Solar panels in Glasgow
A 6 kWp home system in Glasgow is modelled to produce about 5,007 kWh a year, or 834 kWh per installed kWp, from PVGIS climate data at the city's coordinates. Home Energy Scotland's grant and loan table lists hybrid solar PV and water heating with a loan of up to £5,000 and no grant, and only solar PV-T systems qualify. Glasgow produces 11% less per kWp than the national reference point on our United Kingdom page. Worldwide it ranks 41st of the 41 cities we cover. No other city we cover in the United Kingdom has a lower yield than Glasgow. For comparison, London reaches 988. The best month, May, yields 6 times the worst, December.
Month by month in Glasgow
Modelled output of a 6 kWp system at 35° facing south (towards the equator), from PVGIS climate data (PVGIS-SARAH3, 2005 to 2023).
| Month | kWh | Share of year |
|---|---|---|
| January | 141 | 2.8% |
| February | 239 | 4.8% |
| March | 426 | 8.5% |
| April | 599 | 12.0% |
| May | 677 | 13.5% |
| June | 642 | 12.8% |
| July | 651 | 13.0% |
| August | 568 | 11.3% |
| September | 443 | 8.8% |
| October | 309 | 6.2% |
| November | 198 | 4.0% |
| December | 113 | 2.3% |
- Best month: May (677 kWh). Weakest: December (113 kWh), a 6x difference.
- May, June, July produce 39.3% of the year; January, November, December produce 9%.
- Year-to-year variation: about 150 kWh (3.0%, one standard deviation).
- Sunlight reaching the panels: 1,060 kWh per m² a year.
Local rules and support in Glasgow
Rules set by the city or its region, on top of the national scheme. Each one was checked against the official source on the date shown.
- Scottish Government (Home Energy Scotland)
Home Energy Scotland loan covers only hybrid PV-T solar
Home Energy Scotland's grant and loan table lists hybrid solar PV and water heating with a loan of up to £5,000 and no grant, and only solar PV-T systems qualify. Standard solar PV panels are not listed as a separate funded measure.
Source: Home Energy Scotland (funded by the Scottish Government), Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan (checked 2026-09-25)
How Glasgow compares
Glasgow ranks 4 of 4 for yield among the cities we model in the United Kingdom, and 41 of 41 across every country on Solar Figures. Within one country the prices are the same, so a payback gap between these cities comes from sunshine alone.
| City | kWh per kWp / yr | Payback (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| London | 988 | 10.2 yrs |
| Birmingham | 940 | 10.8 yrs |
| Manchester | 861 | 13.2 yrs |
| Glasgow | 835 | 13.6 yrs |
| National reference point (country page) | 939 | 10.8 yrs |
Closest yield abroad: Hamburg (955 kWh per kWp), Utrecht (991 kWh per kWp), Amsterdam (992 kWh per kWp).
What moves the payback in Glasgow
Power you use yourself is worth the retail price (£0.28 per kWh); power you export earns £0.15. So the share you use at home, by running appliances in daylight or adding a battery, changes the payback. The system cost stays the same in every row (a battery would add to it).
| Used at home | Year-1 savings | Payback |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | £872 | 15.0 yrs |
| 30% (our default) | £937 | 13.6 yrs |
| 50% | £1,066 | 10.4 yrs |
| 70% | £1,195 | 9.1 yrs |
- Net system cost after incentives: £10,500 for 6 kWp.
- Incentive modelled: No capital grant; 0% VAT on residential PV to 31 Mar 2027 (embedded in price), then reverts to 5%. Export via Smart Export Guarantee..
- 25-year net savings at our default: £21,185.
Best panel angle in Glasgow
At latitude 55.86°N, PVGIS finds the fixed tilt and direction that maximise yearly output. Our figures use a common 35° roof; the table shows what the optimum adds.
| Setup | Tilt | Facing | kWh per kWp / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard roof (used on this page) | 35° | south | 835 |
| PVGIS optimum | 40° | south (182°) | 837 |
The optimum adds 0.3% a year over the standard roof in Glasgow. Most of a roof's value comes from its direction: a roof facing away from the equator loses far more than a few degrees of tilt.
See the full the United Kingdom picture on our United Kingdom solar page, or the national incentives in our United Kingdom solar guide.
Sources and method
Figures computed 2026-09-25 for a 6 kWp system, 35° tilt, 14% system losses, terrain shading on. An estimate, not a quote: your installer's quote will be exact.
- PVGIS 5.3 PVcalc (PVGIS-SARAH3), European Commission JRC (checked 2026-09-25)
- the United Kingdom tariff and incentive inputs (see DATA_SOURCES.md) (checked 2026-06-21)
- the United Kingdom tariff and incentive inputs (see DATA_SOURCES.md) (checked 2026-06-21)
- Home Energy Scotland (funded by the Scottish Government): Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan (checked 2026-09-25)
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