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

Solar Panels in KA29 (North Ayrshire)

See if solar pays off for you in North Ayrshire — 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
£828
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£8,489
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 845 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)
845 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: £690, 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 1689 kWh 676 kWh 1014 kWh £175 £101 £276 £4,069 14.7 yrs £1,450
3 kW 2534 kWh 1014 kWh 1520 kWh £262 £152 £414 £6,104 14.7 yrs £2,175
4 kW 3378 kWh 1351 kWh 2027 kWh £349 £203 £552 £8,138 14.7 yrs £2,900
5 kW 4223 kWh 1689 kWh 2534 kWh £436 £253 £690 £10,173 14.7 yrs £3,625
6 kW 5068 kWh 2027 kWh 3041 kWh £524 £304 £828 £12,207 14.7 yrs £4,350
7 kW 5912 kWh 2365 kWh 3547 kWh £611 £355 £966 £14,242 14.7 yrs £5,075
8 kW 6757 kWh 2703 kWh 4054 kWh £698 £405 £1,104 £16,276 14.7 yrs £5,800

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: £824, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 14.9 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1689 kWh 1014 kWh 676 kWh £262 £68 £329 £6,169 18.7 yrs £420
3 kW 2534 kWh 1520 kWh 1014 kWh £393 £101 £494 £8,204 16.6 yrs £1,680
4 kW 3378 kWh 2027 kWh 1351 kWh £524 £135 £659 £10,238 15.5 yrs £2,940
5 kW 4223 kWh 2534 kWh 1689 kWh £655 £169 £824 £12,273 14.9 yrs £4,201
6 kW 5068 kWh 3041 kWh 2027 kWh £786 £203 £988 £14,307 14.5 yrs £5,461
7 kW 5912 kWh 3547 kWh 2365 kWh £917 £236 £1,153 £16,342 14.2 yrs £6,721
8 kW 6757 kWh 4054 kWh 2703 kWh £1,048 £270 £1,318 £18,376 13.9 yrs £7,981

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: £891, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 15.4 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1689 kWh 1182 kWh 507 kWh £306 £51 £356 £7,569 21.2 yrs £-445
3 kW 2534 kWh 1774 kWh 760 kWh £458 £76 £534 £9,604 18.0 yrs £1,083
4 kW 3378 kWh 2365 kWh 1014 kWh £611 £101 £712 £11,638 16.3 yrs £2,611
5 kW 4223 kWh 2956 kWh 1267 kWh £764 £127 £891 £13,673 15.4 yrs £4,138
6 kW 5068 kWh 3547 kWh 1520 kWh £917 £152 £1,069 £15,707 14.7 yrs £5,666
7 kW 5912 kWh 4139 kWh 1774 kWh £1,069 £177 £1,247 £17,742 14.2 yrs £7,194
8 kW 6757 kWh 4730 kWh 2027 kWh £1,222 £203 £1,425 £19,776 13.9 yrs £8,721

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: £911, 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 1689 kWh 1233 kWh 456 kWh £319 £46 £364 £9,319 25.6 yrs £-2,034
3 kW 2534 kWh 1850 kWh 684 kWh £478 £68 £546 £11,354 20.8 yrs £-426
4 kW 3378 kWh 2466 kWh 912 kWh £637 £91 £728 £13,388 18.4 yrs £1,182
5 kW 4223 kWh 3083 kWh 1140 kWh £797 £114 £911 £15,423 16.9 yrs £2,790
6 kW 5068 kWh 3699 kWh 1368 kWh £956 £137 £1,093 £17,457 16.0 yrs £4,398
7 kW 5912 kWh 4316 kWh 1596 kWh £1,115 £160 £1,275 £19,492 15.3 yrs £6,006
8 kW 6757 kWh 4932 kWh 1824 kWh £1,275 £182 £1,457 £21,526 14.8 yrs £7,614

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: £924, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 18.6 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1689 kWh 1267 kWh 422 kWh £327 £42 £370 £11,069 29.9 yrs £-3,677
3 kW 2534 kWh 1900 kWh 633 kWh £491 £63 £554 £13,104 23.6 yrs £-2,016
4 kW 3378 kWh 2534 kWh 845 kWh £655 £84 £739 £15,138 20.5 yrs £-354
5 kW 4223 kWh 3167 kWh 1056 kWh £818 £106 £924 £17,173 18.6 yrs £1,307
6 kW 5068 kWh 3801 kWh 1267 kWh £982 £127 £1,109 £19,207 17.3 yrs £2,969
7 kW 5912 kWh 4434 kWh 1478 kWh £1,146 £148 £1,294 £21,242 16.4 yrs £4,630
8 kW 6757 kWh 5068 kWh 1689 kWh £1,309 £169 £1,478 £23,276 15.7 yrs £6,292

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: £937, 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 1689 kWh 1301 kWh 389 kWh £336 £39 £375 £13,519 36.1 yrs £-6,020
3 kW 2534 kWh 1951 kWh 583 kWh £504 £58 £562 £15,554 27.7 yrs £-4,305
4 kW 3378 kWh 2601 kWh 777 kWh £672 £78 £750 £17,588 23.5 yrs £-2,590
5 kW 4223 kWh 3252 kWh 971 kWh £840 £97 £937 £19,623 20.9 yrs £-875
6 kW 5068 kWh 3902 kWh 1166 kWh £1,008 £117 £1,125 £21,657 19.3 yrs £840
7 kW 5912 kWh 4552 kWh 1360 kWh £1,176 £136 £1,312 £23,692 18.1 yrs £2,555
8 kW 6757 kWh 5203 kWh 1554 kWh £1,344 £155 £1,500 £25,726 17.2 yrs £4,270

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
845kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~845 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

North Ayrshire (100%)

Areas Covered

North Coast

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.