is a modelled figure for an unshaded roof with 14% system losses, and it runs higher than the MCS method installers must use for your written estimate, which gives roughly 800 to 950 kWh per kWp for a well-oriented UK roof. Use PVGIS to compare places and the installer's MCS estimate to plan your budget. Our guides to which direction panels should face and how much electricity solar panels produce go further.

What that electricity is worth in Liverpool

Every unit you use yourself saves 27.86p, the Ofgem price cap rate for direct debit customers in the Merseyside and Northern Wales region from 1 October to 31 December 2026. The Great Britain average is 26.32p. Every unit you export earns whatever your Smart Export Guarantee tariff pays, which the Energy Saving Trust puts at around 12p typically.

Take the Energy Saving Trust's typical 4.5kWp home system. On the PVGIS figure for Liverpool it would generate about 4,352 kWh a year. If you used all of it, that would be worth about £1,212. If you exported all of it, about £522. Real homes sit between the two, and a battery or daytime use pushes you towards the higher figure. The Energy Saving Trust prices that typical system at around £7,600. See our solar panel cost guide and current export rates.

The most valuable solar unit in Great Britain

Liverpool is in the Merseyside and North Wales price cap region, where the direct debit electricity rate is 27.86p per kWh from 1 October to 31 December 2026, higher than any other of the 14 Ofgem price cap regions and well above the Great Britain average of 26.32p. The cheapest region, the East Midlands, pays 25.36p. A unit you generate and use yourself simply displaces a unit you would have bought, so the same roof saves you more in Liverpool than it would in Leicester or Nottingham.

One honest caveat. The region also has the highest standing charge on the cap, 67.66p a day, and solar does nothing about a standing charge: you pay it whether you import anything or not. Solar changes what your units cost you, not your daily fee. Our guide to electricity cost per kWh in the UK breaks the bill into its parts, and current export rates covers what you are paid for the units you do not use, which are set by your supplier rather than by region.

Grants in Liverpool: the list is full until April 2027

Liverpool City Council's Warm Homes: Local Grant lists solar PV and PV batteries among its measures and asks eligible households for no financial contribution, but it is oversubscribed for year two, which runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. The council has £5.8 million from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to upgrade about 450 homes over three years. New applicants register interest for year three, starting 1 April 2027, through the GOV.UK referral portal. The council says it cannot accept applications made directly to its Healthy Homes team by email or phone.

Eligibility needs an EPC of D to G plus one of three routes: a postcode in income deciles 1 to 2 of the Indices of Multiple Deprivation, a listed means-tested benefit, or a gross household income below £36,000 (or meeting the after housing costs threshold for your household size). If you live in Halton, Knowsley, St Helens or Wirral, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority runs your part of the same programme from a £31.8 million allocation, and Sefton runs its own. See our guide to solar panel grants in the UK for the national picture.

A terraced city, and what that means for your roof

At the 2021 Census, 37.9% of Liverpool households lived in terraced houses, against 23.0% across England, while only 8.2% lived in detached houses against England's 22.9%. Another 30.7% were in semi-detached homes and 17.2% in purpose-built flats. Liverpool is, by housing type, one of the most terraced big cities in England.

A terrace is perfectly good for solar, but it changes the job. Roof slopes are narrower, so the panel count is usually lower and the layout matters more. Access for scaffolding can be tight on a street with no rear lane. And your slopes face whichever way the street runs, which may mean an east and west split rather than a south-facing roof. Our guides to which direction panels should face and how many panels you need are worth reading before you book a survey.

Conservation areas and Article 4 directions in Liverpool

Liverpool has 36 conservation areas covering 9% of the city and protecting 19,000 properties, and Article 4 directions cover most of them. That matters more here than in most cities, because the controlled householder works include alterations to the roof and roof coverings. In Kensington Fields, Knotty Ash, and Toxteth Park and the Avenues the Article 4 applies only to elevations facing a highway. Elsewhere it applies to all elevations. The council says the conservation area boundaries are currently under review, so check your address rather than relying on an old map.

One constraint that no longer applies: Liverpool is not a World Heritage Site. UNESCO's World Heritage Committee deleted Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City from the list on 21 July 2021. The city's conservation area and listed building controls are separate and still in force. Our guides to solar panels in a conservation area and listed buildings explain what consent you need, and permitted development covers the baseline English rules.

How much solar Liverpool has, and who you notify

The government counted 8,074 solar installations in Liverpool at the end of 2025, up 17% from 6,916 a year earlier, about 39 per 1,000 households by our count. That is well below the UK average of about 69 and places Liverpool 304th of the 362 UK council areas in the table, which is what you would expect from a city of terraces and flats rather than detached homes. The government warns its 2025 council figures undercount, so the real number is higher. On the domestic figures for August 2026 the spread across the city is wide: Liverpool Garston 2,548 installations, Walton 2,235, West Derby 1,663, Riverside 1,535 and Wavertree 1,149. The North West as a whole reached 186,253 installations, up 16% in a year.

Liverpool's network is run by SP Energy Networks, in the SP Manweb licence area that also covers Cheshire, North Wales and North Shropshire. SP Energy Networks wants notice of a single G98 generator, meaning under 16A per phase or about 3.68kW, before or at commissioning, and it calls that a legal obligation. Its G98 Form B must reach it within 30 days of commissioning with the circuit diagram and test report attached, where most other network operators allow 28. Our G98 and G99 guide covers the process, and you can compare with solar panels in Manchester or solar panels in Cardiff.

Getting solar quotes in Liverpool

Get at least three written quotes from MCS-certified installers, each with a performance estimate for your roof and a full breakdown of what is supplied. That is the Renewable Energy Consumer Code's advice. Never pay more than 25% up front, and walk away from anyone offering a discount to sign on the day. Our guide to choosing a solar installer covers what to check.

Sources for this page

Local sources checked on 16 October 2026. Solar yields: PVGIS 5.2, EU Joint Research Centre, modelled 10 October 2026. Electricity prices: Ofgem price cap by region. System cost and export rate: Energy Saving Trust. Local sources:

• Liverpool City Council: apply for a Warm Homes Local Grant
• Liverpool City Region Combined Authority: Warm Homes Local Grant
• Liverpool City Council: conservation areas
• Liverpool City Council: Article 4 directions
• UNESCO: Liverpool deleted from the World Heritage List (2021)
• DESNZ: Renewable electricity by local authority, 2014 to 2025
• DESNZ: Solar photovoltaics deployment (September 2026)
• Nomis: Census 2021 accommodation type (TS044)
• SP Energy Networks: single G98 generator connections