Around 6% of UK homes now have solar panels on the roof, and that share keeps climbing every year. Despite that, many homeowners are still operating under the same objections that may once have held true – but, as of 2026, are categorical ‘myths’ of the industry.
None of the following three claims hold up well against what’s actually true in 2026.
Myth 1: You need planning permission before you can install
For the vast majority of UK homes, no. Roof-mounted solar counts as permitted development under the Town and Country Planning order that covers this, provided the panels don’t project more than 200mm from the roof slope and don’t rise above the highest point of the roof, chimneys aside. That covers the overwhelming majority of standard installations without a single form going near the local council.
The exceptions are listed buildings and some conservation areas, where extra paperwork is required (in other words, it’s not a definitive ‘no’).
So, while it’s exactly the kind of detail worth checking, it’s not a major factor for the majority of homeowners in the UK. Domestic Solar Panels by GSM, the MCS-accredited installer, will be accompanied by a survey that will flag which category a specific property falls into before any quote gets finalised.
Myth 2: The UK is too cloudy for solar to be worth it
Solar panels respond to daylight, not just direct, midday sunlight. A heavily overcast day typically still produces somewhere in the region of 10% to 25% of a panel’s rated output, and a bright day with patchy cloud can push that up to 50% or more. G
Germany, which gets less annual sunshine than most of England, has been one of Europe’s largest solar markets for years, which rather undercuts the idea that grey skies rule it out. Cooler temperatures actually help panel efficiency too, since heat is the thing that reduces a cell’s output, not the absence of blazing sun.
Myth 3: Solar panels make a house harder to sell
This one had a grain of truth from the “rent a roof” schemes of the 2010s, where a company owned the panels and the homeowner just got the electricity. Owned solar is a different story.
A study by Swansea University and the University of Birmingham, published in the journal Energy Economics, analysed roughly five million Zoopla listings against Land Registry sale prices and found homes with owned solar panels sold for a premium of 6.1% to 7.1% over comparable homes without them.
Obviously, there is no cut-and-dry answer about how much solar panels impact a home’s value. There are no guarantees at installation that X amount will be added to the home’s value. But what we are seeing is an increasing number of people specifically seeking out homes with renewable energy installations, such as solar.
Unless leased, the idea that solar panels are actively working against a home’s value feels positively mediaeval.
