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Solar panel cost in Preston (PR11)

See realistic solar installation costs, savings and payback for PR11 (Preston) in under a minute using official UK data. Start with the calculator, then get a no-obligation quote from an MCS-certified installer. You can also ask the SolarByPostcode assistant to sanity-check your roof, bills and plans.

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
13.2 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£10,173
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£769
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£9,043
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 North West, the current unit rate is 28.45p/kWh with a 52.22p/day standing charge. Your postcode’s south-facing sunshine yield is 884 kWh/kW — 14 above the regional median (870).

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 884 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 28.4p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
28.4p/kWh
Standing charge
52.2p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
884 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: £769, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 13.2 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1769 kWh 708 kWh 1061 kWh £201 £106 £307 £4,069 13.2 yrs £2,080
3 kW 2654 kWh 1061 kWh 1592 kWh £302 £159 £461 £6,104 13.2 yrs £3,120
4 kW 3538 kWh 1415 kWh 2123 kWh £403 £212 £615 £8,138 13.2 yrs £4,160
5 kW 4422 kWh 1769 kWh 2654 kWh £503 £265 £769 £10,173 13.2 yrs £5,200
6 kW 5307 kWh 2123 kWh 3184 kWh £604 £318 £922 £12,207 13.2 yrs £6,240
7 kW 6192 kWh 2477 kWh 3715 kWh £705 £371 £1,076 £14,242 13.2 yrs £7,280
8 kW 7076 kWh 2830 kWh 4246 kWh £805 £425 £1,230 £16,276 13.2 yrs £8,320

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: £932, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 13.2 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1769 kWh 1061 kWh 708 kWh £302 £71 £373 £6,169 16.6 yrs £1,286
3 kW 2654 kWh 1592 kWh 1061 kWh £453 £106 £559 £8,204 14.7 yrs £2,978
4 kW 3538 kWh 2123 kWh 1415 kWh £604 £142 £745 £10,238 13.7 yrs £4,671
5 kW 4422 kWh 2654 kWh 1769 kWh £755 £177 £932 £12,273 13.2 yrs £6,364
6 kW 5307 kWh 3184 kWh 2123 kWh £906 £212 £1,118 £14,307 12.8 yrs £8,057
7 kW 6192 kWh 3715 kWh 2477 kWh £1,057 £248 £1,305 £16,342 12.5 yrs £9,749
8 kW 7076 kWh 4246 kWh 2830 kWh £1,208 £283 £1,491 £18,376 12.3 yrs £11,442

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: £1,013, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 13.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1769 kWh 1238 kWh 531 kWh £352 £53 £405 £7,569 18.7 yrs £538
3 kW 2654 kWh 1857 kWh 796 kWh £528 £80 £608 £9,604 15.8 yrs £2,557
4 kW 3538 kWh 2477 kWh 1061 kWh £705 £106 £811 £11,638 14.4 yrs £4,577
5 kW 4422 kWh 3096 kWh 1327 kWh £881 £133 £1,013 £13,673 13.5 yrs £6,596
6 kW 5307 kWh 3715 kWh 1592 kWh £1,057 £159 £1,216 £15,707 12.9 yrs £8,615
7 kW 6192 kWh 4334 kWh 1857 kWh £1,233 £186 £1,419 £17,742 12.5 yrs £10,634
8 kW 7076 kWh 4953 kWh 2123 kWh £1,409 £212 £1,621 £19,776 12.2 yrs £12,653

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: £1,038, Upfront: £15,423, 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 1769 kWh 1291 kWh 478 kWh £367 £48 £415 £9,319 22.4 yrs £-1,016
3 kW 2654 kWh 1937 kWh 716 kWh £551 £72 £623 £11,354 18.2 yrs £1,101
4 kW 3538 kWh 2583 kWh 955 kWh £735 £96 £830 £13,388 16.1 yrs £3,218
5 kW 4422 kWh 3228 kWh 1194 kWh £918 £119 £1,038 £15,423 14.9 yrs £5,335
6 kW 5307 kWh 3874 kWh 1433 kWh £1,102 £143 £1,245 £17,457 14.0 yrs £7,452
7 kW 6192 kWh 4520 kWh 1672 kWh £1,286 £167 £1,453 £19,492 13.4 yrs £9,569
8 kW 7076 kWh 5165 kWh 1911 kWh £1,470 £191 £1,661 £21,526 13.0 yrs £11,687

