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Big Roof Britain Solar Payback Index Standing Charge Drag

Solar Panels in NE46 (Northumberland)

See if solar pays off for you in Northumberland — 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
14.1 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£12,207
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£868
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£9,481
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, the current unit rate is 25.43p/kWh with a 59.86p/day standing charge. Your postcode’s south-facing sunshine yield is 894 kWh/kW — 32 below the regional median (926).

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 894 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 25.4p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
25.4p/kWh
Standing charge
59.9p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
894 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: £723, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 14.1 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1788 kWh 715 kWh 1073 kWh £182 £107 £289 £4,069 14.1 yrs £1,715
3 kW 2682 kWh 1073 kWh 1609 kWh £273 £161 £434 £6,104 14.1 yrs £2,572
4 kW 3576 kWh 1431 kWh 2146 kWh £364 £215 £578 £8,138 14.1 yrs £3,429
5 kW 4470 kWh 1788 kWh 2682 kWh £455 £268 £723 £10,173 14.1 yrs £4,286
6 kW 5364 kWh 2146 kWh 3219 kWh £546 £322 £868 £12,207 14.1 yrs £5,144
7 kW 6258 kWh 2503 kWh 3755 kWh £637 £376 £1,012 £14,242 14.1 yrs £6,001
8 kW 7153 kWh 2861 kWh 4292 kWh £728 £429 £1,157 £16,276 14.1 yrs £6,858

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: £861, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 14.3 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1788 kWh 1073 kWh 715 kWh £273 £72 £344 £6,169 17.9 yrs £718
3 kW 2682 kWh 1609 kWh 1073 kWh £409 £107 £517 £8,204 15.9 yrs £2,127
4 kW 3576 kWh 2146 kWh 1431 kWh £546 £143 £689 £10,238 14.9 yrs £3,536
5 kW 4470 kWh 2682 kWh 1788 kWh £682 £179 £861 £12,273 14.3 yrs £4,945
6 kW 5364 kWh 3219 kWh 2146 kWh £819 £215 £1,033 £14,307 13.8 yrs £6,355
7 kW 6258 kWh 3755 kWh 2503 kWh £955 £250 £1,205 £16,342 13.6 yrs £7,764
8 kW 7153 kWh 4292 kWh 2861 kWh £1,091 £286 £1,377 £18,376 13.3 yrs £9,173

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: £930, Upfront: £13,673, 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 1788 kWh 1252 kWh 536 kWh £318 £54 £372 £7,569 20.3 yrs £-130
3 kW 2682 kWh 1878 kWh 805 kWh £477 £80 £558 £9,604 17.2 yrs £1,555
4 kW 3576 kWh 2503 kWh 1073 kWh £637 £107 £744 £11,638 15.6 yrs £3,240
5 kW 4470 kWh 3129 kWh 1341 kWh £796 £134 £930 £13,673 14.7 yrs £4,925
6 kW 5364 kWh 3755 kWh 1609 kWh £955 £161 £1,116 £15,707 14.1 yrs £6,610
7 kW 6258 kWh 4381 kWh 1878 kWh £1,114 £188 £1,302 £17,742 13.6 yrs £8,295
8 kW 7153 kWh 5007 kWh 2146 kWh £1,273 £215 £1,488 £19,776 13.3 yrs £9,980

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: £951, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 16.2 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1788 kWh 1305 kWh 483 kWh £332 £48 £380 £9,319 24.5 yrs £-1,714
3 kW 2682 kWh 1958 kWh 724 kWh £498 £72 £570 £11,354 19.9 yrs £53
4 kW 3576 kWh 2611 kWh 966 kWh £664 £97 £760 £13,388 17.6 yrs £1,821
5 kW 4470 kWh 3263 kWh 1207 kWh £830 £121 £951 £15,423 16.2 yrs £3,589
6 kW 5364 kWh 3916 kWh 1448 kWh £996 £145 £1,141 £17,457 15.3 yrs £5,357
7 kW 6258 kWh 4569 kWh 1690 kWh £1,162 £169 £1,331 £19,492 14.6 yrs £7,124
8 kW 7153 kWh 5221 kWh 1931 kWh £1,328 £193 £1,521 £21,526 14.2 yrs £8,892

