Trade bodies warn that cuts to solar support risk undermining Scotland’s net‑zero goals, but some households are still paying for panels and batteries themselves as heat pump uptake grows and electricity prices rise.
In June 2024, the Scottish Government removed funding for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and battery storage from the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme, ending support for what had become a common add‑on to low‑carbon heating projects. Industry groups including CICV and Scottish Renewables raised “serious concerns”, warning that pulling support for rooftop solar and storage would undermine Scotland’s solar sector and weaken the financial case for households to generate their own power.
Support for clean heating has remained in place. Homeowners can still claim grants of up to £7,500, rising to £9,000 in rural areas, towards the cost of installing an air source heat pump, which shifts a home’s heating demand onto electricity rather than gas or oil. Official progress reports and market data indicate that Scotland is on course for record heat pump installations, adding to a steady rise in low‑carbon heating systems across the UK.
At the same time, the cost of grid electricity has continued to climb. From 1 July 2026, Ofgem’s price cap will put the average electricity unit rate at around 26.1 pence per kilowatt hour, significantly higher than pre‑crisis levels and a key driver of household bills. Two further policy deadlines are also approaching: the ECO4 energy efficiency scheme is due to close on 31 December 2026, and the current 0 percent VAT rate on domestic solar panels and battery storage is scheduled to revert to 5 percent on 1 April 2027.
Installers say that mix of higher electricity prices, expanding heat pump use and a narrowing window of tax relief is reshaping how homeowners think about solar and batteries. For many, panels and storage are no longer seen as standalone “eco” upgrades but as part of the same system that keeps a heat‑pump‑heated home warm and powered. Solar generates electricity during the day, a battery stores surplus power for use in the evening, and together they reduce the amount of electricity a household has to buy from the grid at the full capped rate.
According to several Scotland‑based installers, that logic is now driving self‑funded investment even in the absence of dedicated solar grants. One Central Scotland firm, Aventus Eco, says it has seen growing interest in homeowner‑funded solar PV and battery systems since the grant changes came into force, particularly among households that have recently installed or are planning a heat pump.
Speaking to Scottish Business News, Sean Hogan, managing director at Aventus Eco and Scotland’s regional winner in the 2026 Heating Installer Awards, said: “People assume that pulling the solar grant would kill demand. It has done the opposite.” He added,. “When you are paying 26 pence a unit and you have just put in a heat pump, generating your own power and storing it stops being a green nice‑to‑have and starts being basic arithmetic. The homeowners we speak to have done that maths, and a lot of them want it finished before the VAT relief ends next spring.”
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Hogan says the customers his company speaks to are weighing the rising cost of doing nothing against the upfront cost of a self‑funded installation, taking into account the current VAT rules and the outlook for future energy prices. For many of those households, he adds, the decision is to complete a “whole‑house” system — heat pump, solar and battery — while zero‑rated VAT is still available on the electrical side of the upgrade.
Industry groups argue that better‑targeted public support could help more households follow that path. Scottish Renewables has called for solar PV and energy storage to be reinstated within the Home Energy Scotland scheme, arguing that combining heat pumps with rooftop solar and batteries offers one of the most effective ways to cut emissions and shield consumers from volatile wholesale markets. CICV has made similar points, warning that the removal of solar and storage support risks slowing installer pipelines just as skills and capacity are being built up.
For now, the landscape leaves solar panels and batteries as a self‑funded layer that some Scottish homeowners are choosing to add around a grant‑supported heat pump, motivated more by arithmetic than by subsidy. As electricity costs, policy deadlines and decarbonisation targets converge, installers say these households are treating on‑site generation and storage as part of their core heating and power infrastructure rather than an optional extra.