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: £1,054, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 16.3 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1769 kWh 1327 kWh 442 kWh £377 £44 £422 £11,069 26.2 yrs £-2,635
3 kW 2654 kWh 1990 kWh 663 kWh £566 £66 £633 £13,104 20.7 yrs £-453
4 kW 3538 kWh 2654 kWh 884 kWh £755 £88 £843 £15,138 17.9 yrs £1,729
5 kW 4422 kWh 3317 kWh 1106 kWh £944 £111 £1,054 £17,173 16.3 yrs £3,912
6 kW 5307 kWh 3980 kWh 1327 kWh £1,132 £133 £1,265 £19,207 15.2 yrs £6,094
7 kW 6192 kWh 4644 kWh 1548 kWh £1,321 £155 £1,476 £21,242 14.4 yrs £8,276
8 kW 7076 kWh 5307 kWh 1769 kWh £1,510 £177 £1,687 £23,276 13.8 yrs £10,459

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: £1,071, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 18.3 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1769 kWh 1362 kWh 407 kWh £388 £41 £428 £13,519 31.6 yrs £-4,955
3 kW 2654 kWh 2043 kWh 610 kWh £581 £61 £642 £15,554 24.2 yrs £-2,707
4 kW 3538 kWh 2724 kWh 814 kWh £775 £81 £856 £17,588 20.5 yrs £-460
5 kW 4422 kWh 3405 kWh 1017 kWh £969 £102 £1,071 £19,623 18.3 yrs £1,788
6 kW 5307 kWh 4086 kWh 1221 kWh £1,163 £122 £1,285 £21,657 16.9 yrs £4,036
7 kW 6192 kWh 4767 kWh 1424 kWh £1,356 £142 £1,499 £23,692 15.8 yrs £6,283
8 kW 7076 kWh 5449 kWh 1627 kWh £1,550 £163 £1,713 £25,726 15.0 yrs £8,531

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 PR11

Figures below are tailored to PR11 — click through for full league tables.

Solar Payback Index Rank #2246 of 2997
13.2 years (UK avg 12.6 years)
~£769 /yr • £10,173 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #1835 of 2997
24.8% (UK avg 24.6%) drag on savings
£191 fixed • ~£769 /yr value
Aspect Penalty View ranking →
East −19.4% West −19.9%
Typical output loss versus a south-facing roof (lower is better)

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
28.45p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
52.22p/day
Local Sunshine
884kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~884 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

Preston (100%)

Areas Covered

Sharoe Green, Fishwick & Frenchwood

Data Sources & Assumptions

Solar yield: PVGIS (EU Joint Research Centre), January 2025 data

Electricity rates: Ofgem price cap, Q1 2026

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 North West

PR2 (Preston)
≈2.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~894 kWh/kWp · +1% vs PR11
PR0 (Preston)
≈4.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~884 kWh/kWp · -0% vs PR11
PR1 (Preston)
≈4.4 km away
Local sunshine: ~891 kWh/kWp · +1% vs PR11
PR3 (Wyre)
≈8.4 km away
Local sunshine: ~905 kWh/kWp · +2% vs PR11
PR5 (South Ribble)
≈8.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~860 kWh/kWp · -3% vs PR11
PR4 (Fylde)
≈11.0 km away
Local sunshine: ~893 kWh/kWp · +1% vs PR11

Similar sunshine across the UK

TD1 (Scottish Borders)
~884 kWh/kWp · -0% vs PR11
LL61 (Isle of Anglesey)
~884 kWh/kWp · -0% vs PR11
PA76 (Argyll and Bute)
~884 kWh/kWp · -0% vs PR11