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

Solar Panels in B60 (Bromsgrove)

See if solar pays off for you in Bromsgrove — 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
13.1 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£10,173
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£779
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£9,295
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 958 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)
958 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: £779, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 13.1 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1916 kWh 766 kWh 1150 kWh £197 £115 £311 £4,069 13.1 yrs £2,161
3 kW 2874 kWh 1150 kWh 1725 kWh £295 £172 £467 £6,104 13.1 yrs £3,241
4 kW 3832 kWh 1533 kWh 2299 kWh £393 £230 £623 £8,138 13.1 yrs £4,321
5 kW 4790 kWh 1916 kWh 2874 kWh £491 £287 £779 £10,173 13.1 yrs £5,402
6 kW 5748 kWh 2299 kWh 3449 kWh £590 £345 £934 £12,207 13.1 yrs £6,482
7 kW 6706 kWh 2683 kWh 4024 kWh £688 £402 £1,090 £14,242 13.1 yrs £7,563
8 kW 7665 kWh 3066 kWh 4599 kWh £786 £460 £1,246 £16,276 13.1 yrs £8,643

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: £929, Upfront: £12,273, 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 1916 kWh 1150 kWh 766 kWh £295 £77 £371 £6,169 16.6 yrs £1,259
3 kW 2874 kWh 1725 kWh 1150 kWh £442 £115 £557 £8,204 14.7 yrs £2,939
4 kW 3832 kWh 2299 kWh 1533 kWh £590 £153 £743 £10,238 13.8 yrs £4,619
5 kW 4790 kWh 2874 kWh 1916 kWh £737 £192 £929 £12,273 13.2 yrs £6,299
6 kW 5748 kWh 3449 kWh 2299 kWh £884 £230 £1,114 £14,307 12.8 yrs £7,978
7 kW 6706 kWh 4024 kWh 2683 kWh £1,032 £268 £1,300 £16,342 12.6 yrs £9,658
8 kW 7665 kWh 4599 kWh 3066 kWh £1,179 £307 £1,486 £18,376 12.4 yrs £11,338

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: £1,003, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 13.6 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1916 kWh 1341 kWh 575 kWh £344 £57 £401 £7,569 18.9 yrs £459
3 kW 2874 kWh 2012 kWh 862 kWh £516 £86 £602 £9,604 16.0 yrs £2,438
4 kW 3832 kWh 2683 kWh 1150 kWh £688 £115 £803 £11,638 14.5 yrs £4,418
5 kW 4790 kWh 3353 kWh 1437 kWh £860 £144 £1,003 £13,673 13.6 yrs £6,397
6 kW 5748 kWh 4024 kWh 1725 kWh £1,032 £172 £1,204 £15,707 13.0 yrs £8,377
7 kW 6706 kWh 4695 kWh 2012 kWh £1,204 £201 £1,405 £17,742 12.6 yrs £10,356
8 kW 7665 kWh 5365 kWh 2299 kWh £1,376 £230 £1,606 £19,776 12.3 yrs £12,335

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: £1,026, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 15.0 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1916 kWh 1399 kWh 517 kWh £359 £52 £410 £9,319 22.7 yrs £-1,111
3 kW 2874 kWh 2098 kWh 776 kWh £538 £78 £616 £11,354 18.4 yrs £958
4 kW 3832 kWh 2798 kWh 1035 kWh £717 £103 £821 £13,388 16.3 yrs £3,027
5 kW 4790 kWh 3497 kWh 1293 kWh £897 £129 £1,026 £15,423 15.0 yrs £5,097
6 kW 5748 kWh 4196 kWh 1552 kWh £1,076 £155 £1,231 £17,457 14.2 yrs £7,166
7 kW 6706 kWh 4896 kWh 1811 kWh £1,255 £181 £1,436 £19,492 13.6 yrs £9,235
8 kW 7665 kWh 5595 kWh 2069 kWh £1,435 £207 £1,642 £21,526 13.1 yrs £11,305

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: £1,041, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 16.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1916 kWh 1437 kWh 479 kWh £368 £48 £416 £11,069 26.6 yrs £-2,741
3 kW 2874 kWh 2156 kWh 719 kWh £553 £72 £625 £13,104 21.0 yrs £-612
4 kW 3832 kWh 2874 kWh 958 kWh £737 £96 £833 £15,138 18.2 yrs £1,517
5 kW 4790 kWh 3593 kWh 1198 kWh £921 £120 £1,041 £17,173 16.5 yrs £3,646
6 kW 5748 kWh 4311 kWh 1437 kWh £1,105 £144 £1,249 £19,207 15.4 yrs £5,776
7 kW 6706 kWh 5030 kWh 1677 kWh £1,290 £168 £1,457 £21,242 14.6 yrs £7,905
8 kW 7665 kWh 5748 kWh 1916 kWh £1,474 £192 £1,666 £23,276 14.0 yrs £10,034

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: £1,056, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 18.6 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1916 kWh 1475 kWh 441 kWh £378 £44 £422 £13,519 32.0 yrs £-5,072
3 kW 2874 kWh 2213 kWh 661 kWh £567 £66 £634 £15,554 24.5 yrs £-2,882
4 kW 3832 kWh 2951 kWh 881 kWh £757 £88 £845 £17,588 20.8 yrs £-693
5 kW 4790 kWh 3689 kWh 1102 kWh £946 £110 £1,056 £19,623 18.6 yrs £1,496
6 kW 5748 kWh 4426 kWh 1322 kWh £1,135 £132 £1,267 £21,657 17.1 yrs £3,685
7 kW 6706 kWh 5164 kWh 1542 kWh £1,324 £154 £1,478 £23,692 16.0 yrs £5,874
8 kW 7665 kWh 5902 kWh 1763 kWh £1,513 £176 £1,689 £25,726 15.2 yrs £8,064

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
25.64p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
53.00p/day
Local Sunshine
958kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~958 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

Houses: 74% • Flats: 19% • Bungalows: 7% Based on 6,362 properties

Coverage

Bromsgrove (97%)|Wychavon (3%)

Areas Covered

Aston Fields, Tardebigge, Avoncroft, Lowes Hill, Bromsgrove Central, Slideslow, Charford, Marlbrook + 4 more

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.