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Big Roof Britain Solar Payback Index Standing Charge Drag

Solar Panels in CO11 (Tendring)

See if solar pays off for you in Tendring — 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
11.5 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£10,173
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£888
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£12,036
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 Eastern, the current unit rate is 26.53p/kWh with a 48.25p/day standing charge. Your postcode’s south-facing sunshine yield is 1070 kWh/kW — 60 above the regional median (1009).

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 1070 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 26.5p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
26.5p/kWh
Standing charge
48.2p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
1070 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: £888, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 11.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2139 kWh 856 kWh 1283 kWh £227 £128 £355 £4,069 11.5 yrs £3,038
3 kW 3208 kWh 1283 kWh 1925 kWh £340 £193 £533 £6,104 11.5 yrs £4,556
4 kW 4278 kWh 1711 kWh 2567 kWh £454 £257 £711 £8,138 11.5 yrs £6,075
5 kW 5348 kWh 2139 kWh 3208 kWh £567 £321 £888 £10,173 11.5 yrs £7,594
6 kW 6417 kWh 2567 kWh 3850 kWh £681 £385 £1,066 £12,207 11.5 yrs £9,113
7 kW 7486 kWh 2995 kWh 4492 kWh £794 £449 £1,244 £14,242 11.5 yrs £10,632
8 kW 8556 kWh 3422 kWh 5134 kWh £908 £513 £1,421 £16,276 11.5 yrs £12,150

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: £1,065, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 11.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2139 kWh 1283 kWh 856 kWh £340 £86 £426 £6,169 14.5 yrs £2,352
3 kW 3208 kWh 1925 kWh 1283 kWh £511 £128 £639 £8,204 12.8 yrs £4,578
4 kW 4278 kWh 2567 kWh 1711 kWh £681 £171 £852 £10,238 12.0 yrs £6,804
5 kW 5348 kWh 3208 kWh 2139 kWh £851 £214 £1,065 £12,273 11.5 yrs £9,030
6 kW 6417 kWh 3850 kWh 2567 kWh £1,021 £257 £1,278 £14,307 11.2 yrs £11,256
7 kW 7486 kWh 4492 kWh 2995 kWh £1,192 £299 £1,491 £16,342 11.0 yrs £13,482
8 kW 8556 kWh 5134 kWh 3422 kWh £1,362 £342 £1,704 £18,376 10.8 yrs £15,708

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: £1,154, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 11.9 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2139 kWh 1497 kWh 642 kWh £397 £64 £461 £7,569 16.4 yrs £1,659
3 kW 3208 kWh 2246 kWh 963 kWh £596 £96 £692 £9,604 13.9 yrs £4,239
4 kW 4278 kWh 2995 kWh 1283 kWh £794 £128 £923 £11,638 12.6 yrs £6,818
5 kW 5348 kWh 3743 kWh 1604 kWh £993 £160 £1,154 £13,673 11.9 yrs £9,398
6 kW 6417 kWh 4492 kWh 1925 kWh £1,192 £193 £1,384 £15,707 11.3 yrs £11,977
7 kW 7486 kWh 5241 kWh 2246 kWh £1,390 £225 £1,615 £17,742 11.0 yrs £14,557
8 kW 8556 kWh 5989 kWh 2567 kWh £1,589 £257 £1,846 £19,776 10.7 yrs £17,136

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: £1,180, Upfront: £15,423, 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 2139 kWh 1561 kWh 578 kWh £414 £58 £472 £9,319 19.7 yrs £121
3 kW 3208 kWh 2342 kWh 866 kWh £621 £87 £708 £11,354 16.0 yrs £2,807
4 kW 4278 kWh 3123 kWh 1155 kWh £829 £116 £944 £13,388 14.2 yrs £5,492
5 kW 5348 kWh 3904 kWh 1444 kWh £1,036 £144 £1,180 £15,423 13.1 yrs £8,178
6 kW 6417 kWh 4684 kWh 1733 kWh £1,243 £173 £1,416 £17,457 12.3 yrs £10,864
7 kW 7486 kWh 5465 kWh 2021 kWh £1,450 £202 £1,652 £19,492 11.8 yrs £13,549
8 kW 8556 kWh 6246 kWh 2310 kWh £1,657 £231 £1,888 £21,526 11.4 yrs £16,235