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: £964, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 17.8 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1788 kWh 1341 kWh 447 kWh £341 £45 £386 £11,069 28.7 yrs £-3,354
3 kW 2682 kWh 2012 kWh 671 kWh £512 £67 £579 £13,104 22.6 yrs £-1,531
4 kW 3576 kWh 2682 kWh 894 kWh £682 £89 £771 £15,138 19.6 yrs £292
5 kW 4470 kWh 3353 kWh 1118 kWh £853 £112 £964 £17,173 17.8 yrs £2,115
6 kW 5364 kWh 4023 kWh 1341 kWh £1,023 £134 £1,157 £19,207 16.6 yrs £3,938
7 kW 6258 kWh 4694 kWh 1565 kWh £1,194 £156 £1,350 £21,242 15.7 yrs £5,761
8 kW 7153 kWh 5364 kWh 1788 kWh £1,364 £179 £1,543 £23,276 15.1 yrs £7,584

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: £978, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 20.1 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1788 kWh 1377 kWh 411 kWh £350 £41 £391 £13,519 34.6 yrs £-5,694
3 kW 2682 kWh 2065 kWh 617 kWh £525 £62 £587 £15,554 26.5 yrs £-3,816
4 kW 3576 kWh 2754 kWh 823 kWh £700 £82 £783 £17,588 22.5 yrs £-1,937
5 kW 4470 kWh 3442 kWh 1028 kWh £875 £103 £978 £19,623 20.1 yrs £-59
6 kW 5364 kWh 4131 kWh 1234 kWh £1,050 £123 £1,174 £21,657 18.5 yrs £1,819
7 kW 6258 kWh 4819 kWh 1439 kWh £1,225 £144 £1,369 £23,692 17.3 yrs £3,697
8 kW 7153 kWh 5507 kWh 1645 kWh £1,401 £165 £1,565 £25,726 16.4 yrs £5,575

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 NE46

Figures below are tailored to NE46 — click through for full league tables.

Big-Roof Britain Rank #467 of 2182
5.6 kWp (UK avg 5.1 kWp)
~12 panels (≈430 W)
Solar Payback Index Rank #2572 of 2997
12.3 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£992 /yr • £12,207 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #1847 of 2997
22.0% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£218 fixed • ~£992 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
25.43p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
59.86p/day
Local Sunshine
894kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~894 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: 20% • Bungalows: 15% Based on 4,321 properties

Coverage

Northumberland (100%)

Areas Covered

Hexham North, Hexham East, Hexham West, Humshaugh, South Tynedale, Haydon & Hadrian, Corbridge, Ponteland West

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

NE45 (Northumberland)
≈5.5 km away
Local sunshine: ~912 kWh/kWp · +2% vs NE46
NE44 (Northumberland)
≈8.7 km away
Local sunshine: ~904 kWh/kWp · +1% vs NE46
NE47 (Northumberland)
≈10.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~902 kWh/kWp · +1% vs NE46
NE43 (Northumberland)
≈13.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~909 kWh/kWp · +2% vs NE46
NE42 (Northumberland)
≈16.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~907 kWh/kWp · +1% vs NE46
NE18 (Northumberland)
≈16.5 km away
Local sunshine: ~919 kWh/kWp · +3% vs NE46

Similar sunshine across the UK

EH10 (City of Edinburgh)
~894 kWh/kWp · -0% vs NE46
CA24 (Cumberland)
~894 kWh/kWp · +0% vs NE46
EH11 (City of Edinburgh)
~894 kWh/kWp · +0% vs NE46