Solar explained to clever people by people who are not trying to be clever
Home Regions
Insights
Big Roof Britain Solar Payback Index Standing Charge Drag

Solar Panels in ML1 (North Lanarkshire)

See if solar pays off for you in North Lanarkshire — 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
£8,485
After paying itself off, you're this much ahead

Ready to Get Started?

Get your free quote from Blue Ape Renewables. They'll connect you with MCS-certified installers in your area and handle all the paperwork.

Get Solar Quote →
4.8★ Trustpilot • Octopus Energy trusted partner • MCS certified • No obligation
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 Southern Scotland, the current unit rate is 25.84p/kWh with a 56.55p/day standing charge. Your postcode’s south-facing sunshine yield is 844 kWh/kW — 5 below the regional median (850).

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 844 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)
844 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 1013 kWh £175 £101 £276 £4,069 14.7 yrs £1,449
3 kW 2533 kWh 1013 kWh 1520 kWh £262 £152 £414 £6,104 14.7 yrs £2,173
4 kW 3378 kWh 1351 kWh 2027 kWh £349 £203 £552 £8,138 14.7 yrs £2,898
5 kW 4222 kWh 1689 kWh 2533 kWh £436 £253 £690 £10,173 14.7 yrs £3,622
6 kW 5067 kWh 2027 kWh 3040 kWh £524 £304 £828 £12,207 14.7 yrs £4,346
7 kW 5911 kWh 2364 kWh 3547 kWh £611 £355 £966 £14,242 14.7 yrs £5,071
8 kW 6755 kWh 2702 kWh 4053 kWh £698 £405 £1,104 £16,276 14.7 yrs £5,795

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: £823, 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 1013 kWh 676 kWh £262 £68 £329 £6,169 18.7 yrs £419
3 kW 2533 kWh 1520 kWh 1013 kWh £393 £101 £494 £8,204 16.6 yrs £1,678
4 kW 3378 kWh 2027 kWh 1351 kWh £524 £135 £659 £10,238 15.5 yrs £2,938
5 kW 4222 kWh 2533 kWh 1689 kWh £655 £169 £823 £12,273 14.9 yrs £4,197
6 kW 5067 kWh 3040 kWh 2027 kWh £786 £203 £988 £14,307 14.5 yrs £5,457
7 kW 5911 kWh 3547 kWh 2364 kWh £916 £236 £1,153 £16,342 14.2 yrs £6,716
8 kW 6755 kWh 4053 kWh 2702 kWh £1,047 £270 £1,318 £18,376 13.9 yrs £7,976

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: £890, 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 £305 £51 £356 £7,569 21.3 yrs £-446
3 kW 2533 kWh 1773 kWh 760 kWh £458 £76 £534 £9,604 18.0 yrs £1,081
4 kW 3378 kWh 2364 kWh 1013 kWh £611 £101 £712 £11,638 16.3 yrs £2,608
5 kW 4222 kWh 2956 kWh 1267 kWh £764 £127 £890 £13,673 15.4 yrs £4,135
6 kW 5067 kWh 3547 kWh 1520 kWh £916 £152 £1,068 £15,707 14.7 yrs £5,662
7 kW 5911 kWh 4138 kWh 1773 kWh £1,069 £177 £1,247 £17,742 14.2 yrs £7,189
8 kW 6755 kWh 4729 kWh 2027 kWh £1,222 £203 £1,425 £19,776 13.9 yrs £8,716

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: £910, 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 £-2,036
3 kW 2533 kWh 1849 kWh 684 kWh £478 £68 £546 £11,354 20.8 yrs £-428
4 kW 3378 kWh 2466 kWh 912 kWh £637 £91 £728 £13,388 18.4 yrs £1,179
5 kW 4222 kWh 3082 kWh 1140 kWh £796 £114 £910 £15,423 16.9 yrs £2,786
6 kW 5067 kWh 3699 kWh 1368 kWh £956 £137 £1,093 £17,457 16.0 yrs £4,393
7 kW 5911 kWh 4315 kWh 1596 kWh £1,115 £160 £1,275 £19,492 15.3 yrs £6,000
8 kW 6755 kWh 4931 kWh 1824 kWh £1,274 £182 £1,457 £21,526 14.8 yrs £7,608

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 30.0 yrs £-3,679
3 kW 2533 kWh 1900 kWh 633 kWh £491 £63 £554 £13,104 23.6 yrs £-2,018
4 kW 3378 kWh 2533 kWh 844 kWh £655 £84 £739 £15,138 20.5 yrs £-357
5 kW 4222 kWh 3167 kWh 1056 kWh £818 £106 £924 £17,173 18.6 yrs £1,304
6 kW 5067 kWh 3800 kWh 1267 kWh £982 £127 £1,109 £19,207 17.3 yrs £2,964
7 kW 5911 kWh 4433 kWh 1478 kWh £1,146 £148 £1,293 £21,242 16.4 yrs £4,625
8 kW 6755 kWh 5067 kWh 1689 kWh £1,309 £169 £1,478 £23,276 15.7 yrs £6,286

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 1300 kWh 388 kWh £336 £39 £375 £13,519 36.1 yrs £-6,022
3 kW 2533 kWh 1951 kWh 583 kWh £504 £58 £562 £15,554 27.7 yrs £-4,307
4 kW 3378 kWh 2601 kWh 777 kWh £672 £78 £750 £17,588 23.5 yrs £-2,593
5 kW 4222 kWh 3251 kWh 971 kWh £840 £97 £937 £19,623 20.9 yrs £-879
6 kW 5067 kWh 3901 kWh 1165 kWh £1,008 £117 £1,125 £21,657 19.3 yrs £835
7 kW 5911 kWh 4551 kWh 1360 kWh £1,176 £136 £1,312 £23,692 18.1 yrs £2,550
8 kW 6755 kWh 5202 kWh 1554 kWh £1,344 £155 £1,499 £25,726 17.2 yrs £4,264

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 ML1

Figures below are tailored to ML1 — click through for full league tables.

Solar Payback Index Rank #2766 of 2997
12.9 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£948 /yr • £12,207 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #1806 of 2997
21.8% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£206 fixed • ~£948 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
25.84p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
56.55p/day
Local Sunshine
844kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~844 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 Lanarkshire (100%)

Areas Covered

Motherwell North, Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig, Motherwell West, Mossend and Holytown, Murdostoun, Fortissat, Airdrie South, Bellshill

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 Southern Scotland

ML4 (North Lanarkshire)
≈3.7 km away
Local sunshine: ~833 kWh/kWp · -1% vs ML1
ML2 (North Lanarkshire)
≈4.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~833 kWh/kWp · -1% vs ML1
ML3 (South Lanarkshire)
≈4.9 km away
Local sunshine: ~849 kWh/kWp · +1% vs ML1
G71 (South Lanarkshire)
≈6.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~843 kWh/kWp · -0% vs ML1
ML9 (South Lanarkshire)
≈7.0 km away
Local sunshine: ~843 kWh/kWp · -0% vs ML1
ML5 (North Lanarkshire)
≈7.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~819 kWh/kWp · -3% vs ML1

Similar sunshine across the UK

PA21 (Argyll and Bute)
~844 kWh/kWp · -0% vs ML1
M43 (Tameside)
~845 kWh/kWp · +0% vs ML1
M34 (Tameside)
~845 kWh/kWp · +0% vs ML1