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Big Roof Britain Solar Payback Index Standing Charge Drag

Solar Panels in ST8 (Staffordshire Moorlands)

See if solar pays off for you in Staffordshire Moorlands — 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
14.1 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£10,173
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£724
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£7,925
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 891 kWh/kW — 51 below the regional median (942).

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 891 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)
891 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: £724, Upfront: £10,173, Break-even: 14.1 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1781 kWh 713 kWh 1069 kWh £183 £107 £290 £4,069 14.1 yrs £1,722
3 kW 2672 kWh 1069 kWh 1603 kWh £274 £160 £434 £6,104 14.1 yrs £2,584
4 kW 3563 kWh 1425 kWh 2138 kWh £365 £214 £579 £8,138 14.1 yrs £3,445
5 kW 4453 kWh 1781 kWh 2672 kWh £457 £267 £724 £10,173 14.1 yrs £4,306
6 kW 5344 kWh 2138 kWh 3206 kWh £548 £321 £869 £12,207 14.1 yrs £5,167
7 kW 6235 kWh 2494 kWh 3741 kWh £639 £374 £1,013 £14,242 14.1 yrs £6,028
8 kW 7125 kWh 2850 kWh 4275 kWh £731 £428 £1,158 £16,276 14.1 yrs £6,889

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: £863, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 14.2 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1781 kWh 1069 kWh 713 kWh £274 £71 £345 £6,169 17.9 yrs £737
3 kW 2672 kWh 1603 kWh 1069 kWh £411 £107 £518 £8,204 15.8 yrs £2,155
4 kW 3563 kWh 2138 kWh 1425 kWh £548 £143 £691 £10,238 14.8 yrs £3,573
5 kW 4453 kWh 2672 kWh 1781 kWh £685 £178 £863 £12,273 14.2 yrs £4,992
6 kW 5344 kWh 3206 kWh 2138 kWh £822 £214 £1,036 £14,307 13.8 yrs £6,410
7 kW 6235 kWh 3741 kWh 2494 kWh £959 £249 £1,209 £16,342 13.5 yrs £7,829
8 kW 7125 kWh 4275 kWh 2850 kWh £1,096 £285 £1,381 £18,376 13.3 yrs £9,247

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: £933, Upfront: £13,673, Break-even: 14.7 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1781 kWh 1247 kWh 534 kWh £320 £53 £373 £7,569 20.3 yrs £-106
3 kW 2672 kWh 1870 kWh 802 kWh £480 £80 £560 £9,604 17.2 yrs £1,591
4 kW 3563 kWh 2494 kWh 1069 kWh £639 £107 £746 £11,638 15.6 yrs £3,288
5 kW 4453 kWh 3117 kWh 1336 kWh £799 £134 £933 £13,673 14.7 yrs £4,985
6 kW 5344 kWh 3741 kWh 1603 kWh £959 £160 £1,119 £15,707 14.0 yrs £6,682
7 kW 6235 kWh 4364 kWh 1870 kWh £1,119 £187 £1,306 £17,742 13.6 yrs £8,379
8 kW 7125 kWh 4988 kWh 2138 kWh £1,279 £214 £1,493 £19,776 13.2 yrs £10,076

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: £954, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 16.2 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1781 kWh 1300 kWh 481 kWh £333 £48 £382 £9,319 24.4 yrs £-1,689
3 kW 2672 kWh 1951 kWh 721 kWh £500 £72 £572 £11,354 19.8 yrs £92
4 kW 3563 kWh 2601 kWh 962 kWh £667 £96 £763 £13,388 17.5 yrs £1,872
5 kW 4453 kWh 3251 kWh 1202 kWh £834 £120 £954 £15,423 16.2 yrs £3,653
6 kW 5344 kWh 3901 kWh 1443 kWh £1,000 £144 £1,145 £17,457 15.3 yrs £5,433
7 kW 6235 kWh 4551 kWh 1683 kWh £1,167 £168 £1,335 £19,492 14.6 yrs £7,214
8 kW 7125 kWh 5201 kWh 1924 kWh £1,334 £192 £1,526 £21,526 14.1 yrs £8,994

