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Big Roof Britain Solar Payback Index Standing Charge Drag

Solar Panels in DH6 (County Durham)

See if solar pays off for you in County Durham — 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
13.5 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£8,138
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£601
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£6,890
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 Northern, the current unit rate is 25.43p/kWh with a 59.86p/day standing charge. Your postcode’s south-facing sunshine yield is 929 kWh/kW — 4 above the regional median (926).

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 929 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 25.4p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
25.4p/kWh
Standing charge
59.9p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
929 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: £751, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 13.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1858 kWh 743 kWh 1115 kWh £189 £112 £301 £4,069 13.5 yrs £1,942
3 kW 2788 kWh 1115 kWh 1673 kWh £284 £167 £451 £6,104 13.5 yrs £2,913
4 kW 3717 kWh 1487 kWh 2230 kWh £378 £223 £601 £8,138 13.5 yrs £3,884
5 kW 4646 kWh 1858 kWh 2788 kWh £473 £279 £751 £10,173 13.5 yrs £4,855
6 kW 5576 kWh 2230 kWh 3345 kWh £567 £335 £902 £12,207 13.5 yrs £5,826
7 kW 6505 kWh 2602 kWh 3903 kWh £662 £390 £1,052 £14,242 13.5 yrs £6,797
8 kW 7434 kWh 2974 kWh 4460 kWh £756 £446 £1,202 £16,276 13.5 yrs £7,768

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: £895, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 13.7 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1858 kWh 1115 kWh 743 kWh £284 £74 £358 £6,169 17.2 yrs £989
3 kW 2788 kWh 1673 kWh 1115 kWh £425 £112 £537 £8,204 15.3 yrs £2,534
4 kW 3717 kWh 2230 kWh 1487 kWh £567 £149 £716 £10,238 14.3 yrs £4,078
5 kW 4646 kWh 2788 kWh 1858 kWh £709 £186 £895 £12,273 13.7 yrs £5,623
6 kW 5576 kWh 3345 kWh 2230 kWh £851 £223 £1,074 £14,307 13.3 yrs £7,168
7 kW 6505 kWh 3903 kWh 2602 kWh £992 £260 £1,253 £16,342 13.0 yrs £8,712
8 kW 7434 kWh 4460 kWh 2974 kWh £1,134 £297 £1,432 £18,376 12.8 yrs £10,257

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: £966, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 14.1 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1858 kWh 1301 kWh 558 kWh £331 £56 £387 £7,569 19.6 yrs £163
3 kW 2788 kWh 1951 kWh 836 kWh £496 £84 £580 £9,604 16.6 yrs £1,994
4 kW 3717 kWh 2602 kWh 1115 kWh £662 £112 £773 £11,638 15.1 yrs £3,825
5 kW 4646 kWh 3252 kWh 1394 kWh £827 £139 £966 £13,673 14.1 yrs £5,657
6 kW 5576 kWh 3903 kWh 1673 kWh £992 £167 £1,160 £15,707 13.5 yrs £7,488
7 kW 6505 kWh 4553 kWh 1951 kWh £1,158 £195 £1,353 £17,742 13.1 yrs £9,319
8 kW 7434 kWh 5204 kWh 2230 kWh £1,323 £223 £1,546 £19,776 12.8 yrs £11,151

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: £988, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 15.6 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1858 kWh 1357 kWh 502 kWh £345 £50 £395 £9,319 23.6 yrs £-1,415
3 kW 2788 kWh 2035 kWh 753 kWh £518 £75 £593 £11,354 19.2 yrs £502
4 kW 3717 kWh 2713 kWh 1004 kWh £690 £100 £790 £13,388 16.9 yrs £2,420
5 kW 4646 kWh 3392 kWh 1254 kWh £863 £125 £988 £15,423 15.6 yrs £4,337
6 kW 5576 kWh 4070 kWh 1505 kWh £1,035 £151 £1,186 £17,457 14.7 yrs £6,254
7 kW 6505 kWh 4748 kWh 1756 kWh £1,208 £176 £1,383 £19,492 14.1 yrs £8,172
8 kW 7434 kWh 5427 kWh 2007 kWh £1,380 £201 £1,581 £21,526 13.6 yrs £10,089

