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Big Roof Britain Solar Payback Index Standing Charge Drag

Solar Panels in RM1 (Havering)

See if solar pays off for you in Havering — 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
12.1 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£6,104
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£505
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£6,527
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 Eastern, the current unit rate is 26.53p/kWh with a 48.25p/day standing charge. Your postcode’s south-facing sunshine yield is 1014 kWh/kW — 5 above the regional median (1009).

Read the full story

A typical roof here lands around 3.0 kW, with most eligible homes comfortably fitting within 3–6 kW. Each kilowatt of panels produces roughly 1014 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 26.5p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
26.5p/kWh
Standing charge
48.2p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
1014 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: £842, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 12.1 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2027 kWh 811 kWh 1216 kWh £215 £122 £337 £4,069 12.1 yrs £2,667
3 kW 3041 kWh 1216 kWh 1825 kWh £323 £182 £505 £6,104 12.1 yrs £4,001
4 kW 4055 kWh 1622 kWh 2433 kWh £430 £243 £674 £8,138 12.1 yrs £5,334
5 kW 5069 kWh 2027 kWh 3041 kWh £538 £304 £842 £10,173 12.1 yrs £6,668
6 kW 6082 kWh 2433 kWh 3649 kWh £645 £365 £1,010 £12,207 12.1 yrs £8,001
7 kW 7096 kWh 2838 kWh 4258 kWh £753 £426 £1,179 £14,242 12.1 yrs £9,335
8 kW 8110 kWh 3244 kWh 4866 kWh £861 £487 £1,347 £16,276 12.1 yrs £10,668

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: £1,010, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 12.2 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2027 kWh 1216 kWh 811 kWh £323 £81 £404 £6,169 15.3 yrs £1,908
3 kW 3041 kWh 1825 kWh 1216 kWh £484 £122 £606 £8,204 13.5 yrs £3,911
4 kW 4055 kWh 2433 kWh 1622 kWh £645 £162 £808 £10,238 12.7 yrs £5,915
5 kW 5069 kWh 3041 kWh 2027 kWh £807 £203 £1,010 £12,273 12.2 yrs £7,919
6 kW 6082 kWh 3649 kWh 2433 kWh £968 £243 £1,212 £14,307 11.8 yrs £9,923
7 kW 7096 kWh 4258 kWh 2838 kWh £1,130 £284 £1,413 £16,342 11.6 yrs £11,927
8 kW 8110 kWh 4866 kWh 3244 kWh £1,291 £324 £1,615 £18,376 11.4 yrs £13,931

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: £1,093, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 12.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2027 kWh 1419 kWh 608 kWh £377 £61 £437 £7,569 17.3 yrs £1,178
3 kW 3041 kWh 2129 kWh 912 kWh £565 £91 £656 £9,604 14.6 yrs £3,517
4 kW 4055 kWh 2838 kWh 1216 kWh £753 £122 £875 £11,638 13.3 yrs £5,856
5 kW 5069 kWh 3548 kWh 1521 kWh £941 £152 £1,093 £13,673 12.5 yrs £8,195
6 kW 6082 kWh 4258 kWh 1825 kWh £1,130 £182 £1,312 £15,707 12.0 yrs £10,534
7 kW 7096 kWh 4967 kWh 2129 kWh £1,318 £213 £1,531 £17,742 11.6 yrs £12,873
8 kW 8110 kWh 5677 kWh 2433 kWh £1,506 £243 £1,749 £19,776 11.3 yrs £15,212

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: £1,119, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 13.8 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2027 kWh 1480 kWh 547 kWh £393 £55 £447 £9,319 20.8 yrs £-371
3 kW 3041 kWh 2220 kWh 821 kWh £589 £82 £671 £11,354 16.9 yrs £2,069
4 kW 4055 kWh 2960 kWh 1095 kWh £785 £109 £895 £13,388 15.0 yrs £4,508
5 kW 5069 kWh 3700 kWh 1369 kWh £982 £137 £1,119 £15,423 13.8 yrs £6,948
6 kW 6082 kWh 4440 kWh 1642 kWh £1,178 £164 £1,342 £17,457 13.0 yrs £9,387
7 kW 7096 kWh 5180 kWh 1916 kWh £1,374 £192 £1,566 £19,492 12.4 yrs £11,827
8 kW 8110 kWh 5920 kWh 2190 kWh £1,571 £219 £1,790 £21,526 12.0 yrs £14,266

