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Big Roof Britain Solar Payback Index Standing Charge Drag

Solar Panels in ST3 (Stoke-on-Trent)

See if solar pays off for you in Stoke-on-Trent — 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
13.8 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£8,138
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£591
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£6,648
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 Midlands, the current unit rate is 25.64p/kWh with a 53.00p/day standing charge. Your postcode’s south-facing sunshine yield is 910 kWh/kW — 32 below the regional median (942).

Read the full story

A typical roof here lands around 4.0 kW, with most eligible homes comfortably fitting within 3–6 kW. Each kilowatt of panels produces roughly 910 kWh per year on a south-facing roof. We value self-used electricity at 25.6p and exported surplus at a baseline 10p via SEG. Use the calculator above for your exact tariff.

Unit rate
25.6p/kWh
Standing charge
53.0p/day
Sunshine yield (south)
910 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: £739, Upfront: £10,173, 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 1819 kWh 728 kWh 1091 kWh £187 £109 £296 £4,069 13.8 yrs £1,845
3 kW 2729 kWh 1091 kWh 1637 kWh £280 £164 £444 £6,104 13.8 yrs £2,768
4 kW 3638 kWh 1455 kWh 2183 kWh £373 £218 £591 £8,138 13.8 yrs £3,691
5 kW 4548 kWh 1819 kWh 2729 kWh £466 £273 £739 £10,173 13.8 yrs £4,613
6 kW 5457 kWh 2183 kWh 3274 kWh £560 £327 £887 £12,207 13.8 yrs £5,536
7 kW 6367 kWh 2547 kWh 3820 kWh £653 £382 £1,035 £14,242 13.8 yrs £6,459
8 kW 7276 kWh 2911 kWh 4366 kWh £746 £437 £1,183 £16,276 13.8 yrs £7,381

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: £882, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 13.9 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1819 kWh 1091 kWh 728 kWh £280 £73 £353 £6,169 17.5 yrs £883
3 kW 2729 kWh 1637 kWh 1091 kWh £420 £109 £529 £8,204 15.5 yrs £2,375
4 kW 3638 kWh 2183 kWh 1455 kWh £560 £146 £705 £10,238 14.5 yrs £3,867
5 kW 4548 kWh 2729 kWh 1819 kWh £700 £182 £882 £12,273 13.9 yrs £5,358
6 kW 5457 kWh 3274 kWh 2183 kWh £840 £218 £1,058 £14,307 13.5 yrs £6,850
7 kW 6367 kWh 3820 kWh 2547 kWh £979 £255 £1,234 £16,342 13.2 yrs £8,342
8 kW 7276 kWh 4366 kWh 2911 kWh £1,119 £291 £1,410 £18,376 13.0 yrs £9,833

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: £953, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 14.4 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1819 kWh 1273 kWh 546 kWh £326 £55 £381 £7,569 19.9 yrs £52
3 kW 2729 kWh 1910 kWh 819 kWh £490 £82 £572 £9,604 16.8 yrs £1,829
4 kW 3638 kWh 2547 kWh 1091 kWh £653 £109 £762 £11,638 15.3 yrs £3,605
5 kW 4548 kWh 3183 kWh 1364 kWh £816 £136 £953 £13,673 14.4 yrs £5,381
6 kW 5457 kWh 3820 kWh 1637 kWh £979 £164 £1,143 £15,707 13.7 yrs £7,157
7 kW 6367 kWh 4457 kWh 1910 kWh £1,143 £191 £1,334 £17,742 13.3 yrs £8,933
8 kW 7276 kWh 5094 kWh 2183 kWh £1,306 £218 £1,524 £19,776 13.0 yrs £10,709

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: £974, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 15.8 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1819 kWh 1328 kWh 491 kWh £340 £49 £390 £9,319 23.9 yrs £-1,527
3 kW 2729 kWh 1992 kWh 737 kWh £511 £74 £584 £11,354 19.4 yrs £335
4 kW 3638 kWh 2656 kWh 982 kWh £681 £98 £779 £13,388 17.2 yrs £2,196
5 kW 4548 kWh 3320 kWh 1228 kWh £851 £123 £974 £15,423 15.8 yrs £4,058
6 kW 5457 kWh 3984 kWh 1473 kWh £1,021 £147 £1,169 £17,457 14.9 yrs £5,919
7 kW 6367 kWh 4648 kWh 1719 kWh £1,192 £172 £1,364 £19,492 14.3 yrs £7,781
8 kW 7276 kWh 5312 kWh 1965 kWh £1,362 £196 £1,558 £21,526 13.8 yrs £9,642