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: £1,002, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 17.1 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1858 kWh 1394 kWh 465 kWh £354 £46 £401 £11,069 27.6 yrs £-3,051
3 kW 2788 kWh 2091 kWh 697 kWh £532 £70 £601 £13,104 21.8 yrs £-1,076
4 kW 3717 kWh 2788 kWh 929 kWh £709 £93 £802 £15,138 18.9 yrs £899
5 kW 4646 kWh 3485 kWh 1162 kWh £886 £116 £1,002 £17,173 17.1 yrs £2,874
6 kW 5576 kWh 4182 kWh 1394 kWh £1,063 £139 £1,203 £19,207 16.0 yrs £4,848
7 kW 6505 kWh 4879 kWh 1626 kWh £1,241 £163 £1,403 £21,242 15.1 yrs £6,823
8 kW 7434 kWh 5576 kWh 1858 kWh £1,418 £186 £1,604 £23,276 14.5 yrs £8,798

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: £1,017, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 19.3 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1858 kWh 1431 kWh 427 kWh £364 £43 £407 £13,519 33.2 yrs £-5,386
3 kW 2788 kWh 2147 kWh 641 kWh £546 £64 £610 £15,554 25.5 yrs £-3,354
4 kW 3717 kWh 2862 kWh 855 kWh £728 £85 £813 £17,588 21.6 yrs £-1,322
5 kW 4646 kWh 3578 kWh 1069 kWh £910 £107 £1,017 £19,623 19.3 yrs £710
6 kW 5576 kWh 4293 kWh 1282 kWh £1,092 £128 £1,220 £21,657 17.8 yrs £2,743
7 kW 6505 kWh 5009 kWh 1496 kWh £1,274 £150 £1,423 £23,692 16.6 yrs £4,775
8 kW 7434 kWh 5724 kWh 1710 kWh £1,456 £171 £1,627 £25,726 15.8 yrs £6,807

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 DH6

Figures below are tailored to DH6 — click through for full league tables.

Big-Roof Britain Rank #1287 of 2182
4.8 kWp (UK avg 5.1 kWp)
~10 panels (≈430 W)
Solar Payback Index Rank #2101 of 2997
11.8 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£687 /yr • £8,138 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #2700 of 2997
31.8% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£218 fixed • ~£687 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
25.43p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
59.86p/day
Local Sunshine
929kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~929 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: 80% • Flats: 2% • Bungalows: 17% Based on 11,100 properties

Coverage

County Durham (100%)

Areas Covered

Bowburn & Coxhoe, Easington & Shotton, Thornley & Wheatley Hill, Pittington & Sherburn, Murton, Belmont, Elvet, Gilesgate & Shincliffe + 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.

Compare nearby areas

Nearby in Northern

TS29 (County Durham)
≈5.0 km away
Local sunshine: ~944 kWh/kWp · +2% vs DH6
DH99 (County Durham)
≈6.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~929 kWh/kWp · +0% vs DH6
DH97 (County Durham)
≈6.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~929 kWh/kWp · +0% vs DH6
TS28 (County Durham)
≈6.7 km away
Local sunshine: ~959 kWh/kWp · +3% vs DH6
DH1 (County Durham)
≈7.1 km away
Local sunshine: ~922 kWh/kWp · -1% vs DH6
DH5 (Sunderland)
≈8.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~957 kWh/kWp · +3% vs DH6

Similar sunshine across the UK

SY10 (Shropshire)
~929 kWh/kWp · -0% vs DH6
S95 (Sheffield)
~929 kWh/kWp · -0% vs DH6
S98 (Sheffield)
~929 kWh/kWp · -0% vs DH6