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: £1,198, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 14.3 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2139 kWh 1604 kWh 535 kWh £426 £53 £479 £11,069 23.1 yrs £-1,487
3 kW 3208 kWh 2406 kWh 802 kWh £638 £80 £719 £13,104 18.2 yrs £1,269
4 kW 4278 kWh 3208 kWh 1070 kWh £851 £107 £958 £15,138 15.8 yrs £4,025
5 kW 5348 kWh 4011 kWh 1337 kWh £1,064 £134 £1,198 £17,173 14.3 yrs £6,782
6 kW 6417 kWh 4813 kWh 1604 kWh £1,277 £160 £1,437 £19,207 13.4 yrs £9,538
7 kW 7486 kWh 5615 kWh 1872 kWh £1,490 £187 £1,677 £21,242 12.7 yrs £12,294
8 kW 8556 kWh 6417 kWh 2139 kWh £1,702 £214 £1,916 £23,276 12.1 yrs £15,051

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: £1,215, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 16.1 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2139 kWh 1647 kWh 492 kWh £437 £49 £486 £13,519 27.8 yrs £-3,796
3 kW 3208 kWh 2471 kWh 738 kWh £655 £74 £729 £15,554 21.3 yrs £-969
4 kW 4278 kWh 3294 kWh 984 kWh £874 £98 £972 £17,588 18.1 yrs £1,858
5 kW 5348 kWh 4118 kWh 1230 kWh £1,092 £123 £1,215 £19,623 16.1 yrs £4,685
6 kW 6417 kWh 4941 kWh 1476 kWh £1,311 £148 £1,458 £21,657 14.8 yrs £7,512
7 kW 7486 kWh 5765 kWh 1722 kWh £1,529 £172 £1,702 £23,692 13.9 yrs £10,339
8 kW 8556 kWh 6588 kWh 1968 kWh £1,748 £197 £1,945 £25,726 13.2 yrs £13,166

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 CO11

Figures below are tailored to CO11 — click through for full league tables.

Big-Roof Britain Rank #522 of 2182
5.6 kWp (UK avg 5.1 kWp)
~12 panels (≈430 W)
Solar Payback Index Rank #179 of 2997
10.0 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£1,021 /yr • £10,173 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #814 of 2997
17.2% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£176 fixed • ~£1,021 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
26.53p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
48.25p/day
Local Sunshine
1070kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~1070 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: 75% • Flats: 9% • Bungalows: 14% Based on 4,130 properties

Coverage

Tendring (82%)|Babergh (18%)

Areas Covered

Lawford, Manningtree & Mistley, Brantham, Stour Valley, The Oakleys & Wix, Ardleigh & Little Bromley, East Bergholt

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 Eastern

IP9 (Babergh)
≈7.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,054 kWh/kWp · -1% vs CO11
CO7 (Tendring)
≈9.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,094 kWh/kWp · +2% vs CO11
CO4 (Colchester)
≈10.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,062 kWh/kWp · -1% vs CO11
CO1 (Colchester)
≈12.3 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,062 kWh/kWp · -1% vs CO11
IP2 (Ipswich)
≈12.4 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,041 kWh/kWp · -3% vs CO11
IP8 (Babergh)
≈13.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,042 kWh/kWp · -3% vs CO11

Similar sunshine across the UK

CT6 (Canterbury)
~1,069 kWh/kWp · -0% vs CO11
CT10 (Thanet)
~1,071 kWh/kWp · +0% vs CO11
BH21 (Dorset)
~1,071 kWh/kWp · +0% vs CO11