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Big Roof Britain Solar Payback Index Standing Charge Drag

Solar Panels in DL15 (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
13.7 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£10,173
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£742
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£8,387
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 918 kWh/kW — 8 below the regional median (926).

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 918 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)
918 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: £742, Upfront: £10,173, 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 1836 kWh 734 kWh 1102 kWh £187 £110 £297 £4,069 13.7 yrs £1,870
3 kW 2754 kWh 1102 kWh 1653 kWh £280 £165 £445 £6,104 13.7 yrs £2,805
4 kW 3672 kWh 1469 kWh 2203 kWh £374 £220 £594 £8,138 13.7 yrs £3,740
5 kW 4590 kWh 1836 kWh 2754 kWh £467 £275 £742 £10,173 13.7 yrs £4,675
6 kW 5509 kWh 2203 kWh 3305 kWh £560 £331 £891 £12,207 13.7 yrs £5,610
7 kW 6427 kWh 2571 kWh 3856 kWh £654 £386 £1,039 £14,242 13.7 yrs £6,545
8 kW 7345 kWh 2938 kWh 4407 kWh £747 £441 £1,188 £16,276 13.7 yrs £7,480

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: £884, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 13.9 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1836 kWh 1102 kWh 734 kWh £280 £73 £354 £6,169 17.4 yrs £903
3 kW 2754 kWh 1653 kWh 1102 kWh £420 £110 £530 £8,204 15.5 yrs £2,405
4 kW 3672 kWh 2203 kWh 1469 kWh £560 £147 £707 £10,238 14.5 yrs £3,907
5 kW 4590 kWh 2754 kWh 1836 kWh £700 £184 £884 £12,273 13.9 yrs £5,408
6 kW 5509 kWh 3305 kWh 2203 kWh £841 £220 £1,061 £14,307 13.5 yrs £6,910
7 kW 6427 kWh 3856 kWh 2571 kWh £981 £257 £1,238 £16,342 13.2 yrs £8,412
8 kW 7345 kWh 4407 kWh 2938 kWh £1,121 £294 £1,414 £18,376 13.0 yrs £9,913

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: £955, Upfront: £13,673, 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 1836 kWh 1285 kWh 551 kWh £327 £55 £382 £7,569 19.8 yrs £70
3 kW 2754 kWh 1928 kWh 826 kWh £490 £83 £573 £9,604 16.8 yrs £1,855
4 kW 3672 kWh 2571 kWh 1102 kWh £654 £110 £764 £11,638 15.2 yrs £3,640
5 kW 4590 kWh 3213 kWh 1377 kWh £817 £138 £955 £13,673 14.3 yrs £5,425
6 kW 5509 kWh 3856 kWh 1653 kWh £981 £165 £1,146 £15,707 13.7 yrs £7,210
7 kW 6427 kWh 4499 kWh 1928 kWh £1,144 £193 £1,337 £17,742 13.3 yrs £8,995
8 kW 7345 kWh 5141 kWh 2203 kWh £1,307 £220 £1,528 £19,776 12.9 yrs £10,780

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: £976, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 15.8 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1836 kWh 1340 kWh 496 kWh £341 £50 £390 £9,319 23.9 yrs £-1,510
3 kW 2754 kWh 2011 kWh 744 kWh £511 £74 £586 £11,354 19.4 yrs £360
4 kW 3672 kWh 2681 kWh 992 kWh £682 £99 £781 £13,388 17.1 yrs £2,230
5 kW 4590 kWh 3351 kWh 1239 kWh £852 £124 £976 £15,423 15.8 yrs £4,100
6 kW 5509 kWh 4021 kWh 1487 kWh £1,023 £149 £1,171 £17,457 14.9 yrs £5,970
7 kW 6427 kWh 4691 kWh 1735 kWh £1,193 £174 £1,367 £19,492 14.3 yrs £7,840
8 kW 7345 kWh 5362 kWh 1983 kWh £1,363 £198 £1,562 £21,526 13.8 yrs £9,710

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: £990, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 17.3 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1836 kWh 1377 kWh 459 kWh £350 £46 £396 £11,069 27.9 yrs £-3,147
3 kW 2754 kWh 2066 kWh 689 kWh £525 £69 £594 £13,104 22.1 yrs £-1,220
4 kW 3672 kWh 2754 kWh 918 kWh £700 £92 £792 £15,138 19.1 yrs £707
5 kW 4590 kWh 3443 kWh 1148 kWh £876 £115 £990 £17,173 17.3 yrs £2,633
6 kW 5509 kWh 4131 kWh 1377 kWh £1,051 £138 £1,188 £19,207 16.2 yrs £4,560
7 kW 6427 kWh 4820 kWh 1607 kWh £1,226 £161 £1,386 £21,242 15.3 yrs £6,486
8 kW 7345 kWh 5509 kWh 1836 kWh £1,401 £184 £1,584 £23,276 14.7 yrs £8,413

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: £1,004, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 19.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1836 kWh 1414 kWh 422 kWh £360 £42 £402 £13,519 33.6 yrs £-5,483
3 kW 2754 kWh 2121 kWh 633 kWh £539 £63 £603 £15,554 25.8 yrs £-3,500
4 kW 3672 kWh 2828 kWh 845 kWh £719 £84 £804 £17,588 21.9 yrs £-1,517
5 kW 4590 kWh 3535 kWh 1056 kWh £899 £106 £1,004 £19,623 19.5 yrs £466
6 kW 5509 kWh 4242 kWh 1267 kWh £1,079 £127 £1,205 £21,657 18.0 yrs £2,450
7 kW 6427 kWh 4949 kWh 1478 kWh £1,258 £148 £1,406 £23,692 16.8 yrs £4,433
8 kW 7345 kWh 5655 kWh 1689 kWh £1,438 £169 £1,607 £25,726 16.0 yrs £6,416

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 DL15

Figures below are tailored to DL15 — click through for full league tables.

Big-Roof Britain Rank #1027 of 2182
5.0 kWp (UK avg 5.1 kWp)
~11 panels (≈430 W)
Solar Payback Index Rank #2301 of 2997
12.0 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£849 /yr • £10,173 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #2349 of 2997
25.7% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£218 fixed • ~£849 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
25.43p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
59.86p/day
Local Sunshine
918kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~918 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: 77% • Flats: 6% • Bungalows: 16% Based on 6,254 properties

Coverage

County Durham (100%)

Areas Covered

Crook, Willington & Hunwick, Bishop Auckland, Weardale, Deerness

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

DL14 (County Durham)
≈7.3 km away
Local sunshine: ~916 kWh/kWp · -0% vs DL15
DL16 (County Durham)
≈9.0 km away
Local sunshine: ~923 kWh/kWp · +1% vs DL15
DL13 (County Durham)
≈10.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~850 kWh/kWp · -7% vs DL15
DH7 (County Durham)
≈10.7 km away
Local sunshine: ~925 kWh/kWp · +1% vs DL15
DL4 (County Durham)
≈10.9 km away
Local sunshine: ~915 kWh/kWp · -0% vs DL15
DL17 (County Durham)
≈12.7 km away
Local sunshine: ~931 kWh/kWp · +1% vs DL15

Similar sunshine across the UK

NP2 (Caerphilly)
~918 kWh/kWp · -0% vs DL15
WA7 (Halton)
~918 kWh/kWp · +0% vs DL15
ST9 (Staffordshire Moorlands)
~918 kWh/kWp · +0% vs DL15