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

Solar Panels in PH37 (Highland)

See if solar pays off for you in Highland — 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
17.5 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£10,173
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£583
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£4,400
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 5.0 kW, with most eligible homes comfortably fitting within 3–6 kW. Each kilowatt of panels produces roughly 693 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)
693 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: £583, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 17.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1386 kWh 554 kWh 832 kWh £150 £83 £233 £4,069 17.5 yrs £594
3 kW 2079 kWh 832 kWh 1247 kWh £225 £125 £350 £6,104 17.5 yrs £891
4 kW 2772 kWh 1109 kWh 1663 kWh £300 £166 £466 £8,138 17.5 yrs £1,188
5 kW 3465 kWh 1386 kWh 2079 kWh £375 £208 £583 £10,173 17.5 yrs £1,485
6 kW 4158 kWh 1663 kWh 2495 kWh £450 £249 £699 £12,207 17.5 yrs £1,783
7 kW 4851 kWh 1940 kWh 2910 kWh £525 £291 £816 £14,242 17.5 yrs £2,080
8 kW 5544 kWh 2217 kWh 3326 kWh £600 £333 £933 £16,276 17.5 yrs £2,377

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: £701, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 17.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1386 kWh 832 kWh 554 kWh £225 £55 £280 £6,169 22.0 yrs £-560
3 kW 2079 kWh 1247 kWh 832 kWh £338 £83 £421 £8,204 19.5 yrs £210
4 kW 2772 kWh 1663 kWh 1109 kWh £450 £111 £561 £10,238 18.3 yrs £980
5 kW 3465 kWh 2079 kWh 1386 kWh £563 £139 £701 £12,273 17.5 yrs £1,750
6 kW 4158 kWh 2495 kWh 1663 kWh £675 £166 £841 £14,307 17.0 yrs £2,520
7 kW 4851 kWh 2910 kWh 1940 kWh £788 £194 £982 £16,342 16.6 yrs £3,290
8 kW 5544 kWh 3326 kWh 2217 kWh £900 £222 £1,122 £18,376 16.4 yrs £4,060

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: £760, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 18.0 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1386 kWh 970 kWh 416 kWh £263 £42 £304 £7,569 24.9 yrs £-1,487
3 kW 2079 kWh 1455 kWh 624 kWh £394 £62 £456 £9,604 21.1 yrs £-481
4 kW 2772 kWh 1940 kWh 832 kWh £525 £83 £608 £11,638 19.1 yrs £526
5 kW 3465 kWh 2425 kWh 1039 kWh £656 £104 £760 £13,673 18.0 yrs £1,532
6 kW 4158 kWh 2910 kWh 1247 kWh £788 £125 £912 £15,707 17.2 yrs £2,538
7 kW 4851 kWh 3395 kWh 1455 kWh £919 £146 £1,064 £17,742 16.7 yrs £3,545
8 kW 5544 kWh 3880 kWh 1663 kWh £1,050 £166 £1,216 £19,776 16.3 yrs £4,551

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: £778, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 19.8 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1386 kWh 1012 kWh 374 kWh £274 £37 £311 £9,319 29.9 yrs £-3,095
3 kW 2079 kWh 1518 kWh 561 kWh £411 £56 £467 £11,354 24.3 yrs £-2,018
4 kW 2772 kWh 2023 kWh 748 kWh £548 £75 £622 £13,388 21.5 yrs £-941
5 kW 3465 kWh 2529 kWh 935 kWh £684 £94 £778 £15,423 19.8 yrs £137
6 kW 4158 kWh 3035 kWh 1123 kWh £821 £112 £934 £17,457 18.7 yrs £1,214
7 kW 4851 kWh 3541 kWh 1310 kWh £958 £131 £1,089 £19,492 17.9 yrs £2,291
8 kW 5544 kWh 4047 kWh 1497 kWh £1,095 £150 £1,245 £21,526 17.3 yrs £3,369

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: £790, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 21.7 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1386 kWh 1039 kWh 346 kWh £281 £35 £316 £11,069 35.0 yrs £-4,751
3 kW 2079 kWh 1559 kWh 520 kWh £422 £52 £474 £13,104 27.7 yrs £-3,626
4 kW 2772 kWh 2079 kWh 693 kWh £563 £69 £632 £15,138 24.0 yrs £-2,502
5 kW 3465 kWh 2599 kWh 866 kWh £703 £87 £790 £17,173 21.7 yrs £-1,377
6 kW 4158 kWh 3118 kWh 1039 kWh £844 £104 £948 £19,207 20.3 yrs £-252
7 kW 4851 kWh 3638 kWh 1213 kWh £984 £121 £1,106 £21,242 19.2 yrs £872
8 kW 5544 kWh 4158 kWh 1386 kWh £1,125 £139 £1,264 £23,276 18.4 yrs £1,997

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: £802, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 24.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1386 kWh 1067 kWh 319 kWh £289 £32 £321 £13,519 42.2 yrs £-7,106
3 kW 2079 kWh 1601 kWh 478 kWh £433 £48 £481 £15,554 32.3 yrs £-5,934
4 kW 2772 kWh 2134 kWh 638 kWh £578 £64 £641 £17,588 27.4 yrs £-4,762
5 kW 3465 kWh 2668 kWh 797 kWh £722 £80 £802 £19,623 24.5 yrs £-3,591
6 kW 4158 kWh 3201 kWh 956 kWh £866 £96 £962 £21,657 22.5 yrs £-2,419
7 kW 4851 kWh 3735 kWh 1116 kWh £1,011 £112 £1,122 £23,692 21.1 yrs £-1,247
8 kW 5544 kWh 4269 kWh 1275 kWh £1,155 £128 £1,283 £25,726 20.1 yrs £-75

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
27.06p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
61.00p/day
Local Sunshine
693kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~693 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

Highland (100%)

Areas Covered

Caol and Mallaig, Fort William and Ardnamurchan

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.