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Solar Panels in PA98 (Renfrewshire)

See if solar pays off for you in Renfrewshire — 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
14.8 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£12,207
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£826
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£8,443
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 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 843 kWh/kW — 7 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 843 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)
843 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: £688, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 14.8 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1685 kWh 674 kWh 1011 kWh £174 £101 £275 £4,069 14.8 yrs £1,438
3 kW 2528 kWh 1011 kWh 1517 kWh £261 £152 £413 £6,104 14.8 yrs £2,156
4 kW 3371 kWh 1348 kWh 2023 kWh £348 £202 £551 £8,138 14.8 yrs £2,875
5 kW 4214 kWh 1685 kWh 2528 kWh £436 £253 £688 £10,173 14.8 yrs £3,594
6 kW 5056 kWh 2023 kWh 3034 kWh £523 £303 £826 £12,207 14.8 yrs £4,313
7 kW 5899 kWh 2360 kWh 3539 kWh £610 £354 £964 £14,242 14.8 yrs £5,032
8 kW 6742 kWh 2697 kWh 4045 kWh £697 £405 £1,101 £16,276 14.8 yrs £5,751

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: £822, 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 1685 kWh 1011 kWh 674 kWh £261 £67 £329 £6,169 18.8 yrs £406
3 kW 2528 kWh 1517 kWh 1011 kWh £392 £101 £493 £8,204 16.6 yrs £1,658
4 kW 3371 kWh 2023 kWh 1348 kWh £523 £135 £657 £10,238 15.6 yrs £2,911
5 kW 4214 kWh 2528 kWh 1685 kWh £653 £169 £822 £12,273 14.9 yrs £4,164
6 kW 5056 kWh 3034 kWh 2023 kWh £784 £202 £986 £14,307 14.5 yrs £5,417
7 kW 5899 kWh 3539 kWh 2360 kWh £915 £236 £1,151 £16,342 14.2 yrs £6,669
8 kW 6742 kWh 4045 kWh 2697 kWh £1,045 £270 £1,315 £18,376 14.0 yrs £7,922

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: £889, 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 1685 kWh 1180 kWh 506 kWh £305 £51 £355 £7,569 21.3 yrs £-461
3 kW 2528 kWh 1770 kWh 758 kWh £457 £76 £533 £9,604 18.0 yrs £1,059
4 kW 3371 kWh 2360 kWh 1011 kWh £610 £101 £711 £11,638 16.4 yrs £2,579
5 kW 4214 kWh 2950 kWh 1264 kWh £762 £126 £889 £13,673 15.4 yrs £4,099
6 kW 5056 kWh 3539 kWh 1517 kWh £915 £152 £1,066 £15,707 14.7 yrs £5,618
7 kW 5899 kWh 4129 kWh 1770 kWh £1,067 £177 £1,244 £17,742 14.3 yrs £7,138
8 kW 6742 kWh 4719 kWh 2023 kWh £1,219 £202 £1,422 £19,776 13.9 yrs £8,658

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: £909, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 17.0 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1685 kWh 1230 kWh 455 kWh £318 £46 £363 £9,319 25.6 yrs £-2,050
3 kW 2528 kWh 1846 kWh 683 kWh £477 £68 £545 £11,354 20.8 yrs £-450
4 kW 3371 kWh 2461 kWh 910 kWh £636 £91 £727 £13,388 18.4 yrs £1,149
5 kW 4214 kWh 3076 kWh 1138 kWh £795 £114 £909 £15,423 17.0 yrs £2,749
6 kW 5056 kWh 3691 kWh 1365 kWh £954 £137 £1,090 £17,457 16.0 yrs £4,349
7 kW 5899 kWh 4306 kWh 1593 kWh £1,113 £159 £1,272 £19,492 15.3 yrs £5,949
8 kW 6742 kWh 4921 kWh 1820 kWh £1,272 £182 £1,454 £21,526 14.8 yrs £7,549

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: £922, 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 1685 kWh 1264 kWh 421 kWh £327 £42 £369 £11,069 30.0 yrs £-3,694
3 kW 2528 kWh 1896 kWh 632 kWh £490 £63 £553 £13,104 23.7 yrs £-2,040
4 kW 3371 kWh 2528 kWh 843 kWh £653 £84 £738 £15,138 20.5 yrs £-387
5 kW 4214 kWh 3160 kWh 1053 kWh £817 £105 £922 £17,173 18.6 yrs £1,266
6 kW 5056 kWh 3792 kWh 1264 kWh £980 £126 £1,106 £19,207 17.4 yrs £2,919
7 kW 5899 kWh 4424 kWh 1475 kWh £1,143 £147 £1,291 £21,242 16.5 yrs £4,573
8 kW 6742 kWh 5056 kWh 1685 kWh £1,307 £169 £1,475 £23,276 15.8 yrs £6,226

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: £935, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 21.0 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1685 kWh 1298 kWh 388 kWh £335 £39 £374 £13,519 36.1 yrs £-6,037
3 kW 2528 kWh 1947 kWh 581 kWh £503 £58 £561 £15,554 27.7 yrs £-4,330
4 kW 3371 kWh 2596 kWh 775 kWh £671 £78 £748 £17,588 23.5 yrs £-2,623
5 kW 4214 kWh 3244 kWh 969 kWh £838 £97 £935 £19,623 21.0 yrs £-917
6 kW 5056 kWh 3893 kWh 1163 kWh £1,006 £116 £1,122 £21,657 19.3 yrs £790
7 kW 5899 kWh 4542 kWh 1357 kWh £1,174 £136 £1,309 £23,692 18.1 yrs £2,496
8 kW 6742 kWh 5191 kWh 1551 kWh £1,341 £155 £1,496 £25,726 17.2 yrs £4,203

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 PA98

Figures below are tailored to PA98 — click through for full league tables.

Solar Payback Index Rank #2774 of 2997
12.9 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£946 /yr • £12,207 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #1794 of 2997
21.8% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£206 fixed • ~£946 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
25.84p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
56.55p/day
Local Sunshine
843kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~843 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

Renfrewshire (100%)

Areas Covered

Paisley Northwest

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

PA3 (Renfrewshire)
≈1.3 km away
Local sunshine: ~834 kWh/kWp · -1% vs PA98
PA1 (Renfrewshire)
≈1.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~838 kWh/kWp · -1% vs PA98
PA4 (Renfrewshire)
≈3.0 km away
Local sunshine: ~835 kWh/kWp · -1% vs PA98
PA2 (Renfrewshire)
≈3.4 km away
Local sunshine: ~825 kWh/kWp · -2% vs PA98
G52 (Glasgow City)
≈4.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~837 kWh/kWp · -1% vs PA98
PA8 (Renfrewshire)
≈4.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~846 kWh/kWp · +0% vs PA98

Similar sunshine across the UK

BT92 (Fermanagh and Omagh)
~843 kWh/kWp · +0% vs PA98
OL12 (Rochdale)
~843 kWh/kWp · -0% vs PA98
BT53 (Causeway Coast and Glens)
~842 kWh/kWp · -0% vs PA98