solar
How long does the Malta solar grant take, and when is it safe to pay?
Submit Part A to REWS before you buy or install anything. Processing generally takes about five weeks, though no period is fixed in law. Do not sign a binding contract or pay any money, including a deposit, before the grant offer letter arrives. That letter starts an eight-month clock covering installation, commissioning and Part B. Extensions are allowed only in duly justified cases outside your control.
Most people lose the Malta solar grant in the same way. Not by failing a technical rule, but by paying a deposit two weeks too early because an installer said the price was going up.
How long does the Malta solar grant take from application to grant offer?
There is no period established at law. REWS generally takes about five weeks to process a complete application. Incomplete files take longer, because each missing document adds another round of chasing. Treat five weeks as a working expectation rather than a promise, and plan your installation date around it.
What is Part A, and when must you submit it?
Part A is the application you file with REWS before you buy anything. It must be submitted before purchase and installation. Part B comes later, after the system is installed and commissioned. The current Part A form is version V2, reference REWS/254/v2-07-07/26, and since 13 July 2026 it offers only two tick-boxes.
Can you pay a deposit before the grant offer letter arrives?
No. Applicants are advised not to enter a binding contractual commitment or pay any money, including a deposit, before receiving the grant offer letter. A deposit is money. A signed quotation can be a binding commitment. The safe sequence is application, then letter, then signature, then payment.
What actually happens if you pay too early?
You risk losing the grant and carrying the full invoice yourself. Part A must precede purchase and installation, so money committed beforehand sits outside the sequence the scheme is built on. On the illustrative figures below, that mistake costs €3,000 in exchange for a few weeks of patience.
Picture the version that goes wrong. A quotation arrives on a Tuesday. The installer says the panel price moves at the end of the month and asks for 30% to lock it. You pay €1,875. Three days later you start the REWS application and find the form asks you to confirm that you have not yet purchased or installed. Now you are holding a receipt that contradicts your own application, a supplier who already has your money, and a decision about whether to proceed at full cost or argue for a refund. Every part of that is avoidable by keeping the money in your account until the offer letter arrives.
How much is at stake while you wait?
Enough to make waiting the highest paid few weeks of the project. The worked example below uses an illustrative installed cost, not a market price, and shows how the two caps interact. The lowest of the three figures always binds, so the grant is €3,000 and the household pays the rest.
| Line, 5 kWp worked example | Figure |
|---|---|
| Eligible cost (illustrative example only, not a verified market price) | €6,250 |
| 65% of eligible cost | €4,062.50 |
| Per-kWp cap, 5 x €645 | €3,225 |
| Per-system cap | €3,000 |
| Grant, lowest of the three binds | €3,000 |
| Homeowner pays | €3,250 |
One piece of arithmetic worth carrying into the conversation with your installer: the per-kWp cap of €645 binds below 4.651 kWp, and the per-system cap of €3,000 binds above it. The crossover is 3,000 divided by 645, which is 4.651 kWp. Below that size, adding capacity adds grant. Above it, extra kWp adds cost and no further grant.
What are the headline caps under the 2026 scheme?
Photovoltaic with a hybrid inverter attracts 65% of eligible cost, capped at €3,000 per system and €645 per kWp. Battery storage attracts 75% of eligible battery cost, capped at €6,000 per system and €600 per kWh, and is available only bundled with a new PV system plus hybrid inverter.
| Item | Rate | Caps |
|---|---|---|
| PV with hybrid inverter | 65% of eligible cost | €3,000 per system and €645 per kWp, whichever binds first |
| Battery storage (new PV plus hybrid inverter only) | 75% of eligible battery cost | €6,000 per system and €600 per kWh |
| Maximum combined household grant | Derived by us, not printed by REWS | €9,000 |
Eligible cost is VAT-inclusive and covers PV modules, inverters, the support frame, battery storage equipment, interface modules, other materials and works, and certification. Deducted from eligible cost are discounts or offers in cash or in kind, any extended warranty beyond the standard ten-year warranty, and import duty on overseas purchases. You must not claim any tax rebate, deduction or input VAT credit on the same expenditure.
