Is plug-in solar worth it for your home?
Plug-in solar panels will be available in the UK soon, letting you generate electricity from your balcony without expensive installation fees or planning permission.
Enter your postcode and house or flat number to see how much energy you could generate, and whether it’s likely to be worth it.
How it works
We resolve your address against open address data (OpenStreetMap), ray-trace the surrounding buildings from LIDAR — Environment Agency for England and Welsh Government / NRW for Wales, with an honest clear-horizon fallback elsewhere — then ask PVGIS for an annual yield given the shading we found. We have no database — your address isn't stored.
Modelling shading and yield.
Something went wrong.
Here's what we found.
Approximate · postcode-levelPlug-in panels typically last around 25 years, still generating roughly 80% of their original output by end of life — well beyond the payback period.
These are estimates to help you weigh it up — not financial advice. Real yield and savings vary with the weather, your day-to-day electricity use, and how the kit is installed.
Where the panel is
What the sun sees from your balcony
Grey is the sky blocked by nearby buildings (LIDAR-derived). Gold arcs trace the sun on midsummer, the equinox, and midwinter. Where a gold arc dips into the grey, the sun is hidden then.
- Midsummer
- Equinox
- Midwinter
- Panel faces
Generation by month
How we worked this out
- Panel orientation
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- Panel tilt
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- Approximate observer height
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- Building height (LIDAR)
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- Address precision
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- System size
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Tariff and savings
- Tariff
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- Solar-weighted import rate
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- Annual savings
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- Lifetime savings (20 years, net of cost, undiscounted)
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Savings come from the power you use yourself: most plug-in kits can't claim the Smart Export Guarantee (it needs an MCS install), so exported energy is assumed to earn nothing. Self-consumption defaults to 60% (spec §3.7). Time-of-use tariffs use a typical-day model. Refresh quarterly.
Tell me when kits arrive in the UK.
Plug-in solar is in regulatory limbo here — the kits available elsewhere in Europe aren't legally for sale in Britain yet. We're tracking the market. Leave your email and we'll let you know when things change.