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

Solar Panels in DN35 (North East Lincolnshire)

See if solar pays off for you in North East Lincolnshire — 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
£778
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£9,281
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 965 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 25.3p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
25.3p/kWh
Standing charge
58.6p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
965 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: £778, 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 1929 kWh 772 kWh 1158 kWh £195 £116 £311 £4,069 13.1 yrs £2,156
3 kW 2894 kWh 1158 kWh 1737 kWh £293 £174 £467 £6,104 13.1 yrs £3,234
4 kW 3859 kWh 1544 kWh 2315 kWh £391 £232 £623 £8,138 13.1 yrs £4,313
5 kW 4824 kWh 1929 kWh 2894 kWh £489 £289 £778 £10,173 13.1 yrs £5,391
6 kW 5788 kWh 2315 kWh 3473 kWh £586 £347 £934 £12,207 13.1 yrs £6,469
7 kW 6753 kWh 2701 kWh 4052 kWh £684 £405 £1,089 £14,242 13.1 yrs £7,547
8 kW 7718 kWh 3087 kWh 4631 kWh £782 £463 £1,245 £16,276 13.1 yrs £8,625

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: £926, 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 1929 kWh 1158 kWh 772 kWh £293 £77 £370 £6,169 16.7 yrs £1,239
3 kW 2894 kWh 1737 kWh 1158 kWh £440 £116 £556 £8,204 14.8 yrs £2,909
4 kW 3859 kWh 2315 kWh 1544 kWh £586 £154 £741 £10,238 13.8 yrs £4,579
5 kW 4824 kWh 2894 kWh 1929 kWh £733 £193 £926 £12,273 13.3 yrs £6,249
6 kW 5788 kWh 3473 kWh 2315 kWh £880 £232 £1,111 £14,307 12.9 yrs £7,918
7 kW 6753 kWh 4052 kWh 2701 kWh £1,026 £270 £1,296 £16,342 12.6 yrs £9,588
8 kW 7718 kWh 4631 kWh 3087 kWh £1,173 £309 £1,482 £18,376 12.4 yrs £11,258

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: £1,000, Upfront: £13,673, 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 1929 kWh 1351 kWh 579 kWh £342 £58 £400 £7,569 18.9 yrs £431
3 kW 2894 kWh 2026 kWh 868 kWh £513 £87 £600 £9,604 16.0 yrs £2,396
4 kW 3859 kWh 2701 kWh 1158 kWh £684 £116 £800 £11,638 14.5 yrs £4,362
5 kW 4824 kWh 3377 kWh 1447 kWh £855 £145 £1,000 £13,673 13.7 yrs £6,327
6 kW 5788 kWh 4052 kWh 1737 kWh £1,026 £174 £1,200 £15,707 13.1 yrs £8,293
7 kW 6753 kWh 4727 kWh 2026 kWh £1,197 £203 £1,400 £17,742 12.7 yrs £10,258
8 kW 7718 kWh 5403 kWh 2315 kWh £1,368 £232 £1,600 £19,776 12.4 yrs £12,224

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: £1,022, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 15.1 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1929 kWh 1409 kWh 521 kWh £357 £52 £409 £9,319 22.8 yrs £-1,142
3 kW 2894 kWh 2113 kWh 781 kWh £535 £78 £613 £11,354 18.5 yrs £913
4 kW 3859 kWh 2817 kWh 1042 kWh £714 £104 £818 £13,388 16.4 yrs £2,967
5 kW 4824 kWh 3521 kWh 1302 kWh £892 £130 £1,022 £15,423 15.1 yrs £5,021
6 kW 5788 kWh 4226 kWh 1563 kWh £1,070 £156 £1,227 £17,457 14.2 yrs £7,075
7 kW 6753 kWh 4930 kWh 1823 kWh £1,249 £182 £1,431 £19,492 13.6 yrs £9,130
8 kW 7718 kWh 5634 kWh 2084 kWh £1,427 £208 £1,635 £21,526 13.2 yrs £11,184

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: £1,037, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 16.6 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1929 kWh 1447 kWh 482 kWh £367 £48 £415 £11,069 26.7 yrs £-2,773
3 kW 2894 kWh 2171 kWh 724 kWh £550 £72 £622 £13,104 21.1 yrs £-660
4 kW 3859 kWh 2894 kWh 965 kWh £733 £96 £830 £15,138 18.2 yrs £1,454
5 kW 4824 kWh 3618 kWh 1206 kWh £916 £121 £1,037 £17,173 16.6 yrs £3,567
6 kW 5788 kWh 4341 kWh 1447 kWh £1,100 £145 £1,244 £19,207 15.4 yrs £5,680
7 kW 6753 kWh 5065 kWh 1688 kWh £1,283 £169 £1,452 £21,242 14.6 yrs £7,794
8 kW 7718 kWh 5788 kWh 1929 kWh £1,466 £193 £1,659 £23,276 14.0 yrs £9,907

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: £1,052, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 18.7 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1929 kWh 1486 kWh 444 kWh £376 £44 £421 £13,519 32.1 yrs £-5,105
3 kW 2894 kWh 2229 kWh 666 kWh £564 £67 £631 £15,554 24.6 yrs £-2,932
4 kW 3859 kWh 2971 kWh 888 kWh £753 £89 £841 £17,588 20.9 yrs £-760
5 kW 4824 kWh 3714 kWh 1109 kWh £941 £111 £1,052 £19,623 18.7 yrs £1,413
6 kW 5788 kWh 4457 kWh 1331 kWh £1,129 £133 £1,262 £21,657 17.2 yrs £3,585
7 kW 6753 kWh 5200 kWh 1553 kWh £1,317 £155 £1,472 £23,692 16.1 yrs £5,758
8 kW 7718 kWh 5943 kWh 1775 kWh £1,505 £178 £1,683 £25,726 15.3 yrs £7,930

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
25.33p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
58.65p/day
Local Sunshine
965kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~965 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: 70% • Flats: 19% • Bungalows: 10% Based on 9,400 properties

Coverage

North East Lincolnshire (100%)

Areas Covered

Croft Baker, Sidney Sussex, Haverstoe, West Marsh, Humberston and New Waltham, Heneage

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.