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: £1,135, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 15.1 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 2027 kWh 1521 kWh 507 kWh £403 £51 £454 £11,069 24.4 yrs £-1,987
3 kW 3041 kWh 2281 kWh 760 kWh £605 £76 £681 £13,104 19.2 yrs £520
4 kW 4055 kWh 3041 kWh 1014 kWh £807 £101 £908 £15,138 16.7 yrs £3,026
5 kW 5069 kWh 3802 kWh 1267 kWh £1,009 £127 £1,135 £17,173 15.1 yrs £5,533
6 kW 6082 kWh 4562 kWh 1521 kWh £1,210 £152 £1,362 £19,207 14.1 yrs £8,039
7 kW 7096 kWh 5322 kWh 1774 kWh £1,412 £177 £1,589 £21,242 13.4 yrs £10,546
8 kW 8110 kWh 6082 kWh 2027 kWh £1,614 £203 £1,816 £23,276 12.8 yrs £13,052

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: £1,152, Upfront: £19,623, 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 2027 kWh 1561 kWh 466 kWh £414 £47 £461 £13,519 29.3 yrs £-4,303
3 kW 3041 kWh 2342 kWh 699 kWh £621 £70 £691 £15,554 22.5 yrs £-1,729
4 kW 4055 kWh 3122 kWh 933 kWh £828 £93 £922 £17,588 19.1 yrs £844
5 kW 5069 kWh 3903 kWh 1166 kWh £1,035 £117 £1,152 £19,623 17.0 yrs £3,418
6 kW 6082 kWh 4683 kWh 1399 kWh £1,243 £140 £1,382 £21,657 15.7 yrs £5,991
7 kW 7096 kWh 5464 kWh 1632 kWh £1,450 £163 £1,613 £23,692 14.7 yrs £8,565
8 kW 8110 kWh 6245 kWh 1865 kWh £1,657 £187 £1,843 £25,726 14.0 yrs £11,139

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 RM1

Figures below are tailored to RM1 — click through for full league tables.

Big-Roof Britain Rank #2009 of 2182
4.1 kWp (UK avg 5.1 kWp)
~9 panels (≈430 W)
Solar Payback Index Rank #556 of 2997
10.5 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£968 /yr • £10,173 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #1056 of 2997
18.2% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£176 fixed • ~£968 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
26.53p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
48.25p/day
Local Sunshine
1014kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~1014 kWh per year. A typical home uses ~2,700 kWh per year.
Typical System Size
3.0kW
For houses & bungalows in this area

⚠️ This area is predominantly flats. Many residents require freeholder approval for solar installations. System size shown reflects houses and bungalows only.

Local Property Data

Property Types

Houses: 37% • Flats: 55% • Bungalows: 5% Based on 6,871 properties

Coverage

Havering (100%)

Areas Covered

St Edward's, Marshalls & Rise Park, St Alban's, Rush Green & Crowlands, Havering-atte-Bower, Hylands & Harrow Lodge, Mawneys, Heaton + 1 more

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 Eastern

RM50 (Havering)
≈1.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,014 kWh/kWp · +0% vs RM1
RM7 (Havering)
≈1.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,014 kWh/kWp · -0% vs RM1
RM2 (Havering)
≈1.5 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,014 kWh/kWp · -0% vs RM1
RM11 (Havering)
≈2.7 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,014 kWh/kWp · -0% vs RM1
RM5 (Havering)
≈2.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,014 kWh/kWp · +0% vs RM1
RM12 (Havering)
≈3.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~1,014 kWh/kWp · -0% vs RM1

Similar sunshine across the UK

TA11 (Somerset)
~1,014 kWh/kWp · -0% vs RM1
RH7 (Tandridge)
~1,014 kWh/kWp · -0% vs RM1
SA69 (Pembrokeshire)
~1,014 kWh/kWp · -0% vs RM1