Guide for installers
What you can and can’t say on your website, in your ads and on social media, in plain English. Last checked October 2026.
Why it matters
The two claims that sell solar are the two regulators watch
Solar and battery installers sit in an awkward spot. The product saves people money and cuts carbon, and saying so is the obvious way to sell it. Those are also the two kinds of claim that regulators look at hardest.
This guide covers the rules we check when we audit an installer’s website. It isn’t legal advice, and the rules do change, so check the sources at the bottom before you rewrite anything important.
Savings
Savings and payback claims
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) applies the CAP Code to your website and social media as well as your paid ads. Any claim about savings has to be one you can prove for the typical customer who reads it.
Do
State the system size, orientation, usage, electricity price and export tariff behind every figure. Keep the data in case anyone complains.
Avoid
“Save up to” figures that few customers reach, and payback periods presented as fixed when they move with energy prices.
Pricing
Prices and “from” offers
Headline prices are the most common problem we find. In 2025 the ASA ruled against a solar company whose search ad promised a fully installed system for £5,995. The firm had sold systems at that price, but it didn’t apply to homes with a three-phase supply or to customers who wanted a bigger system, and the ad didn’t say so.
Do
Say what the price covers: system size, what’s included, and what commonly pushes it up, such as scaffolding, roof type or an older consumer unit.
Avoid
A single eye-catching price with the conditions hidden behind a click, or missing altogether.
Green claims
Carbon and environmental claims
The CMA’s Green Claims Code expects environmental claims to be truthful, clear and complete, fair in any comparison, to consider the full life cycle where it matters, and to be backed by evidence.
Since 6 April 2025 the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act has let the CMA fine businesses directly for breaking consumer law, by up to 10% of global turnover. Misleading claims are no longer just an ASA matter.
Do
Give carbon figures a method, such as “cut your carbon footprint by 1.2 tonnes a year” with the workings linked.
Avoid
“Carbon neutral installs”, “eco-friendly batteries”, or green and sustainable used on their own.
Certification
MCS, consumer codes and logos
Homeowners need an MCS certified installation to be paid under the Smart Export Guarantee, so your certification is a selling point. MCS certified installers selling to homeowners also have to belong to a consumer code, RECC or HIES.
Do
Show the MCS mark only while certified and only for the technologies covered. Name your consumer code and link to it.
Avoid
Logos that suggest a product or claim has been approved when it hasn’t. Check trade body and manufacturer rules too.
Finance
Finance offers
Offering monthly payments through a finance partner usually makes you a credit broker, which needs FCA authorisation, either your own or as an appointed representative. Finance promotions have their own rules, including a representative example when you mention rates or costs.
VAT and grants
VAT and grant messages
Solar panels and batteries fitted in homes currently carry 0% VAT, and that relief is due to end on 31 March 2027. Mention it by all means, but date it and take it down when it changes. The same goes for any grant or local scheme. If it closes and your page still promotes it, you’re making a misleading claim.
Reviews
Reviews
Fake reviews, reviews you’ve paid for without saying so and hiding negative reviews are all banned outright under the DMCC Act, and the CMA opened its first investigations into review practices in 2026. If you offer anything in return for a review, offer it for any honest review, whatever the rating, and say so.
Forms and cookies
Enquiry forms and cookies
Your quote form collects names, addresses and often energy bills. Under UK GDPR you need a privacy notice that explains what happens to that data. Under PECR, non-essential cookies such as analytics and ad tracking need consent before they load. Most installer sites we audit get the cookie banner wrong.
Quick check
A ten-minute check of your own site
Run through these on your homepage, a product page and your quote form. If any of them fail, that’s where to start.
If you’d rather someone else looked, our free website review covers all of the above, along with your search visibility and how well the site turns visits into enquiries. See how we approach website design for installers.
Sources
Sources
Checked October 2026. Rules change, so follow the links before acting.
- ASA ruling on Contact Solar Ltd (headline pricing)
- ASA advice on lead generation marketing
- CMA Green Claims Code
- DMCC Act consumer enforcement from 6 April 2025 (CMS)
- CMA’s first investigations into fake and misleading reviews (HSF Kramer)
- HMRC VAT Notice 708/6: energy-saving materials
- MCS
- RECC
- HIES
- ICO guidance on cookies and similar technologies
Written by Scott Woodfield, founder of The Web Alchemist. Seventeen years building and marketing websites, nine of them agency-side.
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