Can You Really Get Free Solar Panels for a School?

Who really gets free solar

The schools that have had solar at no cost to their own budgets are the ones chosen for the government’s programme. By 16 July 2026, 245 schools and colleges in England had government-funded solar panels. The same announcement added 100 more schools to the Great British Energy Solar Partnership, “backed by up to £40 million”, and a pilot in which 150 schools and colleges in Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands and the South East will have panels installed and maintained by private firms at no upfront cost. The government chose the schools in the first wave; for the pilot, the Department for Education says it will contact eligible schools. Neither has an application form.

What “free” means for everyone else

If your school has not been selected, the only genuinely no-capital route is a power purchase agreement. A third party funds, installs, owns and maintains the panels; the school buys the electricity they generate at an agreed price for the length of the contract. Two things to be clear about:

• You still pay for electricity. The saving is the gap between the PPA price and what you would otherwise pay your supplier. For context, the DESNZ average non-domestic price for the first quarter of 2026 was 24.14p per kWh including Climate Change Levy.
• The contract terms are now set by the DfE. From 15 July 2026 any PPA on the school estate has to use the DfE’s PPA and land-lease templates. They had not been published by early October 2026, and new approvals are paused until they are.

Our sister site on solar power purchase agreements explains how these contracts are structured and priced.

What “free” does not mean

It does not mean an interest-free loan: there is no Salix loan for English schools. It does not mean a PSDS grant: that scheme closed to new applications in November 2024. And it does not usually mean a Condition Improvement Fund grant for solar, because CIF pays for condition work and treats energy-efficiency-only projects as low priority. Any offer that calls a project “free” should say which of these it means, in writing.

If you can pay from capital

Buying outright is not free, but it is often the best value over the life of the panels, because the school keeps every kilowatt-hour it saves. Our school solar cost guide works through prices and payback, and our school solar grants and funding guide covers every route by school type.