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: £968, Upfront: £17,173, Break-even: 17.7 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1781 kWh 1336 kWh 445 kWh £343 £45 £387 £11,069 28.6 yrs £-3,327
3 kW 2672 kWh 2004 kWh 668 kWh £514 £67 £581 £13,104 22.6 yrs £-1,491
4 kW 3563 kWh 2672 kWh 891 kWh £685 £89 £774 £15,138 19.6 yrs £345
5 kW 4453 kWh 3340 kWh 1113 kWh £856 £111 £968 £17,173 17.7 yrs £2,181
6 kW 5344 kWh 4008 kWh 1336 kWh £1,028 £134 £1,161 £19,207 16.5 yrs £4,018
7 kW 6235 kWh 4676 kWh 1559 kWh £1,199 £156 £1,355 £21,242 15.7 yrs £5,854
8 kW 7125 kWh 5344 kWh 1781 kWh £1,370 £178 £1,548 £23,276 15.0 yrs £7,690

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: £982, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 20.0 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1781 kWh 1372 kWh 410 kWh £352 £41 £393 £13,519 34.4 yrs £-5,666
3 kW 2672 kWh 2057 kWh 615 kWh £528 £61 £589 £15,554 26.4 yrs £-3,774
4 kW 3563 kWh 2743 kWh 819 kWh £703 £82 £785 £17,588 22.4 yrs £-1,882
5 kW 4453 kWh 3429 kWh 1024 kWh £879 £102 £982 £19,623 20.0 yrs £10
6 kW 5344 kWh 4115 kWh 1229 kWh £1,055 £123 £1,178 £21,657 18.4 yrs £1,902
7 kW 6235 kWh 4801 kWh 1434 kWh £1,231 £143 £1,374 £23,692 17.2 yrs £3,794
8 kW 7125 kWh 5486 kWh 1639 kWh £1,407 £164 £1,571 £25,726 16.4 yrs £5,686

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 ST8

Figures below are tailored to ST8 — click through for full league tables.

Big-Roof Britain Rank #879 of 2182
5.2 kWp (UK avg 5.1 kWp)
~11 panels (≈430 W)
Solar Payback Index Rank #2581 of 2997
12.3 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£828 /yr • £10,173 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #2109 of 2997
23.4% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£193 fixed • ~£828 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
25.64p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
53.00p/day
Local Sunshine
891kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~891 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

Houses: 67% • Flats: 6% • Bungalows: 27% Based on 4,767 properties

Coverage

Staffordshire Moorlands (97%)|Stoke-on-Trent (3%)

Areas Covered

Biddulph East, Biddulph North, Biddulph West, Biddulph Moor, Biddulph South, Great Chell & Packmoor, Brown Edge and Endon, Horton

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

CW12 (Cheshire East)
≈6.3 km away
Local sunshine: ~883 kWh/kWp · -1% vs ST8
ST6 (Stoke-on-Trent)
≈7.0 km away
Local sunshine: ~900 kWh/kWp · +1% vs ST8
ST9 (Staffordshire Moorlands)
≈8.4 km away
Local sunshine: ~918 kWh/kWp · +3% vs ST8
ST13 (Staffordshire Moorlands)
≈9.8 km away
Local sunshine: ~877 kWh/kWp · -2% vs ST8
ST1 (Stoke-on-Trent)
≈10.1 km away
Local sunshine: ~900 kWh/kWp · +1% vs ST8
ST2 (Stoke-on-Trent)
≈10.6 km away
Local sunshine: ~911 kWh/kWp · +2% vs ST8

Similar sunshine across the UK

M31 (Trafford)
~891 kWh/kWp · +0% vs ST8
PA42 (Argyll and Bute)
~890 kWh/kWp · -0% vs ST8
BT67 (Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon)
~890 kWh/kWp · -0% vs ST8