Free solar panel scams: what's circulating in 2026
The end of ECO4 in March 2026 created perfect conditions for misleading marketing: a famous scheme name, public confusion about what replaced it, and a decade of "free solar" adverts still echoing around the internet. This page lists the current tricks and the one-minute checks that defeat them — apply them to every site you visit, including this one.
The five patterns doing the rounds
1. The zombie scheme. Adverts and landing pages inviting you to "apply now for ECO4 free solar panels" or "check your Home Upgrade Grant eligibility". Both schemes are closed. These forms exist to collect your name, number and energy details for resale to whoever pays — expect calls for months. The tell: no mention of the scheme having an end date, and a form before any explanation of who funds the work.
2. The grant that becomes a loan. A "government-backed free solar programme" that, several conversations in, turns out to be a finance agreement secured against your home, or a 20–25 year subscription. Finance is not inherently wrong; disguising it is. Anything genuinely free does not need your credit checked.
3. The roof lease revival. A company offers to fit panels "free" in exchange for a long lease over your roof and the rights to the system's output and payments. These arrangements caused years of conveyancing misery after the Feed-in Tariff era — some mortgage lenders still treat leased roofs as a complication or a refusal. With FiT long closed, the 2026 economics rarely favour the householder. Take legal advice before signing any roof lease, and assume the answer is no.
4. The fee for nothing. "Application processing", "grant administration", "survey booking" fees for schemes that are either closed or that charge nothing. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is applied for by your installer at no cost. Council Warm Homes schemes are free to apply to. VAT relief is automatic. There is no live scheme in England with an application fee.
5. The pressure survey. A "free survey" that becomes a four-hour living-room sales siege ending in a today-only price. Legitimate installers quote from data, give you the quote in writing, and expect you to compare it. Any price that expires when the salesperson leaves was never a real price.
The one-minute verification routine
Before giving any solar company your details: check the firm exists and is certified at mcscertified.com; check the company's age at Companies House; and check any named scheme on gov.uk — every genuine programme has an official page stating whether it is open. If a claim fails any of those three look-ups, walk away. Nothing about solar is urgent enough to skip a minute of checking.
What legitimate looks like in 2026
A legitimate offer names its funding source — BUS, a named council scheme, a Solar Together round — and the source checks out on an official site. It puts prices, terms and ownership in writing without being asked twice. It never charges to apply for public money, never insists on a decision today, and never needs your bank details to "check eligibility". Measured against that list, most "free solar" adverts disqualify themselves inside the first paragraph.
For the avoidance of doubt, here is our own model stated plainly: this site is a guide and a lead-capture service. The eligibility check is free, asks for no phone number, and results in an email from us plus — only if you want quotes — an introduction to a single vetted, MCS-certified installer or retrofit assessor. That introduction is how the site earns its keep. If that isn't what you want, the guides are yours regardless.
Solar scams — common questions
How do I check whether a solar installer is legitimate?
Three checks, all free and quick. Search the firm at mcscertified.com — no MCS certification means no Boiler Upgrade Scheme voucher, no Smart Export Guarantee onboarding, and no business installing your panels. Check Companies House for the company's age and filing history; a "twenty years of experience" claim from a company incorporated eight months ago answers itself. And ask for the insurance-backed warranty provider's name, then verify the policy exists. A legitimate installer will not mind any of this.
Are "no upfront cost" solar offers always scams?
Not always — but they are always finance, and they should be read as finance. Solar loans and subscription models can be perfectly legitimate; the deception is presenting them as a grant or as "free". Before signing, get the total amount repayable, the term, the interest rate, what happens if you sell the house, and who owns the panels meanwhile. If the seller resists putting those four numbers in writing, that is your answer.
I have been told I can still apply for ECO4 funding. True?
No. ECO4 closed to new applications on 31 March 2026. Installations approved before the deadline are still being completed, which scammers exploit by implying the scheme is "still running". If you were genuinely in the pipeline you will have a retrofit assessment and signed paperwork — chase the firm named on those documents. If you only ever filled in a web form, you were never in the pipeline.
Who do I report a solar scam to?
Report fraud and attempted fraud to Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk), misleading advertising to the Advertising Standards Authority, and rogue trading to your local Trading Standards via Citizens Advice. If a cold call is involved, you can also complain to the ICO about how your data was obtained. Reporting feels futile case by case, but enforcement actions are built on volume.