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Big Roof Britain Solar Payback Index Standing Charge Drag

Solar Panels in B37 (Solihull)

See if solar pays off for you in Solihull — 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
13.2 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£8,138
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£617
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£7,282
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

In Midlands, the current unit rate is 25.64p/kWh with a 53.00p/day standing charge. Your postcode’s south-facing sunshine yield is 949 kWh/kW — 7 above the regional median (942).

Read the full story

A typical roof here lands around 4.0 kW, with most eligible homes comfortably fitting within 3–6 kW. Each kilowatt of panels produces roughly 949 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 25.6p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
25.6p/kWh
Standing charge
53.0p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
949 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: £771, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 13.2 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1897 kWh 759 kWh 1138 kWh £195 £114 £308 £4,069 13.2 yrs £2,099
3 kW 2846 kWh 1138 kWh 1707 kWh £292 £171 £463 £6,104 13.2 yrs £3,149
4 kW 3794 kWh 1518 kWh 2277 kWh £389 £228 £617 £8,138 13.2 yrs £4,198
5 kW 4743 kWh 1897 kWh 2846 kWh £486 £285 £771 £10,173 13.2 yrs £5,248
6 kW 5692 kWh 2277 kWh 3415 kWh £584 £341 £925 £12,207 13.2 yrs £6,297
7 kW 6640 kWh 2656 kWh 3984 kWh £681 £398 £1,079 £14,242 13.2 yrs £7,347
8 kW 7589 kWh 3035 kWh 4553 kWh £778 £455 £1,234 £16,276 13.2 yrs £8,396

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: £919, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 13.3 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1897 kWh 1138 kWh 759 kWh £292 £76 £368 £6,169 16.8 yrs £1,186
3 kW 2846 kWh 1707 kWh 1138 kWh £438 £114 £552 £8,204 14.9 yrs £2,829
4 kW 3794 kWh 2277 kWh 1518 kWh £584 £152 £735 £10,238 13.9 yrs £4,472
5 kW 4743 kWh 2846 kWh 1897 kWh £730 £190 £919 £12,273 13.3 yrs £6,115
6 kW 5692 kWh 3415 kWh 2277 kWh £876 £228 £1,103 £14,307 13.0 yrs £7,758
7 kW 6640 kWh 3984 kWh 2656 kWh £1,022 £266 £1,287 £16,342 12.7 yrs £9,401
8 kW 7589 kWh 4553 kWh 3035 kWh £1,167 £304 £1,471 £18,376 12.5 yrs £11,044

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: £994, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 13.8 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1897 kWh 1328 kWh 569 kWh £341 £57 £397 £7,569 19.0 yrs £379
3 kW 2846 kWh 1992 kWh 854 kWh £511 £85 £596 £9,604 16.1 yrs £2,319
4 kW 3794 kWh 2656 kWh 1138 kWh £681 £114 £795 £11,638 14.6 yrs £4,259
5 kW 4743 kWh 3320 kWh 1423 kWh £851 £142 £994 £13,673 13.8 yrs £6,199
6 kW 5692 kWh 3984 kWh 1707 kWh £1,022 £171 £1,192 £15,707 13.2 yrs £8,138
7 kW 6640 kWh 4648 kWh 1992 kWh £1,192 £199 £1,391 £17,742 12.8 yrs £10,078
8 kW 7589 kWh 5312 kWh 2277 kWh £1,362 £228 £1,590 £19,776 12.4 yrs £12,018

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: £1,016, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 15.2 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1897 kWh 1385 kWh 512 kWh £355 £51 £406 £9,319 22.9 yrs £-1,193
3 kW 2846 kWh 2077 kWh 768 kWh £533 £77 £609 £11,354 18.6 yrs £836
4 kW 3794 kWh 2770 kWh 1024 kWh £710 £102 £813 £13,388 16.5 yrs £2,865
5 kW 4743 kWh 3462 kWh 1281 kWh £888 £128 £1,016 £15,423 15.2 yrs £4,894
6 kW 5692 kWh 4155 kWh 1537 kWh £1,065 £154 £1,219 £17,457 14.3 yrs £6,922
7 kW 6640 kWh 4847 kWh 1793 kWh £1,243 £179 £1,422 £19,492 13.7 yrs £8,951
8 kW 7589 kWh 5540 kWh 2049 kWh £1,420 £205 £1,625 £21,526 13.2 yrs £10,980

