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Big Roof Britain Solar Payback Index Standing Charge Drag

Solar Panels in IP15 (East Suffolk)

See if solar pays off for you in East Suffolk — 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
11.6 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£12,207
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£1,055
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£14,178
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 Eastern, the current unit rate is 26.53p/kWh with a 48.25p/day standing charge. Your postcode’s south-facing sunshine yield is 1059 kWh/kW — 50 above the regional median (1009).

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 1059 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 26.5p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
26.5p/kWh
Standing charge
48.2p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
1059 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: £880, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 11.6 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2118 kWh 847 kWh 1271 kWh £225 £127 £352 £4,069 11.6 yrs £2,967
3 kW 3177 kWh 1271 kWh 1906 kWh £337 £191 £528 £6,104 11.6 yrs £4,451
4 kW 4236 kWh 1694 kWh 2541 kWh £449 £254 £704 £8,138 11.6 yrs £5,934
5 kW 5294 kWh 2118 kWh 3177 kWh £562 £318 £880 £10,173 11.6 yrs £7,418
6 kW 6353 kWh 2541 kWh 3812 kWh £674 £381 £1,055 £12,207 11.6 yrs £8,901
7 kW 7412 kWh 2965 kWh 4447 kWh £787 £445 £1,231 £14,242 11.6 yrs £10,385
8 kW 8471 kWh 3388 kWh 5083 kWh £899 £508 £1,407 £16,276 11.6 yrs £11,868

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: £1,055, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 11.6 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2118 kWh 1271 kWh 847 kWh £337 £85 £422 £6,169 14.6 yrs £2,267
3 kW 3177 kWh 1906 kWh 1271 kWh £506 £127 £633 £8,204 13.0 yrs £4,451
4 kW 4236 kWh 2541 kWh 1694 kWh £674 £169 £844 £10,238 12.1 yrs £6,635
5 kW 5294 kWh 3177 kWh 2118 kWh £843 £212 £1,055 £12,273 11.6 yrs £8,818
6 kW 6353 kWh 3812 kWh 2541 kWh £1,011 £254 £1,265 £14,307 11.3 yrs £11,002
7 kW 7412 kWh 4447 kWh 2965 kWh £1,180 £296 £1,476 £16,342 11.1 yrs £13,186
8 kW 8471 kWh 5083 kWh 3388 kWh £1,348 £339 £1,687 £18,376 10.9 yrs £15,369

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: £1,142, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 12.0 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2118 kWh 1482 kWh 635 kWh £393 £64 £457 £7,569 16.6 yrs £1,567
3 kW 3177 kWh 2224 kWh 953 kWh £590 £95 £685 £9,604 14.0 yrs £4,101
4 kW 4236 kWh 2965 kWh 1271 kWh £787 £127 £914 £11,638 12.7 yrs £6,635
5 kW 5294 kWh 3706 kWh 1588 kWh £983 £159 £1,142 £13,673 12.0 yrs £9,169
6 kW 6353 kWh 4447 kWh 1906 kWh £1,180 £191 £1,370 £15,707 11.5 yrs £11,702
7 kW 7412 kWh 5189 kWh 2224 kWh £1,377 £222 £1,599 £17,742 11.1 yrs £14,236
8 kW 8471 kWh 5930 kWh 2541 kWh £1,573 £254 £1,827 £19,776 10.8 yrs £16,770

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: £1,168, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 13.2 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2118 kWh 1546 kWh 572 kWh £410 £57 £467 £9,319 19.9 yrs £27
3 kW 3177 kWh 2319 kWh 858 kWh £615 £86 £701 £11,354 16.2 yrs £2,666
4 kW 4236 kWh 3092 kWh 1144 kWh £820 £114 £935 £13,388 14.3 yrs £5,305
5 kW 5294 kWh 3865 kWh 1429 kWh £1,025 £143 £1,168 £15,423 13.2 yrs £7,944
6 kW 6353 kWh 4638 kWh 1715 kWh £1,230 £172 £1,402 £17,457 12.5 yrs £10,582
7 kW 7412 kWh 5411 kWh 2001 kWh £1,436 £200 £1,636 £19,492 11.9 yrs £13,221
8 kW 8471 kWh 6184 kWh 2287 kWh £1,641 £229 £1,869 £21,526 11.5 yrs £15,860

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: £1,186, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 14.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2118 kWh 1588 kWh 529 kWh £421 £53 £474 £11,069 23.3 yrs £-1,583
3 kW 3177 kWh 2382 kWh 794 kWh £632 £79 £711 £13,104 18.4 yrs £1,126
4 kW 4236 kWh 3177 kWh 1059 kWh £843 £106 £949 £15,138 16.0 yrs £3,835
5 kW 5294 kWh 3971 kWh 1324 kWh £1,053 £132 £1,186 £17,173 14.5 yrs £6,544
6 kW 6353 kWh 4765 kWh 1588 kWh £1,264 £159 £1,423 £19,207 13.5 yrs £9,252
7 kW 7412 kWh 5559 kWh 1853 kWh £1,475 £185 £1,660 £21,242 12.8 yrs £11,961
8 kW 8471 kWh 6353 kWh 2118 kWh £1,686 £212 £1,897 £23,276 12.3 yrs £14,670

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: £1,203, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 16.3 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2118 kWh 1631 kWh 487 kWh £433 £49 £481 £13,519 28.1 yrs £-3,892
3 kW 3177 kWh 2446 kWh 731 kWh £649 £73 £722 £15,554 21.5 yrs £-1,114
4 kW 4236 kWh 3261 kWh 974 kWh £865 £97 £963 £17,588 18.3 yrs £1,665
5 kW 5294 kWh 4077 kWh 1218 kWh £1,082 £122 £1,203 £19,623 16.3 yrs £4,444
6 kW 6353 kWh 4892 kWh 1461 kWh £1,298 £146 £1,444 £21,657 15.0 yrs £7,223
7 kW 7412 kWh 5707 kWh 1705 kWh £1,514 £170 £1,685 £23,692 14.1 yrs £10,001
8 kW 8471 kWh 6523 kWh 1948 kWh £1,730 £195 £1,925 £25,726 13.4 yrs £12,780

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 IP15

Figures below are tailored to IP15 — click through for full league tables.

Big-Roof Britain Rank #267 of 2182
6.0 kWp (UK avg 5.1 kWp)
~13 panels (≈430 W)
Solar Payback Index Rank #220 of 2997
10.1 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£1,213 /yr • £12,207 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #180 of 2997
14.5% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£176 fixed • ~£1,213 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
26.53p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
48.25p/day
Local Sunshine
1059kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~1059 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: 64% • Flats: 13% • Bungalows: 22% Based on 1,089 properties

Coverage

East Suffolk (100%)

Areas Covered

Aldeburgh & Leiston

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 Eastern

IP16 (East Suffolk)
≈5.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,051 kWh/kWp · -1% vs IP15
IP17 (East Suffolk)
≈9.9 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,060 kWh/kWp · +0% vs IP15
IP13 (East Suffolk)
≈18.3 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,056 kWh/kWp · -0% vs IP15
IP12 (East Suffolk)
≈19.9 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,077 kWh/kWp · +2% vs IP15
IP18 (East Suffolk)
≈19.9 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,041 kWh/kWp · -2% vs IP15
IP19 (East Suffolk)
≈21.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,042 kWh/kWp · -2% vs IP15

Similar sunshine across the UK

ME12 (Swale)
~1,059 kWh/kWp · +0% vs IP15
TN25 (Ashford)
~1,059 kWh/kWp · +0% vs IP15
ME3 (Medway)
~1,058 kWh/kWp · -0% vs IP15