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

Solar Panels in EH51 (Falkirk)

See if solar pays off for you in Falkirk — 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
14.7 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£12,207
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£831
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£8,563
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 6.0 kW, with most eligible homes comfortably fitting within 3–6 kW. Each kilowatt of panels produces roughly 848 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 25.8p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
25.8p/kWh
Standing charge
56.5p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
848 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: £692, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 14.7 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1695 kWh 678 kWh 1017 kWh £175 £102 £277 £4,069 14.7 yrs £1,470
3 kW 2543 kWh 1017 kWh 1526 kWh £263 £153 £415 £6,104 14.7 yrs £2,205
4 kW 3391 kWh 1356 kWh 2034 kWh £350 £203 £554 £8,138 14.7 yrs £2,939
5 kW 4238 kWh 1695 kWh 2543 kWh £438 £254 £692 £10,173 14.7 yrs £3,674
6 kW 5086 kWh 2034 kWh 3051 kWh £526 £305 £831 £12,207 14.7 yrs £4,409
7 kW 5933 kWh 2373 kWh 3560 kWh £613 £356 £969 £14,242 14.7 yrs £5,144
8 kW 6781 kWh 2712 kWh 4069 kWh £701 £407 £1,108 £16,276 14.7 yrs £5,879

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: £827, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 14.8 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1695 kWh 1017 kWh 678 kWh £263 £68 £331 £6,169 18.7 yrs £444
3 kW 2543 kWh 1526 kWh 1017 kWh £394 £102 £496 £8,204 16.5 yrs £1,716
4 kW 3391 kWh 2034 kWh 1356 kWh £526 £136 £661 £10,238 15.5 yrs £2,988
5 kW 4238 kWh 2543 kWh 1695 kWh £657 £170 £827 £12,273 14.8 yrs £4,260
6 kW 5086 kWh 3051 kWh 2034 kWh £788 £203 £992 £14,307 14.4 yrs £5,532
7 kW 5933 kWh 3560 kWh 2373 kWh £920 £237 £1,157 £16,342 14.1 yrs £6,803
8 kW 6781 kWh 4069 kWh 2712 kWh £1,051 £271 £1,323 £18,376 13.9 yrs £8,075

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: £894, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 15.3 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1695 kWh 1187 kWh 509 kWh £307 £51 £357 £7,569 21.2 yrs £-419
3 kW 2543 kWh 1780 kWh 763 kWh £460 £76 £536 £9,604 17.9 yrs £1,121
4 kW 3391 kWh 2373 kWh 1017 kWh £613 £102 £715 £11,638 16.3 yrs £2,662
5 kW 4238 kWh 2967 kWh 1271 kWh £767 £127 £894 £13,673 15.3 yrs £4,202
6 kW 5086 kWh 3560 kWh 1526 kWh £920 £153 £1,072 £15,707 14.6 yrs £5,743
7 kW 5933 kWh 4153 kWh 1780 kWh £1,073 £178 £1,251 £17,742 14.2 yrs £7,283
8 kW 6781 kWh 4747 kWh 2034 kWh £1,227 £203 £1,430 £19,776 13.8 yrs £8,824

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: £914, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 16.9 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1695 kWh 1238 kWh 458 kWh £320 £46 £366 £9,319 25.5 yrs £-2,008
3 kW 2543 kWh 1856 kWh 687 kWh £480 £69 £548 £11,354 20.7 yrs £-387
4 kW 3391 kWh 2475 kWh 915 kWh £640 £92 £731 £13,388 18.3 yrs £1,234
5 kW 4238 kWh 3094 kWh 1144 kWh £799 £114 £914 £15,423 16.9 yrs £2,855
6 kW 5086 kWh 3713 kWh 1373 kWh £959 £137 £1,097 £17,457 15.9 yrs £4,476
7 kW 5933 kWh 4331 kWh 1602 kWh £1,119 £160 £1,279 £19,492 15.2 yrs £6,097
8 kW 6781 kWh 4950 kWh 1831 kWh £1,279 £183 £1,462 £21,526 14.7 yrs £7,718

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: £927, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 18.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1695 kWh 1271 kWh 424 kWh £329 £42 £371 £11,069 29.8 yrs £-3,651
3 kW 2543 kWh 1907 kWh 636 kWh £493 £64 £556 £13,104 23.6 yrs £-1,976
4 kW 3391 kWh 2543 kWh 848 kWh £657 £85 £742 £15,138 20.4 yrs £-301
5 kW 4238 kWh 3179 kWh 1060 kWh £821 £106 £927 £17,173 18.5 yrs £1,374
6 kW 5086 kWh 3814 kWh 1271 kWh £986 £127 £1,113 £19,207 17.3 yrs £3,048
7 kW 5933 kWh 4450 kWh 1483 kWh £1,150 £148 £1,298 £21,242 16.4 yrs £4,723
8 kW 6781 kWh 5086 kWh 1695 kWh £1,314 £170 £1,484 £23,276 15.7 yrs £6,398

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: £941, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 20.9 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1695 kWh 1305 kWh 390 kWh £337 £39 £376 £13,519 35.9 yrs £-5,993
3 kW 2543 kWh 1958 kWh 585 kWh £506 £58 £564 £15,554 27.6 yrs £-4,265
4 kW 3391 kWh 2611 kWh 780 kWh £675 £78 £753 £17,588 23.4 yrs £-2,536
5 kW 4238 kWh 3263 kWh 975 kWh £843 £97 £941 £19,623 20.9 yrs £-808
6 kW 5086 kWh 3916 kWh 1170 kWh £1,012 £117 £1,129 £21,657 19.2 yrs £921
7 kW 5933 kWh 4569 kWh 1365 kWh £1,181 £136 £1,317 £23,692 18.0 yrs £2,649
8 kW 6781 kWh 5221 kWh 1560 kWh £1,349 £156 £1,505 £25,726 17.1 yrs £4,377

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
25.84p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
56.55p/day
Local Sunshine
848kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~848 kWh per year. A typical home uses ~2,700 kWh per year.
Typical System Size
6.0kW
For houses & bungalows in this area

Local Property Data

Property Types

No EPC data available for this outcode

Coverage

Falkirk (100%)

Areas Covered

Bo'ness and Blackness

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.