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

Solar Panels in EX35 (North Devon)

See if solar pays off for you in North Devon — 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
13.9 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£12,207
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£879
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£9,775
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 876 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 26.8p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
26.8p/kWh
Standing charge
54.0p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
876 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: £733, Upfront: £10,173, 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 1752 kWh 701 kWh 1051 kWh £188 £105 £293 £4,069 13.9 yrs £1,793
3 kW 2628 kWh 1051 kWh 1577 kWh £282 £158 £440 £6,104 13.9 yrs £2,689
4 kW 3504 kWh 1402 kWh 2103 kWh £376 £210 £586 £8,138 13.9 yrs £3,586
5 kW 4380 kWh 1752 kWh 2628 kWh £470 £263 £733 £10,173 13.9 yrs £4,482
6 kW 5256 kWh 2103 kWh 3154 kWh £564 £315 £879 £12,207 13.9 yrs £5,379
7 kW 6132 kWh 2453 kWh 3679 kWh £658 £368 £1,026 £14,242 13.9 yrs £6,275
8 kW 7009 kWh 2803 kWh 4205 kWh £752 £421 £1,172 £16,276 13.9 yrs £7,172

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: £880, 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 1752 kWh 1051 kWh 701 kWh £282 £70 £352 £6,169 17.5 yrs £872
3 kW 2628 kWh 1577 kWh 1051 kWh £423 £105 £528 £8,204 15.5 yrs £2,358
4 kW 3504 kWh 2103 kWh 1402 kWh £564 £140 £704 £10,238 14.5 yrs £3,844
5 kW 4380 kWh 2628 kWh 1752 kWh £705 £175 £880 £12,273 13.9 yrs £5,329
6 kW 5256 kWh 3154 kWh 2103 kWh £846 £210 £1,056 £14,307 13.5 yrs £6,815
7 kW 6132 kWh 3679 kWh 2453 kWh £987 £245 £1,232 £16,342 13.3 yrs £8,301
8 kW 7009 kWh 4205 kWh 2803 kWh £1,128 £280 £1,408 £18,376 13.0 yrs £9,787

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: £954, 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 1752 kWh 1226 kWh 526 kWh £329 £53 £382 £7,569 19.8 yrs £61
3 kW 2628 kWh 1840 kWh 788 kWh £493 £79 £572 £9,604 16.8 yrs £1,842
4 kW 3504 kWh 2453 kWh 1051 kWh £658 £105 £763 £11,638 15.3 yrs £3,622
5 kW 4380 kWh 3066 kWh 1314 kWh £822 £131 £954 £13,673 14.3 yrs £5,403
6 kW 5256 kWh 3679 kWh 1577 kWh £987 £158 £1,145 £15,707 13.7 yrs £7,184
7 kW 6132 kWh 4293 kWh 1840 kWh £1,151 £184 £1,335 £17,742 13.3 yrs £8,964
8 kW 7009 kWh 4906 kWh 2103 kWh £1,316 £210 £1,526 £19,776 13.0 yrs £10,745

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 1752 kWh 1279 kWh 473 kWh £343 £47 £390 £9,319 23.9 yrs £-1,512
3 kW 2628 kWh 1919 kWh 710 kWh £515 £71 £586 £11,354 19.4 yrs £357
4 kW 3504 kWh 2558 kWh 946 kWh £686 £95 £781 £13,388 17.1 yrs £2,226
5 kW 4380 kWh 3198 kWh 1183 kWh £858 £118 £976 £15,423 15.8 yrs £4,095
6 kW 5256 kWh 3837 kWh 1419 kWh £1,029 £142 £1,171 £17,457 14.9 yrs £5,964
7 kW 6132 kWh 4477 kWh 1656 kWh £1,201 £166 £1,366 £19,492 14.3 yrs £7,833
8 kW 7009 kWh 5116 kWh 1892 kWh £1,372 £189 £1,561 £21,526 13.8 yrs £9,702

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: £991, 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 1752 kWh 1314 kWh 438 kWh £352 £44 £396 £11,069 27.9 yrs £-3,144
3 kW 2628 kWh 1971 kWh 657 kWh £529 £66 £594 £13,104 22.0 yrs £-1,216
4 kW 3504 kWh 2628 kWh 876 kWh £705 £88 £792 £15,138 19.1 yrs £712
5 kW 4380 kWh 3285 kWh 1095 kWh £881 £110 £991 £17,173 17.3 yrs £2,640
6 kW 5256 kWh 3942 kWh 1314 kWh £1,057 £131 £1,189 £19,207 16.2 yrs £4,568
7 kW 6132 kWh 4599 kWh 1533 kWh £1,234 £153 £1,387 £21,242 15.3 yrs £6,496
8 kW 7009 kWh 5256 kWh 1752 kWh £1,410 £175 £1,585 £23,276 14.7 yrs £8,424

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: £1,005, 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 1752 kWh 1349 kWh 403 kWh £362 £40 £402 £13,519 33.6 yrs £-5,476
3 kW 2628 kWh 2024 kWh 604 kWh £543 £60 £603 £15,554 25.8 yrs £-3,489
4 kW 3504 kWh 2698 kWh 806 kWh £724 £81 £804 £17,588 21.9 yrs £-1,502
5 kW 4380 kWh 3373 kWh 1007 kWh £905 £101 £1,005 £19,623 19.5 yrs £484
6 kW 5256 kWh 4047 kWh 1209 kWh £1,086 £121 £1,206 £21,657 18.0 yrs £2,471
7 kW 6132 kWh 4722 kWh 1410 kWh £1,266 £141 £1,407 £23,692 16.8 yrs £4,458
8 kW 7009 kWh 5397 kWh 1612 kWh £1,447 £161 £1,609 £25,726 16.0 yrs £6,445

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
26.82p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
54.03p/day
Local Sunshine
876kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~876 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

Houses: 57% • Flats: 23% • Bungalows: 13% Based on 708 properties

Coverage

North Devon (99%)|Somerset (1%)

Areas Covered

Lynton & Lynmouth, Dulverton & Exmoor

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.