Solar explained to clever people by people who are not trying to be clever

Solar Panels in AB23 (Aberdeen City)

See if solar pays off for you in Aberdeen City — price, savings and payback in under a minute (official UK data).

Solar Calculator

Change the settings below to see how costs and savings work for your situation.

System Size

Roof Direction

Battery Storage

Export Value

Your Numbers

Break-even
14.0 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£10,173
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£727
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£8,003
After paying itself off, you're this much ahead

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How we calculate this

Solar generation: Based on typical south-facing roof at 35° angle. We account for weather, dirt, and system losses (14%).

How much you'll use directly:

  • Without battery: You'll use about 40% of what you generate. The rest gets sold back to the grid.
  • With 5 kWh battery: You'll use about 70% (battery stores extra for evening use).
  • With 10 kWh battery: You'll use about 75% (more storage means less exported).
  • Panel-only payback: Bigger systems don’t shorten payback—cost and savings rise together per kW.
  • Battery & payback: Batteries raise self-use and cut bills, but added hardware cost often lengthens break-even at typical UK rates.
  • When a battery can still make sense:
    • Evening-heavy usage patterns
    • Time-of-use tariffs / cheap night rates
    • Low export rate vs. high unit rate
    • Heat pump or EV charging synergy
    • Optional backup/resilience (system-dependent)
    • Lower evening-hour CO₂ vs. grid

Costs: Battery prices are typically £700 per kWh. Export tariffs vary by supplier (usually 5–15p per kWh).

Grid connection: Systems up to about 3.7 kW typically need just a notification (G98). Larger systems may need permission (G99).

These are typical values based on average usage patterns. Your actual results will vary based on your roof, shading, and how you use electricity.

Your area in context

Read the full story

A typical roof here lands around 5.0 kW, with most eligible homes comfortably fitting within 3–6 kW. Each kilowatt of panels produces roughly 864 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 27.1p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
27.1p/kWh
Standing charge
61.0p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
864 kWh/kW
Export price (baseline)
10p/kWh

Browse the scenarios below. Each battery size has its own expand — open the one that matches your plan (or just explore). For each system size (2–8 kW) we show annual output, how much you use directly, what gets exported, annual benefit, upfront cost, break-even, and a 20-year net. Negative numbers are possible — that’s the honest trade-off when adding more battery than your usage profile justifies.

No battery 5 kW example → Annual benefit: £727, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 14.0 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1729 kWh 691 kWh 1037 kWh £187 £104 £291 £4,069 14.0 yrs £1,747
3 kW 2593 kWh 1037 kWh 1556 kWh £281 £156 £436 £6,104 14.0 yrs £2,621
4 kW 3457 kWh 1383 kWh 2074 kWh £374 £207 £582 £8,138 14.0 yrs £3,495
5 kW 4321 kWh 1729 kWh 2593 kWh £468 £259 £727 £10,173 14.0 yrs £4,368
6 kW 5186 kWh 2074 kWh 3111 kWh £561 £311 £872 £12,207 14.0 yrs £5,242
7 kW 6050 kWh 2420 kWh 3630 kWh £655 £363 £1,018 £14,242 14.0 yrs £6,116
8 kW 6914 kWh 2766 kWh 4149 kWh £748 £415 £1,163 £16,276 14.0 yrs £6,989

Assumptions: south-facing, sensible tilt; self-use shares from site rules; export at 10p baseline. Costs: panels £/kW = 2,035, battery £/kWh = 700.

3 kWh battery 5 kW example → Annual benefit: £874, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 14.0 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1729 kWh 1037 kWh 691 kWh £281 £69 £350 £6,169 17.6 yrs £827
3 kW 2593 kWh 1556 kWh 1037 kWh £421 £104 £525 £8,204 15.6 yrs £2,290
4 kW 3457 kWh 2074 kWh 1383 kWh £561 £138 £700 £10,238 14.6 yrs £3,754
5 kW 4321 kWh 2593 kWh 1729 kWh £702 £173 £874 £12,273 14.0 yrs £5,217
6 kW 5186 kWh 3111 kWh 2074 kWh £842 £207 £1,049 £14,307 13.6 yrs £6,681
7 kW 6050 kWh 3630 kWh 2420 kWh £982 £242 £1,224 £16,342 13.3 yrs £8,144
8 kW 6914 kWh 4149 kWh 2766 kWh £1,123 £277 £1,399 £18,376 13.1 yrs £9,608

Assumptions: south-facing, sensible tilt; self-use shares from site rules; export at 10p baseline. Costs: panels £/kW = 2,035, battery £/kWh = 700.

