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Big Roof Britain Solar Payback Index Standing Charge Drag

Solar Panels in WV1 (Wolverhampton)

See if solar pays off for you in Wolverhampton — 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
13.5 years
After this, it's pure profit
Upfront Cost
£6,104
What you pay to get started
Annual Benefit
£453
What you save every year
Profit Over 25 Years
£5,210
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 928 kWh/kW — 14 below the regional median (942).

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 928 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)
928 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: £754, Upfront: £10,173, 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 1856 kWh 742 kWh 1114 kWh £190 £111 £302 £4,069 13.5 yrs £1,965
3 kW 2784 kWh 1114 kWh 1670 kWh £286 £167 £453 £6,104 13.5 yrs £2,948
4 kW 3712 kWh 1485 kWh 2227 kWh £381 £223 £603 £8,138 13.5 yrs £3,930
5 kW 4640 kWh 1856 kWh 2784 kWh £476 £278 £754 £10,173 13.5 yrs £4,913
6 kW 5568 kWh 2227 kWh 3341 kWh £571 £334 £905 £12,207 13.5 yrs £5,895
7 kW 6496 kWh 2598 kWh 3898 kWh £666 £390 £1,056 £14,242 13.5 yrs £6,878
8 kW 7424 kWh 2970 kWh 4454 kWh £761 £445 £1,207 £16,276 13.5 yrs £7,860

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: £899, Upfront: £12,273, Break-even: 13.6 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1856 kWh 1114 kWh 742 kWh £286 £74 £360 £6,169 17.1 yrs £1,026
3 kW 2784 kWh 1670 kWh 1114 kWh £428 £111 £540 £8,204 15.2 yrs £2,589
4 kW 3712 kWh 2227 kWh 1485 kWh £571 £148 £720 £10,238 14.2 yrs £4,152
5 kW 4640 kWh 2784 kWh 1856 kWh £714 £186 £899 £12,273 13.6 yrs £5,715
6 kW 5568 kWh 3341 kWh 2227 kWh £857 £223 £1,079 £14,307 13.3 yrs £7,278
7 kW 6496 kWh 3898 kWh 2598 kWh £999 £260 £1,259 £16,342 13.0 yrs £8,842
8 kW 7424 kWh 4454 kWh 2970 kWh £1,142 £297 £1,439 £18,376 12.8 yrs £10,405

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: £972, Upfront: £13,673, 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 1856 kWh 1299 kWh 557 kWh £333 £56 £389 £7,569 19.5 yrs £207
3 kW 2784 kWh 1949 kWh 835 kWh £500 £84 £583 £9,604 16.5 yrs £2,060
4 kW 3712 kWh 2598 kWh 1114 kWh £666 £111 £778 £11,638 15.0 yrs £3,913
5 kW 4640 kWh 3248 kWh 1392 kWh £833 £139 £972 £13,673 14.1 yrs £5,767
6 kW 5568 kWh 3898 kWh 1670 kWh £999 £167 £1,166 £15,707 13.5 yrs £7,620
7 kW 6496 kWh 4547 kWh 1949 kWh £1,166 £195 £1,361 £17,742 13.0 yrs £9,473
8 kW 7424 kWh 5197 kWh 2227 kWh £1,332 £223 £1,555 £19,776 12.7 yrs £11,327

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: £994, Upfront: £15,423, Break-even: 15.5 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1856 kWh 1355 kWh 501 kWh £347 £50 £397 £9,319 23.4 yrs £-1,369
3 kW 2784 kWh 2032 kWh 752 kWh £521 £75 £596 £11,354 19.0 yrs £571
4 kW 3712 kWh 2710 kWh 1002 kWh £695 £100 £795 £13,388 16.8 yrs £2,512
5 kW 4640 kWh 3387 kWh 1253 kWh £868 £125 £994 £15,423 15.5 yrs £4,452
6 kW 5568 kWh 4065 kWh 1503 kWh £1,042 £150 £1,192 £17,457 14.6 yrs £6,393
7 kW 6496 kWh 4742 kWh 1754 kWh £1,216 £175 £1,391 £19,492 14.0 yrs £8,333
8 kW 7424 kWh 5419 kWh 2004 kWh £1,390 £200 £1,590 £21,526 13.5 yrs £10,273

