Solar roof tiles

Solar roof tiles are individual roof tiles that incorporate mini solar panel units within them. They’re constructed to be strong and resilient like a roof tile as they’re installed instead of normal roof tiles. 

Solar panels are much larger – up to 1.9 metres by 1 metre for home roofs. They’re fixed to a frame that usually sits on top of your existing roof covering, which is normally made up of tiles or slates.

Sometimes the frame and panels are fitted to replace a section of the existing roof covering. This gives them a cleaner, more streamlined appearance, but they’re still noticeable since they look different to the remaining roof tiles.

They can cover the entire roof, almost to the edge, and then can be accompanied with matching, non-solar tiles around the edges. They can also be used to cover part of a roof too.

The matching tiles are usually provided by the manufacturer so they’re hardly distinguishable from the solar ones. This results in a roof that can look almost like it doesn’t have solar panels on it at all. 

They can be a good solution for getting the most out of the available space on: 

• angled roofs 
• roofs with eaves 
• other complicated roofs 

Due to their smaller size, this means they can be installed over a higher proportion of the roof. 

Yes, there’s a range of solar tiles available in the UK, but they might not all be registered by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). We recommend you look for solar panel installers who are MCS certified and that they use MCS-certified products. 

You can find MCS-certified installers near you using its ‘find an installer’ tool. Search using your postcode or your region. Under ‘what would you like installed’, select ‘Solar PV’ to find local, certified solar panel installers.

You can check products are MCS-certified by using its ‘products directory’ tool.

We recommend getting quotes from at least three different installers to make sure you’re getting the best value.

Having solar tiles or panels being installed by an MCS-certified installer may be a requirement to sign up for export tariffs.

The price of a typical 4 kilowatt-peak (kWp) installation is around £12,000 (prices accurate as of November 2025). This is more than the typical cost for solar panels that fit onto or into your roof.

However, they’re fitted instead of normal roof tiles or slates when renovating a roof. This means you’d have less material and installation costs for your new roof.

This price doesn’t include removing existing tiles or your scaffolding costs.

If you’re choosing tiles for aesthetic reasons or to comply with any planning requirements then solar tiles could be a good option. But they’re only really cost effective if you are renovating the roof or building a new home.

However, if you’re not renovating your roof then solar panels integrated into the roof may be more cost effective.

Solar tiles are less efficient per area than solar panels – typically producing only 80% of the electricity for the same area of solar panels. However, you could mitigate this by having a larger area of solar tiles compared with solar panels.

This often works in roofs with limited space as solar tiles can usually cover a larger area of your roof because of their smaller size. They can usually fit almost to the edge of the roof and can fit: 

• Awkward places on angled roofs. 
• Roofs with dormer windows. 
• Other complicated layouts. 

Some are designed to last 40 years and come with 25 years warranty. 

They’ll will still need to be maintained and checked regularly. Manufacturers and installers may offer a waterproofing warranty for solar roof tiles.

For more information, read our guide on solar panel cleaning and maintenance.

You could, but this wouldn’t be very cost effective, as you’d have costs to uninstall the existing solar panels, then to remove existing roof tiles. Then the costs of the new installation.

If you were having to renovate your existing roof because of its condition, then solar roof tiles could be an option. However, your existing panels could be refitted to your renovated roof instead. 

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