Wall-mounted solar panels

Want to install solar panels on your UK home, but lack a suitable roof to put them on? Mounting solar panels on your wall – rather than your roof – is a straightforward, space-efficient way of gaining energy self-sufficiency while saving you hundreds of pounds each year.

While wall-mounted solar panels can be less efficient than roof-mounted panels, as well as being more complex and costly to install, for homes with roofs that would otherwise be unable to access solar energy, the benefits easily outweigh the drawbacks.

So, are wall-mounted solar panels the right option for your home, or are you better off looking for an alternative? Our experts break down the key differences below, unpacking wall-mounted solar panels’ pros and cons and answering your top questions.

What are wall-mounted solar panels?

Wall-mounted solar panels are fitted to your home’s exterior walls rather than on your roof. 

As with any type of solar panel, wall-mounted solar panels work by converting daylight into renewable electricity for your home. These panels allow you to reduce (or eliminate completely) your reliance on non-renewable energy sources, cut your energy bills and even make money by selling surplus solar energy back to the National Grid via the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG).

In the UK, solar panels usually go on your roof. So, why wall-mount them?

Well, wall-mounted solar panels are ideal if your home lacks the right roof (perhaps it’s too shaded, too steep or simply too small) to support a roof-mounted solar array. Or, possibly, you’ve already installed a solar system on your roof and want to maximise your home’s clean energy-producing capacity by adding panels to your walls, too.

Are they as good as roof-mounted solar panels?

To help you understand whether roof-mounted or wall-mounted solar panels suit your home, we’ve compared them using four metrics: efficiency, aesthetics, lifespan, and installation.

Wall-mounted vs. roof-mounted: Efficiency

Generally, wall-mounted solar panels aren’t as efficient as their roof-mounted counterparts. This is largely down to where and how they’re placed on your home’s exterior and how much sunlight that location allows them to receive.

Roof-mounted solar panels, for example, are typically installed at an angle facing the sun. This is usually between 20 and 50 degrees in the UK, ideally with a south-facing orientation.

By contrast, wall-mounted solar panels tend to be more limited by the pitch and orientation of the wall they’re fixed to. This means they may not receive as much direct sunlight as a roof-mounted solar array, which will limit the amount of electricity they can produce.

Wall-mounted vs. roof-mounted: Aesthetics

Aesthetically, the debate about roof-mounted vs. wall-mounted solar panels comes down to personal preference and the walls on which you choose to mount your solar panels.

For example, solar panels on your property’s rear walls won’t be visible from the street. This helps limit their visual impact on your property, which may also be a prerequisite depending on your home’s location or status as a listed building. However, solar panels mounted on your home’s street-facing walls will be more visible than roof-mounted solar panels, potentially detracting from your home’s appearance and aesthetic appeal.

Wall-mounted vs. roof-mounted: Lifespan

Wall-mounted solar panels last around 25 to 30 years, so there’s no difference in lifespan between them and their roof-mounted cousins.

When it comes to longevity, the deciding factors have more to do with the type of wall-mounted solar panel you choose – monocrystalline and polycrystalline are both popular in the UK – and how much you pay. Cheap solar panels, for example, are a balm for the budget but won’t last as long as the best solar panels, which are higher quality and tend to be more expensive alternatives.

However, wall-mounted solar panels tend to be less exposed to the effects of adverse weather (particularly wind and snow) than roof-mounted ones. By avoiding inefficiency-inducing damage, wall-mounted solar panels may last longer than roof-mounted panels – but this is only likely to be a significant factor for homes with more extreme weather conditions.

Wall-mounted vs. roof-mounted: Installation

Roof-based solar panels are secured to your roof with specialised mounting hardware, such as brackets, rails and ballasts, to support them and help them withstand wind and snow.

Wall-mounted solar panels also use mounting systems, although they look slightly different and come in more shapes and sizes to fit your wall. These mounting systems include:

• Flush mounts: solar panels are installed directly onto your wall’s surface for a seamless, streamlined look and feel
• Tilted mounts: solar panels are fitted at an angle relative to the wall to maximise their exposure to sunlight. Depending on the hardware, titled mounts may be adjustable, allowing you to customise their position throughout the year
• Pole mounts: solar panels are attached to a vertical pole mounted on the wall. Pole mounts are ideal if your home’s wall space is limited
• Integrated mounts: solar panels are placed on mounts designed to be incorporated directly into your building’s structure (such as the facade or balcony railings) 
• Artistic mounts: solar panels are placed on decorative wall-mounting systems – turning your solar panels into functional art pieces with personalised colours, patterns and designs

This array of wall-mounting installation options makes these solar panels a flexible solution, with perhaps more scope for flair and customisation than roof-mounted systems offer. That said, wall-mounted solar solutions can also be more complex, with equipment such as wall anchors required to stave off the additional demands of gravity.

Depending on how high the walls of your house are, wall-mounted panels can also be more challenging to install. Unlike your roof, your solar panel installers won’t be able to walk around and may have to complete the job with a ladder or harness.

This means the cost of solar panels when looking at wall-mounted installation can be higher than when roof-mounting.