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: £1,031, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 16.7 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1897 kWh 1423 kWh 474 kWh £365 £47 £412 £11,069 26.8 yrs £-2,824
3 kW 2846 kWh 2134 kWh 711 kWh £547 £71 £618 £13,104 21.2 yrs £-736
4 kW 3794 kWh 2846 kWh 949 kWh £730 £95 £825 £15,138 18.4 yrs £1,352
5 kW 4743 kWh 3557 kWh 1186 kWh £912 £119 £1,031 £17,173 16.7 yrs £3,440
6 kW 5692 kWh 4269 kWh 1423 kWh £1,094 £142 £1,237 £19,207 15.5 yrs £5,528
7 kW 6640 kWh 4980 kWh 1660 kWh £1,277 £166 £1,443 £21,242 14.7 yrs £7,616
8 kW 7589 kWh 5692 kWh 1897 kWh £1,459 £190 £1,649 £23,276 14.1 yrs £9,704

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: £1,045, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 18.8 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1897 kWh 1461 kWh 436 kWh £375 £44 £418 £13,519 32.3 yrs £-5,155
3 kW 2846 kWh 2191 kWh 655 kWh £562 £65 £627 £15,554 24.8 yrs £-3,008
4 kW 3794 kWh 2922 kWh 873 kWh £749 £87 £836 £17,588 21.0 yrs £-860
5 kW 4743 kWh 3652 kWh 1091 kWh £936 £109 £1,045 £19,623 18.8 yrs £1,287
6 kW 5692 kWh 4382 kWh 1309 kWh £1,124 £131 £1,255 £21,657 17.3 yrs £3,434
7 kW 6640 kWh 5113 kWh 1527 kWh £1,311 £153 £1,464 £23,692 16.2 yrs £5,582
8 kW 7589 kWh 5843 kWh 1745 kWh £1,498 £175 £1,673 £25,726 15.4 yrs £7,729

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.

Insights for B37

Figures below are tailored to B37 — click through for full league tables.

Big-Roof Britain Rank #1850 of 2182
4.4 kWp (UK avg 5.1 kWp)
~9 panels (≈430 W)
Solar Payback Index Rank #1725 of 2997
11.5 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£706 /yr • £8,138 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #2443 of 2997
27.4% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£193 fixed • ~£706 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
25.64p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
53.00p/day
Local Sunshine
949kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~949 kWh per year. A typical home uses ~2,700 kWh per year.
Typical System Size
4.0kW
For houses & bungalows in this area

Local Property Data

Property Types

Houses: 57% • Flats: 35% • Bungalows: 5% Based on 9,165 properties

Coverage

Solihull (99%)|Birmingham (1%)

Areas Covered

Chelmsley Wood, Kingshurst and Fordbridge, Bickenhill, Smith's Wood, Glebe Farm & Tile Cross, Shard End

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.

Compare nearby areas

Nearby in Midlands

B40 (Solihull)
≈3.1 km away
Local sunshine: ~951 kWh/kWp · +0% vs B37
B33 (Birmingham)
≈3.1 km away
Local sunshine: ~949 kWh/kWp · -0% vs B37
B34 (Birmingham)
≈3.3 km away
Local sunshine: ~943 kWh/kWp · -1% vs B37
B46 (North Warwickshire)
≈3.7 km away
Local sunshine: ~952 kWh/kWp · +0% vs B37
B36 (Solihull)
≈3.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~946 kWh/kWp · -0% vs B37
B26 (Birmingham)
≈3.9 km away
Local sunshine: ~942 kWh/kWp · -1% vs B37

Similar sunshine across the UK

LL22 (Conwy)
~949 kWh/kWp · -0% vs B37
S21 (North East Derbyshire)
~949 kWh/kWp · +0% vs B37
NE27 (North Tyneside)
~948 kWh/kWp · -0% vs B37