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: £1,008, Upfront: £17,173, 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 1856 kWh 1392 kWh 464 kWh £357 £46 £403 £11,069 27.4 yrs £-3,003
3 kW 2784 kWh 2088 kWh 696 kWh £535 £70 £605 £13,104 21.7 yrs £-1,005
4 kW 3712 kWh 2784 kWh 928 kWh £714 £93 £807 £15,138 18.8 yrs £994
5 kW 4640 kWh 3480 kWh 1160 kWh £892 £116 £1,008 £17,173 17.0 yrs £2,992
6 kW 5568 kWh 4176 kWh 1392 kWh £1,071 £139 £1,210 £19,207 15.9 yrs £4,991
7 kW 6496 kWh 4872 kWh 1624 kWh £1,249 £162 £1,412 £21,242 15.0 yrs £6,989
8 kW 7424 kWh 5568 kWh 1856 kWh £1,428 £186 £1,613 £23,276 14.4 yrs £8,988

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: £1,023, Upfront: £19,623, Break-even: 19.2 yrs
System Annual output Self-use Exported Bill saving Export income Annual benefit Upfront cost Break-even 20-year net
2 kW 1856 kWh 1429 kWh 427 kWh £366 £43 £409 £13,519 33.0 yrs £-5,337
3 kW 2784 kWh 2144 kWh 640 kWh £550 £64 £614 £15,554 25.3 yrs £-3,280
4 kW 3712 kWh 2858 kWh 854 kWh £733 £85 £818 £17,588 21.5 yrs £-1,224
5 kW 4640 kWh 3573 kWh 1067 kWh £916 £107 £1,023 £19,623 19.2 yrs £833
6 kW 5568 kWh 4287 kWh 1281 kWh £1,099 £128 £1,227 £21,657 17.6 yrs £2,889
7 kW 6496 kWh 5002 kWh 1494 kWh £1,282 £149 £1,432 £23,692 16.5 yrs £4,946
8 kW 7424 kWh 5716 kWh 1707 kWh £1,466 £171 £1,636 £25,726 15.7 yrs £7,002

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 WV1

Figures below are tailored to WV1 — click through for full league tables.

Big-Roof Britain Rank #2141 of 2182
3.7 kWp (UK avg 5.1 kWp)
~8 panels (≈430 W)
Solar Payback Index Rank #2175 of 2997
11.8 years (UK avg 11.3 years)
~£690 /yr • £8,138 upfront
Standing-Charge Drag Rank #2553 of 2997
28.0% (UK avg 21.7%) drag on savings
£193 fixed • ~£690 /yr value

Your Area at a Glance

Your Electricity Rate
25.64p/kWh
Daily Fixed Charge
53.00p/day
Local Sunshine
928kWh/kW
A 1 kW system generates ~928 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: 40% • Flats: 54% • Bungalows: 3% Based on 4,999 properties

Coverage

Wolverhampton (100%)

Areas Covered

St Peters, Heath Town, East Park, Park, Graiseley, Sedgley

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

WV2 (Wolverhampton)
≈1.5 km away
Local sunshine: ~928 kWh/kWp · -0% vs WV1
WV3 (Wolverhampton)
≈2.2 km away
Local sunshine: ~927 kWh/kWp · -0% vs WV1
WV10 (Wolverhampton)
≈2.9 km away
Local sunshine: ~928 kWh/kWp · +0% vs WV1
WV4 (Wolverhampton)
≈3.3 km away
Local sunshine: ~927 kWh/kWp · -0% vs WV1
WV6 (Wolverhampton)
≈3.4 km away
Local sunshine: ~928 kWh/kWp · -0% vs WV1
WV11 (Wolverhampton)
≈3.9 km away
Local sunshine: ~933 kWh/kWp · +1% vs WV1

Similar sunshine across the UK

NP3 (Blaenau Gwent)
~928 kWh/kWp · +0% vs WV1
NE33 (South Tyneside)
~928 kWh/kWp · +0% vs WV1
NE34 (South Tyneside)
~928 kWh/kWp · -0% vs WV1