Solar savings calculator
Answer four quick questions to see roughly what solar panels could save you each year, and how long they would take to pay for themselves. Every figure is from an official UK source.
Estimated saving each year
£310 to £650
- Electricity made
- about 3,800 kWh a year
- Used in your home
- about 19%
- Typical cost
- about £7,600
- Same system after 31 March 2027
- about £7,980 (5% VAT)
- Pays for itself in
- about 12 to 24 years
The range depends on the export rate you get (4p to 15p per kWh). A rough guide, not a quote.
Get an exact quote for your roofHow we work this out
- Panels make about 840 kWh a year for each kWp: the government’s median for 2023/24 (DESNZ). In 2024/25, the least sunny year since 2012/13, it was about 806. Homes in the south usually make more than in the north.
- East or west roofs make 15 to 20% less than south (Energy Saving Trust).
- The share you use at home comes from the MCS self-consumption tables for a home using 2,500 to 2,999 kWh a year (Ofgem’s typical home uses 2,500), with and without a battery of 4 to 5 kWh usable capacity.
- Electricity you use saves 26.32p per kWh (Ofgem price cap, October to December 2026). Exported electricity earns about 4p per kWh on tariffs open to anyone, and up to about 15p from some suppliers if you also buy your electricity from them (Which?, April 2026).
- Costs: about £7,600 for 4.5kWp, scaled in a straight line by size (larger systems often cost a little less per kWp), and about £4,600 for a 5kWh battery (Energy Saving Trust). Home solar and batteries have 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, then 5% (GOV.UK).
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