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Solar Panels in PA81 (Na h-Eileanan Siar)

See if solar pays off for you in Na h-Eileanan Siar — 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
14.3 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£10,173
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£712
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£7,617
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 846 kWh/kW — 31 above 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 846 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)
846 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: £712, Upfront: £10,173, 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 1692 kWh 677 kWh 1015 kWh £183 £102 £285 £4,069 14.3 yrs £1,623
3 kW 2538 kWh 1015 kWh 1523 kWh £275 £152 £427 £6,104 14.3 yrs £2,435
4 kW 3384 kWh 1353 kWh 2030 kWh £366 £203 £569 £8,138 14.3 yrs £3,247
5 kW 4229 kWh 1692 kWh 2538 kWh £458 £254 £712 £10,173 14.3 yrs £4,059
6 kW 5075 kWh 2030 kWh 3045 kWh £549 £305 £854 £12,207 14.3 yrs £4,870
7 kW 5921 kWh 2368 kWh 3553 kWh £641 £355 £996 £14,242 14.3 yrs £5,682
8 kW 6767 kWh 2707 kWh 4060 kWh £732 £406 £1,139 £16,276 14.3 yrs £6,494

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: £856, 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 1692 kWh 1015 kWh 677 kWh £275 £68 £342 £6,169 18.0 yrs £678
3 kW 2538 kWh 1523 kWh 1015 kWh £412 £102 £514 £8,204 16.0 yrs £2,067
4 kW 3384 kWh 2030 kWh 1353 kWh £549 £135 £685 £10,238 15.0 yrs £3,456
5 kW 4229 kWh 2538 kWh 1692 kWh £687 £169 £856 £12,273 14.3 yrs £4,845
6 kW 5075 kWh 3045 kWh 2030 kWh £824 £203 £1,027 £14,307 13.9 yrs £6,234
7 kW 5921 kWh 3553 kWh 2368 kWh £961 £237 £1,198 £16,342 13.6 yrs £7,623
8 kW 6767 kWh 4060 kWh 2707 kWh £1,099 £271 £1,369 £18,376 13.4 yrs £9,012

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: £928, 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 1692 kWh 1184 kWh 508 kWh £320 £51 £371 £7,569 20.4 yrs £-145
3 kW 2538 kWh 1776 kWh 761 kWh £481 £76 £557 £9,604 17.2 yrs £1,533
4 kW 3384 kWh 2368 kWh 1015 kWh £641 £102 £742 £11,638 15.7 yrs £3,210
5 kW 4229 kWh 2961 kWh 1269 kWh £801 £127 £928 £13,673 14.7 yrs £4,888
6 kW 5075 kWh 3553 kWh 1523 kWh £961 £152 £1,114 £15,707 14.1 yrs £6,566
7 kW 5921 kWh 4145 kWh 1776 kWh £1,122 £178 £1,299 £17,742 13.7 yrs £8,243
8 kW 6767 kWh 4737 kWh 2030 kWh £1,282 £203 £1,485 £19,776 13.3 yrs £9,921

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: £950, 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 1692 kWh 1235 kWh 457 kWh £334 £46 £380 £9,319 24.5 yrs £-1,722
3 kW 2538 kWh 1852 kWh 685 kWh £501 £69 £570 £11,354 19.9 yrs £43
4 kW 3384 kWh 2470 kWh 914 kWh £668 £91 £760 £13,388 17.6 yrs £1,807
5 kW 4229 kWh 3087 kWh 1142 kWh £835 £114 £950 £15,423 16.2 yrs £3,571
6 kW 5075 kWh 3705 kWh 1370 kWh £1,003 £137 £1,140 £17,457 15.3 yrs £5,335
7 kW 5921 kWh 4322 kWh 1599 kWh £1,170 £160 £1,330 £19,492 14.7 yrs £7,099
8 kW 6767 kWh 4940 kWh 1827 kWh £1,337 £183 £1,519 £21,526 14.2 yrs £8,863

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 1692 kWh 1269 kWh 423 kWh £343 £42 £386 £11,069 28.7 yrs £-3,356
3 kW 2538 kWh 1903 kWh 634 kWh £515 £63 £578 £13,104 22.7 yrs £-1,534
4 kW 3384 kWh 2538 kWh 846 kWh £687 £85 £771 £15,138 19.6 yrs £288
5 kW 4229 kWh 3172 kWh 1057 kWh £858 £106 £964 £17,173 17.8 yrs £2,110
6 kW 5075 kWh 3807 kWh 1269 kWh £1,030 £127 £1,157 £19,207 16.6 yrs £3,931
7 kW 5921 kWh 4441 kWh 1480 kWh £1,202 £148 £1,350 £21,242 15.7 yrs £5,753
8 kW 6767 kWh 5075 kWh 1692 kWh £1,373 £169 £1,543 £23,276 15.1 yrs £7,575

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: £979, 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 1692 kWh 1303 kWh 389 kWh £353 £39 £391 £13,519 34.5 yrs £-5,691
3 kW 2538 kWh 1954 kWh 584 kWh £529 £58 £587 £15,554 26.5 yrs £-3,811
4 kW 3384 kWh 2605 kWh 778 kWh £705 £78 £783 £17,588 22.5 yrs £-1,931
5 kW 4229 kWh 3257 kWh 973 kWh £881 £97 £979 £19,623 20.1 yrs £-52
6 kW 5075 kWh 3908 kWh 1167 kWh £1,058 £117 £1,174 £21,657 18.4 yrs £1,828
7 kW 5921 kWh 4559 kWh 1362 kWh £1,234 £136 £1,370 £23,692 17.3 yrs £3,707
8 kW 6767 kWh 5211 kWh 1556 kWh £1,410 £156 £1,566 £25,726 16.4 yrs £5,587

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 PA81

Figures below are tailored to PA81 — click through for full league tables.

Solar Payback Index Rank #2626 of 2997
12.4 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£656 /yr • £8,138 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #2797 of 2997
33.9% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£223 fixed • ~£656 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
27.06p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
61.00p/day
Local Sunshine
846kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~846 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

Na h-Eileanan Siar (100%)

Areas Covered

Uibhist a Deas, Èirisgeigh agus Beinn na Faoghla

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

HS8 (Na h-Eileanan Siar)
≈0.0 km away
Local sunshine: ~861 kWh/kWp · +2% vs PA81
HS7 (Na h-Eileanan Siar)
≈28.0 km away
Local sunshine: ~861 kWh/kWp · +2% vs PA81
PA88 (Na h-Eileanan Siar)
≈28.3 km away
Local sunshine: ~861 kWh/kWp · +2% vs PA81
HS9 (Na h-Eileanan Siar)
≈28.9 km away
Local sunshine: ~857 kWh/kWp · +1% vs PA81
PA80 (Na h-Eileanan Siar)
≈30.0 km away
Local sunshine: ~789 kWh/kWp · -7% vs PA81
PA82 (Na h-Eileanan Siar)
≈43.3 km away
Local sunshine: ~818 kWh/kWp · -3% vs PA81

Similar sunshine across the UK

BT49 (Causeway Coast and Glens)
~846 kWh/kWp · -0% vs PA81
M24 (Rochdale)
~846 kWh/kWp · +0% vs PA81
LL38 (Gwynedd)
~846 kWh/kWp · -0% vs PA81