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: £988, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 17.4 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1819 kWh 1364 kWh 455 kWh £350 £45 £395 £11,069 28.0 yrs £-3,163
3 kW 2729 kWh 2047 kWh 682 kWh £525 £68 £593 £13,104 22.1 yrs £-1,245
4 kW 3638 kWh 2729 kWh 910 kWh £700 £91 £791 £15,138 19.1 yrs £674
5 kW 4548 kWh 3411 kWh 1137 kWh £875 £114 £988 £17,173 17.4 yrs £2,592
6 kW 5457 kWh 4093 kWh 1364 kWh £1,049 £136 £1,186 £19,207 16.2 yrs £4,511
7 kW 6367 kWh 4775 kWh 1592 kWh £1,224 £159 £1,384 £21,242 15.4 yrs £6,429
8 kW 7276 kWh 5457 kWh 1819 kWh £1,399 £182 £1,581 £23,276 14.7 yrs £8,348

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: £1,002, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 19.6 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1819 kWh 1401 kWh 418 kWh £359 £42 £401 £13,519 33.7 yrs £-5,499
3 kW 2729 kWh 2101 kWh 628 kWh £539 £63 £601 £15,554 25.9 yrs £-3,524
4 kW 3638 kWh 2801 kWh 837 kWh £718 £84 £802 £17,588 21.9 yrs £-1,549
5 kW 4548 kWh 3502 kWh 1046 kWh £898 £105 £1,002 £19,623 19.6 yrs £427
6 kW 5457 kWh 4202 kWh 1255 kWh £1,077 £126 £1,203 £21,657 18.0 yrs £2,402
7 kW 6367 kWh 4903 kWh 1464 kWh £1,257 £146 £1,403 £23,692 16.9 yrs £4,377
8 kW 7276 kWh 5603 kWh 1674 kWh £1,437 £167 £1,604 £25,726 16.0 yrs £6,353

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 ST3

Figures below are tailored to ST3 — click through for full league tables.

Big-Roof Britain Rank #1437 of 2182
4.7 kWp (UK avg 5.1 kWp)
~10 panels (≈430 W)
Solar Payback Index Rank #2358 of 2997
12.0 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£677 /yr • £8,138 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #2607 of 2997
28.6% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£193 fixed • ~£677 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
25.64p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
53.00p/day
Local Sunshine
910kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~910 kWh per year. A typical home uses ~2,700 kWh per year.
Typical System Size
4.0kW
For houses & bungalows in this area

Local Property Data

Property Types

Houses: 75% • Flats: 10% • Bungalows: 14% Based on 15,538 properties

Coverage

Stoke-on-Trent (95%)|Stafford (4%)

Areas Covered

Longton & Meir Hay South, Lightwood North & Normacot, Meir Hay North, Parkhall & Weston Coyney, Dresden & Florence, Meir Park, Blurton, Meir North + 6 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 Midlands

ST11 (Staffordshire Moorlands)
≈4.1 km away
Local sunshine: ~916 kWh/kWp · +1% vs ST3
ST4 (Stoke-on-Trent)
≈4.7 km away
Local sunshine: ~899 kWh/kWp · -1% vs ST3
ST2 (Stoke-on-Trent)
≈4.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~911 kWh/kWp · +0% vs ST3
ST12 (Stafford)
≈5.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~921 kWh/kWp · +1% vs ST3
ST1 (Stoke-on-Trent)
≈6.1 km away
Local sunshine: ~900 kWh/kWp · -1% vs ST3
ST9 (Staffordshire Moorlands)
≈8.0 km away
Local sunshine: ~918 kWh/kWp · +1% vs ST3

Similar sunshine across the UK

LS19 (Leeds)
~910 kWh/kWp · -0% vs ST3
NE29 (North Tyneside)
~909 kWh/kWp · -0% vs ST3
NE30 (North Tyneside)
~909 kWh/kWp · -0% vs ST3