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Solar panel cost in Highland (IV26)

See realistic solar installation costs, savings and payback for IV26 (Highland) in under a minute using official UK data. Start with the calculator, then get a no-obligation quote from an MCS-certified installer. You can also ask the SolarByPostcode assistant to sanity-check your roof, bills and plans.

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
16.5 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£10,173
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£616
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£5,238
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 28.36p/kWh with a 62.07p/day standing charge. Your postcode’s south-facing sunshine yield is 711 kWh/kW — 104 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 711 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 28.4p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
28.4p/kWh
Standing charge
62.1p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
711 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: £616, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 16.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1422 kWh 569 kWh 853 kWh £161 £85 £247 £4,069 16.5 yrs £862
3 kW 2132 kWh 853 kWh 1279 kWh £242 £128 £370 £6,104 16.5 yrs £1,294
4 kW 2843 kWh 1137 kWh 1706 kWh £323 £171 £493 £8,138 16.5 yrs £1,725
5 kW 3554 kWh 1422 kWh 2132 kWh £403 £213 £616 £10,173 16.5 yrs £2,156
6 kW 4265 kWh 1706 kWh 2559 kWh £484 £256 £740 £12,207 16.5 yrs £2,587
7 kW 4976 kWh 1990 kWh 2985 kWh £564 £299 £863 £14,242 16.5 yrs £3,019
8 kW 5687 kWh 2275 kWh 3412 kWh £645 £341 £986 £16,276 16.5 yrs £3,450

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: £747, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 16.4 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1422 kWh 853 kWh 569 kWh £242 £57 £299 £6,169 20.6 yrs £-193
3 kW 2132 kWh 1279 kWh 853 kWh £363 £85 £448 £8,204 18.3 yrs £760
4 kW 2843 kWh 1706 kWh 1137 kWh £484 £114 £598 £10,238 17.1 yrs £1,713
5 kW 3554 kWh 2132 kWh 1422 kWh £605 £142 £747 £12,273 16.4 yrs £2,666
6 kW 4265 kWh 2559 kWh 1706 kWh £726 £171 £896 £14,307 16.0 yrs £3,620
7 kW 4976 kWh 2985 kWh 1990 kWh £847 £199 £1,046 £16,342 15.6 yrs £4,573
8 kW 5687 kWh 3412 kWh 2275 kWh £968 £227 £1,195 £18,376 15.4 yrs £5,526

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: £812, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 16.8 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1422 kWh 995 kWh 426 kWh £282 £43 £325 £7,569 23.3 yrs £-1,071
3 kW 2132 kWh 1493 kWh 640 kWh £423 £64 £487 £9,604 19.7 yrs £143
4 kW 2843 kWh 1990 kWh 853 kWh £564 £85 £650 £11,638 17.9 yrs £1,357
5 kW 3554 kWh 2488 kWh 1066 kWh £706 £107 £812 £13,673 16.8 yrs £2,571
6 kW 4265 kWh 2985 kWh 1279 kWh £847 £128 £975 £15,707 16.1 yrs £3,786
7 kW 4976 kWh 3483 kWh 1493 kWh £988 £149 £1,137 £17,742 15.6 yrs £5,000
8 kW 5687 kWh 3981 kWh 1706 kWh £1,129 £171 £1,300 £19,776 15.2 yrs £6,214

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: £832, Upfront: £15,423, 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 1422 kWh 1038 kWh 384 kWh £294 £38 £333 £9,319 28.0 yrs £-2,665
3 kW 2132 kWh 1557 kWh 576 kWh £441 £58 £499 £11,354 22.7 yrs £-1,372
4 kW 2843 kWh 2076 kWh 768 kWh £589 £77 £665 £13,388 20.1 yrs £-80
5 kW 3554 kWh 2595 kWh 960 kWh £736 £96 £832 £15,423 18.5 yrs £1,213
6 kW 4265 kWh 3113 kWh 1152 kWh £883 £115 £998 £17,457 17.5 yrs £2,505
7 kW 4976 kWh 3632 kWh 1343 kWh £1,030 £134 £1,164 £19,492 16.7 yrs £3,798
8 kW 5687 kWh 4151 kWh 1535 kWh £1,177 £154 £1,331 £21,526 16.2 yrs £5,091

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: £845, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 20.3 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1422 kWh 1066 kWh 355 kWh £302 £36 £338 £11,069 32.8 yrs £-4,310
3 kW 2132 kWh 1599 kWh 533 kWh £454 £53 £507 £13,104 25.9 yrs £-2,966
4 kW 2843 kWh 2132 kWh 711 kWh £605 £71 £676 £15,138 22.4 yrs £-1,621
5 kW 3554 kWh 2666 kWh 889 kWh £756 £89 £845 £17,173 20.3 yrs £-276
6 kW 4265 kWh 3199 kWh 1066 kWh £907 £107 £1,014 £19,207 18.9 yrs £1,069
7 kW 4976 kWh 3732 kWh 1244 kWh £1,058 £124 £1,183 £21,242 18.0 yrs £2,413
8 kW 5687 kWh 4265 kWh 1422 kWh £1,210 £142 £1,352 £23,276 17.2 yrs £3,758

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: £858, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 22.9 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1422 kWh 1095 kWh 327 kWh £310 £33 £343 £13,519 39.4 yrs £-6,656
3 kW 2132 kWh 1642 kWh 490 kWh £466 £49 £515 £15,554 30.2 yrs £-5,259
4 kW 2843 kWh 2189 kWh 654 kWh £621 £65 £686 £17,588 25.6 yrs £-3,862
5 kW 3554 kWh 2737 kWh 817 kWh £776 £82 £858 £19,623 22.9 yrs £-2,465
6 kW 4265 kWh 3284 kWh 981 kWh £931 £98 £1,029 £21,657 21.0 yrs £-1,068
7 kW 4976 kWh 3831 kWh 1144 kWh £1,087 £114 £1,201 £23,692 19.7 yrs £329
8 kW 5687 kWh 4379 kWh 1308 kWh £1,242 £131 £1,373 £25,726 18.7 yrs £1,726

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 IV26

Figures below are tailored to IV26 — click through for full league tables.

Solar Payback Index Rank #2977 of 2997
16.5 years (UK avg 12.6 years)
~£493 /yr • £8,138 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #2975 of 2997
46.0% (UK avg 24.6%) drag on savings
£227 fixed • ~£493 /yr value
Aspect Penalty View ranking →
East −19.1% West −19.5%
Typical output loss versus a south-facing roof (lower is better)

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
28.36p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
62.07p/day
Local Sunshine
711kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~711 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, Q1 2026

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

IV23 (Highland)
≈11.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~729 kWh/kWp · +3% vs IV26
IV22 (Highland)
≈28.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~710 kWh/kWp · -0% vs IV26
IV21 (Highland)
≈37.3 km away
Local sunshine: ~718 kWh/kWp · +1% vs IV26
IV27 (Highland)
≈45.4 km away
Local sunshine: ~770 kWh/kWp · +8% vs IV26
IV24 (Highland)
≈48.1 km away
Local sunshine: ~798 kWh/kWp · +12% vs IV26
IV14 (Highland)
≈50.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~825 kWh/kWp · +16% vs IV26

Similar sunshine across the UK

PA19 (Inverclyde)
~756 kWh/kWp · +6% vs IV26
PH31 (Highland)
~711 kWh/kWp · +0% vs IV26
IV41 (Highland)
~712 kWh/kWp · +0% vs IV26