5 kWh battery 5 kW example → Annual benefit: £948, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 14.4 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1729 kWh 1210 kWh 519 kWh £327 £52 £379 £7,569 20.0 yrs £17
3 kW 2593 kWh 1815 kWh 778 kWh £491 £78 £569 £9,604 16.9 yrs £1,775
4 kW 3457 kWh 2420 kWh 1037 kWh £655 £104 £759 £11,638 15.3 yrs £3,533
5 kW 4321 kWh 3025 kWh 1296 kWh £819 £130 £948 £13,673 14.4 yrs £5,292
6 kW 5186 kWh 3630 kWh 1556 kWh £982 £156 £1,138 £15,707 13.8 yrs £7,050
7 kW 6050 kWh 4235 kWh 1815 kWh £1,146 £182 £1,327 £17,742 13.4 yrs £8,808
8 kW 6914 kWh 4840 kWh 2074 kWh £1,310 £207 £1,517 £19,776 13.0 yrs £10,567

Assumptions: south-facing, sensible tilt; self-use shares from site rules; export at 10p baseline. Costs: panels £/kW = 2,035, battery £/kWh = 700.

7.5 kWh battery 5 kW example → Annual benefit: £970, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 15.9 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1729 kWh 1262 kWh 467 kWh £341 £47 £388 £9,319 24.0 yrs £-1,556
3 kW 2593 kWh 1893 kWh 700 kWh £512 £70 £582 £11,354 19.5 yrs £290
4 kW 3457 kWh 2524 kWh 933 kWh £683 £93 £776 £13,388 17.2 yrs £2,137
5 kW 4321 kWh 3155 kWh 1167 kWh £854 £117 £970 £15,423 15.9 yrs £3,984
6 kW 5186 kWh 3786 kWh 1400 kWh £1,024 £140 £1,164 £17,457 15.0 yrs £5,831
7 kW 6050 kWh 4417 kWh 1634 kWh £1,195 £163 £1,358 £19,492 14.3 yrs £7,678
8 kW 6914 kWh 5047 kWh 1867 kWh £1,366 £187 £1,553 £21,526 13.9 yrs £9,524

Assumptions: south-facing, sensible tilt; self-use shares from site rules; export at 10p baseline. Costs: panels £/kW = 2,035, battery £/kWh = 700.

10 kWh battery 5 kW example → Annual benefit: £985, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 17.4 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1729 kWh 1296 kWh 432 kWh £351 £43 £394 £11,069 28.1 yrs £-3,188
3 kW 2593 kWh 1945 kWh 648 kWh £526 £65 £591 £13,104 22.2 yrs £-1,283
4 kW 3457 kWh 2593 kWh 864 kWh £702 £86 £788 £15,138 19.2 yrs £623
5 kW 4321 kWh 3241 kWh 1080 kWh £877 £108 £985 £17,173 17.4 yrs £2,529
6 kW 5186 kWh 3889 kWh 1296 kWh £1,052 £130 £1,182 £19,207 16.2 yrs £4,435
7 kW 6050 kWh 4538 kWh 1513 kWh £1,228 £151 £1,379 £21,242 15.4 yrs £6,341
8 kW 6914 kWh 5186 kWh 1729 kWh £1,403 £173 £1,576 £23,276 14.8 yrs £8,246

Assumptions: south-facing, sensible tilt; self-use shares from site rules; export at 10p baseline. Costs: panels £/kW = 2,035, battery £/kWh = 700.

13.5 kWh battery 5 kW example → Annual benefit: £1,000, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 19.6 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1729 kWh 1331 kWh 398 kWh £360 £40 £400 £13,519 33.8 yrs £-5,520
3 kW 2593 kWh 1997 kWh 596 kWh £540 £60 £600 £15,554 25.9 yrs £-3,556
4 kW 3457 kWh 2662 kWh 795 kWh £720 £80 £800 £17,588 22.0 yrs £-1,591
5 kW 4321 kWh 3328 kWh 994 kWh £900 £99 £1,000 £19,623 19.6 yrs £374
6 kW 5186 kWh 3993 kWh 1193 kWh £1,081 £119 £1,200 £21,657 18.1 yrs £2,339
7 kW 6050 kWh 4659 kWh 1392 kWh £1,261 £139 £1,400 £23,692 16.9 yrs £4,303
8 kW 6914 kWh 5324 kWh 1590 kWh £1,441 £159 £1,600 £25,726 16.1 yrs £6,268

Assumptions: south-facing, sensible tilt; self-use shares from site rules; export at 10p baseline. Costs: panels £/kW = 2,035, battery £/kWh = 700.

Figures are illustrative and use the same method as the calculator above. For exact results, adjust your roof direction, tariff, and usage in the calculator.

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
27.06p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
61.00p/day
Local Sunshine
864kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~864 kWh per year. A typical home uses ~2,700 kWh per year.
Typical System Size
5.0kW
For houses & bungalows in this area

Local Property Data

Property Types

No EPC data available for this outcode

Coverage

Aberdeen City (67%)|Aberdeenshire (33%)

Areas Covered

Bridge of Don, Mid Formartine, Ellon and District

Data Sources & Assumptions

Solar yield: PVGIS (EU Joint Research Centre), January 2025 data

Electricity rates: Ofgem price cap, Q4 2025

Installation costs: MCS certified installer data, March 2025

Property data: EPC open data (Open Government Licence), aggregated

All estimates are typical values. Actual results vary based on your specific situation, roof characteristics, and usage patterns.