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Solar Panels in IV23 (Highland)

See if solar pays off for you in Highland — 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
16.6 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£10,173
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£613
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£5,157
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 Scotland, the current unit rate is 27.06p/kWh with a 61.00p/day standing charge. Your postcode’s south-facing sunshine yield is 729 kWh/kW — 86 below the regional median (815).

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 729 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 27.1p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
27.1p/kWh
Standing charge
61.0p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
729 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: £613, Upfront: £10,173, 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 1458 kWh 583 kWh 875 kWh £158 £87 £245 £4,069 16.6 yrs £837
3 kW 2187 kWh 875 kWh 1312 kWh £237 £131 £368 £6,104 16.6 yrs £1,255
4 kW 2916 kWh 1166 kWh 1750 kWh £316 £175 £491 £8,138 16.6 yrs £1,673
5 kW 3645 kWh 1458 kWh 2187 kWh £395 £219 £613 £10,173 16.6 yrs £2,091
6 kW 4374 kWh 1750 kWh 2624 kWh £473 £262 £736 £12,207 16.6 yrs £2,510
7 kW 5103 kWh 2041 kWh 3062 kWh £552 £306 £858 £14,242 16.6 yrs £2,928
8 kW 5832 kWh 2333 kWh 3499 kWh £631 £350 £981 £16,276 16.6 yrs £3,346

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: £738, Upfront: £12,273, 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 1458 kWh 875 kWh 583 kWh £237 £58 £295 £6,169 20.9 yrs £-269
3 kW 2187 kWh 1312 kWh 875 kWh £355 £87 £443 £8,204 18.5 yrs £647
4 kW 2916 kWh 1750 kWh 1166 kWh £473 £117 £590 £10,238 17.4 yrs £1,563
5 kW 3645 kWh 2187 kWh 1458 kWh £592 £146 £738 £12,273 16.6 yrs £2,479
6 kW 4374 kWh 2624 kWh 1750 kWh £710 £175 £885 £14,307 16.2 yrs £3,394
7 kW 5103 kWh 3062 kWh 2041 kWh £828 £204 £1,033 £16,342 15.8 yrs £4,310
8 kW 5832 kWh 3499 kWh 2333 kWh £947 £233 £1,180 £18,376 15.6 yrs £5,226

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: £800, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 17.1 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1458 kWh 1021 kWh 437 kWh £276 £44 £320 £7,569 23.7 yrs £-1,171
3 kW 2187 kWh 1531 kWh 656 kWh £414 £66 £480 £9,604 20.0 yrs £-7
4 kW 2916 kWh 2041 kWh 875 kWh £552 £87 £640 £11,638 18.2 yrs £1,158
5 kW 3645 kWh 2551 kWh 1093 kWh £690 £109 £800 £13,673 17.1 yrs £2,322
6 kW 4374 kWh 3062 kWh 1312 kWh £828 £131 £960 £15,707 16.4 yrs £3,487
7 kW 5103 kWh 3572 kWh 1531 kWh £967 £153 £1,120 £17,742 15.8 yrs £4,651
8 kW 5832 kWh 4082 kWh 1750 kWh £1,105 £175 £1,280 £19,776 15.5 yrs £5,816

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: £818, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 18.8 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1458 kWh 1064 kWh 394 kWh £288 £39 £327 £9,319 28.5 yrs £-2,772
3 kW 2187 kWh 1596 kWh 590 kWh £432 £59 £491 £11,354 23.1 yrs £-1,533
4 kW 2916 kWh 2129 kWh 787 kWh £576 £79 £655 £13,388 20.4 yrs £-294
5 kW 3645 kWh 2661 kWh 984 kWh £720 £98 £818 £15,423 18.8 yrs £945
6 kW 4374 kWh 3193 kWh 1181 kWh £864 £118 £982 £17,457 17.8 yrs £2,184
7 kW 5103 kWh 3725 kWh 1378 kWh £1,008 £138 £1,146 £19,492 17.0 yrs £3,424
8 kW 5832 kWh 4257 kWh 1575 kWh £1,152 £157 £1,309 £21,526 16.4 yrs £4,663

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: £831, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 20.7 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1458 kWh 1093 kWh 364 kWh £296 £36 £332 £11,069 33.3 yrs £-4,422
3 kW 2187 kWh 1640 kWh 547 kWh £444 £55 £498 £13,104 26.3 yrs £-3,134
4 kW 2916 kWh 2187 kWh 729 kWh £592 £73 £665 £15,138 22.8 yrs £-1,845
5 kW 3645 kWh 2734 kWh 911 kWh £740 £91 £831 £17,173 20.7 yrs £-556
6 kW 4374 kWh 3280 kWh 1093 kWh £888 £109 £997 £19,207 19.3 yrs £733
7 kW 5103 kWh 3827 kWh 1276 kWh £1,036 £128 £1,163 £21,242 18.3 yrs £2,022
8 kW 5832 kWh 4374 kWh 1458 kWh £1,184 £146 £1,329 £23,276 17.5 yrs £3,311

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: £843, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 23.3 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1458 kWh 1123 kWh 335 kWh £304 £34 £337 £13,519 40.1 yrs £-6,773
3 kW 2187 kWh 1684 kWh 503 kWh £456 £50 £506 £15,554 30.7 yrs £-5,434
4 kW 2916 kWh 2245 kWh 671 kWh £608 £67 £675 £17,588 26.1 yrs £-4,096
5 kW 3645 kWh 2806 kWh 838 kWh £759 £84 £843 £19,623 23.3 yrs £-2,757
6 kW 4374 kWh 3368 kWh 1006 kWh £911 £101 £1,012 £21,657 21.4 yrs £-1,419
7 kW 5103 kWh 3929 kWh 1174 kWh £1,063 £117 £1,181 £23,692 20.1 yrs £-80
8 kW 5832 kWh 4490 kWh 1341 kWh £1,215 £134 £1,349 £25,726 19.1 yrs £1,259

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 IV23

Figures below are tailored to IV23 — click through for full league tables.

Solar Payback Index Rank #2963 of 2997
14.4 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£565 /yr • £8,138 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #2963 of 2997
39.4% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£223 fixed • ~£565 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
27.06p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
61.00p/day
Local Sunshine
729kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~729 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

No EPC data available for this outcode

Coverage

Highland (100%)

Areas Covered

Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh

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 Scotland

IV26 (Highland)
≈11.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~711 kWh/kWp · -2% vs IV23
IV22 (Highland)
≈30.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~710 kWh/kWp · -3% vs IV23
IV21 (Highland)
≈38.7 km away
Local sunshine: ~718 kWh/kWp · -2% vs IV23
IV14 (Highland)
≈39.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~825 kWh/kWp · +13% vs IV23
IV24 (Highland)
≈43.4 km away
Local sunshine: ~798 kWh/kWp · +9% vs IV23
IV15 (Highland)
≈44.5 km away
Local sunshine: ~807 kWh/kWp · +11% vs IV23

Similar sunshine across the UK

PA19 (Inverclyde)
~756 kWh/kWp · +4% vs IV23
DL11 (North Yorkshire)
~765 kWh/kWp · +5% vs IV23
G84 (Argyll and Bute)
~766 kWh/kWp · +5% vs IV23