Solar panels for holiday lets, FAQs
Honest answers to the questions our customers actually ask. Last updated for 2026.
These are the questions holiday-let owners actually ask us, drawn from real scoping conversations with owners of self-catering cottages, premium lodges, glamping sites and small self-catering parks across the UK. We have answered them plainly, with indicative figures where they help and honest caveats where the position is genuinely uncertain, rather than deflecting to a sales call.
Solar for a holiday let is a different question from solar for a home or a 24/7 business, so several of these answers turn on the sector's defining fact: your busiest, highest-earning months of April to October are also your sunniest, so in-season self-consumption is naturally high. The hot tub, the hot-water and laundry re-heat at each changeover, and increasingly guest EV charging are the loads that drive the case, and a battery is what time-shifts midday generation to run them into the evening for back-to-back guests.
Two areas deserve a clear warning up front. First, tax: the Furnished Holiday Lettings regime was abolished from 6 April 2025, so the old capital-allowance route no longer applies to personally-held lets and the position now depends entirely on your ownership structure. We are not tax advisers, we quote no allowance figures as current fact, and every tax answer here tells you to take your own tax advice and speak to your accountant. Second, planning: many lets sit in National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, conservation areas or listed buildings, where discreet siting and, in some cases, formal consent matter. Where a figure is a modelled scoping range rather than a quote, we say so.
How much do solar panels for a holiday let cost in the UK?
Indicatively, a single self-catering cottage with a hot tub runs £7,000-£16,000 for a 4-8 kW array plus a 5-10 kWh battery; a premium lodge £9,000-£20,000; a small self-catering park (site-wide, 15-50 kW) £22,000-£70,000; and an off-grid glamping site £10,000-£45,000 depending on storage. These are scoping ranges, not quotes, real cost depends on your roof, hot tub, heating, EV charging and whether you add a battery. Note the tax position changed in April 2025 (see the tax question below), so take your own tax advice on any allowances.
Does solar make sense if our holiday let is only busy in summer?
Yes, arguably more than for a year-round home. Your busiest, highest-earning months (April-October) are also the sunniest, so in-season self-consumption is high, the hot tub, hot-water re-heat at each changeover and guest EV charging all draw power when the panels generate most. In the quiet winter you export to the grid under the Smart Export Guarantee. We overlay your occupancy calendar on the generation curve so you can see the seasonal match before deciding.
Will solar cover my hot tub's running cost?
Largely, in season, and the hot tub is usually the single biggest electrical load on a holiday let. A tub kept hot and filtered for back-to-back guests draws a 2-3 kW heater, much of it during the day, which solar can cover directly. Pairing the array with a battery lets you store midday sun to keep the tub hot into the evening and overnight for new arrivals, instead of buying peak-rate grid electricity. The hot tub is often what turns a marginal payback into a good one.
Do I need a battery for a holiday let?
Usually, yes. The loads that define a holiday let, the hot tub, evening hot-water re-heat and evening guest EV charging, largely fall outside peak sun, so a battery that stores midday generation and releases it after dark is where much of the return comes from. We size the battery to your actual in-season load pattern rather than fitting a default, and model the payback with and without it so you can see the difference.
Can guests charge their EVs from our solar?
Yes, and it is one of the strongest cases for holiday-let solar. Daytime guest charging absorbs solar at near-100% self-consumption, and a battery lets guests charge from stored solar in the evening without straining your supply. A charge point is also a listing selling point, EV-driving guests actively filter for it. For a small park or multi-lodge site, the OZEV Workplace Charging Scheme can help fund the sockets.
Can I claim the solar against tax like I used to under the holiday-let rules?
The rules changed. The Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) regime, which let holiday lets claim capital allowances (including the Annual Investment Allowance) on plant like solar, was abolished from 6 April 2025 (1 April 2025 for companies). If you hold the property personally you can no longer write the panels down as plant and machinery, only Replacement of Domestic Items Relief (for furnishings) applies. If the let is held in a limited company, solar may still be qualifying plant and the company may be able to use the Annual Investment Allowance, depending on its structure. We are not tax advisers, please take your own tax advice, but we will not pretend the old FHL allowances still apply.
Is there still 0% VAT on solar for a holiday let?
0% VAT on qualifying domestic-scale solar and battery runs to 31 March 2027 in Great Britain. However, it is a residential/domestic relief, and its application to a property run purely as a commercial holiday let is not clear-cut. Confirm your specific position, and take your own tax advice, before relying on it.
Will we get planning permission in a National Park or conservation area?
Usually, with care. Roof-mounted PV on a dwelling is often permitted development, but not on a wall or roof fronting a highway in a conservation area, and listed buildings always need Listed Building Consent. We favour discreet, non-highway-facing roof slopes or screened ground-mount, and provide the visual-impact detail the authority expects. Many cottages, lodges and glamping sites in the Lake District, Eryri, Pembrokeshire, Cornwall and the Dales already run solar successfully.
Our glamping site / remote cottage has a weak or no grid supply, can solar work?
This is where solar-plus-battery shines. Rather than paying a DNO for a slow, expensive grid extension to a remote field, a solar-and-battery system can power your lighting, hot water, pods and shower block directly. We size the storage to carry the site overnight and through cloudy spells, and can add a small backup generator for worst-case weeks. On off-grid sites this is often dramatically cheaper and faster than a grid connection, and sizing for self-consumption only avoids a G99 export application altogether.
Will installation disrupt our guests and bookings?
We plan around your calendar. Roof work is contained and usually done in a changeover gap or your quiet season, so guests are unaffected. The only unavoidable outage is the short final grid connection (a few hours), which we book for an empty period. For a small park, we schedule the more disruptive work outside your peak season entirely.
What size solar system does a holiday cottage need?
Indicatively, 4-8 kW plus a 5-10 kWh battery for a single cottage with a hot tub, but real sizing depends on your hot tub, heating, EV charging and roof. We size to your in-season daytime load, hot tub, hot-water re-heat and any EV charging, not to an annual average, because that is when your demand and the sun both peak. These are scoping ranges, not a quote.
Do I qualify for the Smart Export Guarantee?
Yes, if the system is MCS-certified. The Smart Export Guarantee pays for the electricity you export, and holiday lets export meaningfully in the quiet off-season when occupancy is low, so it is worth having. Tariffs are supplier-set (indicatively 4-15p/kWh in 2026), so it pays to shop around.
Does solar help us win more bookings?
Increasingly, yes. Eco-conscious guests, especially in the glamping and premium-lodge segments, actively choose greener stays, and on-site solar is auditable evidence for a Green Tourism award that helps direct and platform-booking visibility. Several owners now mention their solar and low running costs directly in their listing to stand out.
What payback can a holiday let expect from solar?
Indicatively 6-11 years, with hot-tub-heavy lodges and pool-equipped small parks at the faster end and a hot-tub-free cottage toward the longer end. Off-grid glamping sites often see the best returns because solar-plus-battery replaces a costly grid extension outright. Payback is driven by your tariff, your hot-tub and EV load, and whether you fit a battery, we model it from your consumption and share the figures so you can stress-test them.