What does the eight-month clock cover, and when does it start?
It starts on the grant offer letter and runs for eight months. It covers installation, commissioning and the Part B submission, not just the day the panels go on the roof. Certification and paperwork sit inside the same eight months, so treat the letter date as the start of delivery.
Can the eight months be extended?
Extensions are granted only in duly justified cases outside the applicant’s control. A full installer diary or a change of mind will not qualify. Assume no extension, book the installation early in the window rather than late, and keep written evidence of any delay that was genuinely not yours to cause.
What is the correct order of events?
Application first, money last. The table below is the whole page in six rows. If you follow it in order, the worst case is that the grant is refused and you have spent nothing. If you break it, the worst case is that you have spent everything and the grant is gone.
| Step | Timing | What goes wrong if you skip ahead |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Submit Part A | Before any purchase, order or deposit | Buying first puts the grant at risk |
| 2. REWS processing | Generally about five weeks, no period fixed in law | Missing documents extend it |
| 3. Grant offer letter arrives | Starts the eight-month clock | Nothing is safe to sign before this |
| 4. Sign the contract, pay the deposit | After the letter | Paying earlier is the single most common error |
| 5. Installation and commissioning | Inside the eight months | A late booking leaves no margin |
| 6. Submit Part B | Inside the same eight months | Missing the window ends the grant |
What have we not verified yet?
Feed-in tariff rates. The figures circulating for grant-assisted and non-grant exports are being verified against the statutory instrument, and this page will be updated when that is done. Because payback in years depends on those rates, we are not publishing a payback figure. Installed cost per kWp and annual yield per kWp for Malta are also unverified here.
This site does not install anything and has no official or regulatory status. It publishes the arithmetic and refers enquiries to one vetted installer who pays for them. Check the REWS guidelines linked below before you commit money.
Questions
- Can I apply for the grant after the panels are already installed?
- No. Part A must be submitted before purchase and installation. The scheme is built around the application coming first, so a system that is already bought and fitted has skipped the step the grant depends on. If the panels are up, the grant is not something you can apply for retrospectively.
- My installer wants a deposit to hold the quoted price. Is that allowed?
- Applicants are advised not to enter a binding contractual commitment or pay any money, including a deposit, before receiving the grant offer letter. If a supplier will not hold a price for roughly five to six weeks, that tells you something about the supplier. Ask for a written quotation with a validity date instead of a payment.
- Can I still get a grant for a battery on its own?
- No. On 13 July 2026 REWS stopped accepting Part A applications for Option B (hybrid or battery inverter and battery) and Option C (battery storage only). Standalone battery retrofit and hybrid-inverter retrofit for existing PV owners are withdrawn. Battery support survives only when bundled with a new PV system plus hybrid inverter.
- I received a solar grant in 2014. Can I apply again in 2026?
- No. Anyone who received a grant for a similar system since 2010 is ineligible for another. The lockout applies to the applicant and to any member of the same household, so a grant taken by a parent or spouse under the same roof blocks the application. Households with an open grant offer under a similar scheme are also ineligible.
- I let the property to tenants. Does that change anything?
- Yes, it excludes you. No grant is available where the property is used principally for business purposes, including letting on a commercial basis even if the tenants use it as a home. Domestic use expressly excludes use by landlords or developers. Tenure options are owner, emphyteuta, or long leasehold with more than five years remaining plus owner consent.
- Is VAT on residential solar reduced in Malta?
- No. Residential solar carries the 18% standard rate. There is no reduced rate. The VAT Act contains no occurrence of the words solar or photovoltaic, and the Eighth Schedule covering the 7% and 5% rates does not list PV. Any quotation claiming 0% or 5% VAT on solar in Malta is wrong.
Sources
We publish the working. We do not install anything. How this works