Pros and cons of wall-mounted solar panels

Pros

Space-efficient: by installing solar panels vertically on your walls, you maximise your home’s solar surface space and free up your roof – potentially for even more solar panels

Less vulnerable to damage: wall-mounted solar panels are typically more sheltered from adverse weather, such as wind and snow

Ideal for homes with unsuitable roofs: if your roof is too small, too steep or simply not the right shape to support solar panels, wall mounting will help

More expensive: wall-mounted solar panels are harder (and therefore more costly) to mount, owing to the more complex equipment required and the difficulties of accessing your home’s walls (vs. its roof)

Cons

Aesthetic considerations: while some homeowners may prefer how wall-mounted solar panels look, they’re more visible than roof-mounted varieties, which means they’ll have a bigger visual impact

Less efficient: because wall-mounted solar panels are fitted at a steeper angle than roof-mounted panels, they don’t capture as much sunlight, making them less efficient

Which houses best suit wall solar panels?

The houses best suited for vertical wall-mounted solar panels have a south-facing wall with unencumbered, unfiltered access to the sun all day. That means there shouldn’t be any neighbouring buildings or trees close enough to cast shade on these solar panels.

To simplify the planning permission process, this wall should also be on the side of the home that isn’t visible from the street – although this is only really an issue if your home is in a conservation area or World Heritage site.

It won’t be easy to meet all these conditions in an existing home, which is another reason why roof-mounted solar panels may be the better option. But, if you’re building a home from scratch, it’ll be much easier to factor in these spatial and positional requirements from the get-go. So, wall-mounted solar panels can be an excellent choice for UK homes if baked into the blueprint. 

Are wall-mounted solar panels expensive?

While the price of your wall-mounted solar panels will differ (the size of your array and the installer you choose will, for example, affect costs), wall-mounted solar systems tend to be more expensive than roof-mounted alternatives.

As we discussed earlier, this is largely down to the installation process. The best place for wall-mounted solar panels is high up on your walls – where there’s less chance of trees or buildings obstructing your array’s access to sunlight – and these locations are often trickier for installers to get to and work with than roofs.

Another heavy cost is the specialised equipment wall-mounted systems require – especially if you opt for a more advanced system, such as an integrated or artistic mount.

And that’s just your upfront costs – there are also ongoing costs to consider.

For example, wall-mounted solar panels’ location makes them less efficient than roof-mounted panels, meaning they generate less electricity. The less electricity powering your home, the more you’ll have to rely on the National Grid, meaning your energy-bill savings will be less. The other consequence of a reduced solar supply is less power to sell back to the grid via the UK government’s Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) incentive.

To demonstrate the kind of effect this might have on your ongoing solar costs (and, as a result, the time it’ll take you to break even on your solar investment), let’s assume that wall-mounted solar panels are 5% more expensive, and 5% less efficient, than the traditional on-roof variety.

	Roof-mounted solar panels					Wall mounted solar panels
System size	Estimated installation cost	Fuel bill saving/year	SEG payment /year	Total yearly savings	Break-even point (years)	Estimated installation cost	Fuel bill savings /year	SEG payment/year	Total yearly savings	Break-even point
3kW	£5,400	£520	£81	£601	8.98	£5,670	£494	£76.95	£570.95	9.93
4kW	£6,800	£630	£114	£744	9.14	£7,140	£598.50	£108.30	£706.80	10.1
5kW	£8,160	£750	£147	£897	9.1	£8,568	£712.50	£139.65	£852.15	10
6kW	£9,520	£870	£180	£1,050	9.07	£9,996	£826.50	£171	£997.50	10
7kW	£10,800	£990	£214	£1,204	8.97	£11,340	£940.50	£203.30	£1,143.80	9.91

The figures in this table are estimates, of course – and to what extent your wall-mounted solar panels are less efficient than roof-mounted ones will depend on how you mount them and how much sunlight they get – but they do provide a general idea of how much you can save by opting for more traditional, roof-mounted panels. This could be up to £60 per year with a 7kW system, shaving almost a year off your solar panels’ break-even point.

Our point? Wall-mounted panels aren’t the best option unless your home’s circumstances merit the need for them (eg a roof that’s too small, too steep, too shaded, too misshapen or too full of solar panels already). Traditional roof-mounted solar panels are cheaper to install, more efficient and have less visual impact on your home.

Is planning permission required for wall-mounted solar panels?

Most likely not – installing wall-mounted solar panels on your UK home won’t require planning permission. Wall-mounted solar panels qualify under permitted development rights (which means you don’t need to apply for planning permission), provided the panels don’t project more than 20 cm from your home’s wall.

Things are a bit different if your home is in a World Heritage site or conservation area. In this case, you’ll need planning permission to fit solar panels to your principal or side elevation walls. Your panels must also not be visible from the road.

If you’re working with a listed building, you’ll need to apply for listed building consent (LBC) and planning permission. The LBC application requires you to demonstrate to your planning authority (usually your home’s local council) that your solar panels won’t impinge on the property’s appearance and that the installation isn’t irreversible.

For more information, explore our guide to planning permission for solar panels in the UK.