Solar & Battery Guide
Are solar panels and a home battery worth it in 2026?
Real costs, honest payback periods, the best battery systems compared, and a clear answer on whether the numbers add up for most UK homes.
No installer pitch. No vague estimates. Just honest numbers from someone who spent a decade working in battery storage and solar before writing this site.
Takes 2 minutes · No sales calls · Free
The numbers that matter
Three components, working together — and the combination matters more than any individual part.
Panels on your roof convert daylight into electricity. A typical 4kW system produces around 3,400 kWh a year — roughly equivalent to your annual household usage.
Without a battery, surplus solar you don't use during the day gets sold back to the grid at low SEG rates. A battery stores it instead, so you use it in the evening.
Every kWh you generate and use yourself saves you ~25p versus buying it from the grid. The Smart Export Guarantee pays you for genuine surplus you do export.
Enter your region, energy usage and whether you want a battery — get a personalised savings estimate, payback period and 25-year net gain in about 2 minutes.
Open the calculator →Solar & Battery Guide
Real costs, honest payback periods, the best battery systems compared, and a clear answer on whether the numbers add up for most UK homes.
Interactive Tool
Enter your home's details and see annual savings, payback period, 25-year net gain and CO₂ saved. Takes about 2 minutes.
Solar Guide UK is written by Mark Winn, an energy technology specialist with 10+ years in grid-scale battery storage, solar PV, EV charging infrastructure and demand-side response. He's worked in senior commercial roles at SMS plc and Believ — but has no installer business to promote. Affiliate links are clearly labelled and don't change the recommendations.