The Solar Credit Calculator Blog

An owned system generally helps a sale and can lift the price modestly; a leased roof can complicate one. What buyers and surveyors actually make of solar, and the paperwork that protects the value.

The person who pays for panels often isn't the one who saves on bills. What renters can realistically do, why solar can still pay for a landlord, and how to make the case.

More new homes arrive with solar, but a developer system is often the smallest that ticks the box. What to check on the spec, and how to add or expand it.

Free money with an expiry date: domestic solar carries 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, then it returns to 5%. What's covered, what it saves, and the conditions that apply.

"Free solar" ads are usually after your details. The honest picture: no universal grant, but real support via 0% VAT, export income and means-tested schemes, plus the scams to avoid.

Panels have, but whole-system prices fall slowly because labour and the inverter dominate. Why waiting usually costs more than it saves once you count the bills and the 2027 VAT change.

Low maintenance isn't no maintenance. Here's the honest list: a glance at the monitoring, the odd debris clear, and the one scheduled cost most owners forget to budget for.

Cleaning firms say yes, regularly. The honest answer for most UK roofs is rarely. Here's when rain does the job, when a clean genuinely pays, and how to do it safely.

25 to 30+ years, fading about 0.5% a year, so still around 87% at year 25. Here's what each part's lifespan is and what a "25-year warranty" actually promises.

Daylight in, electricity out, no moving parts. Here's the whole chain in plain English, from the photovoltaic effect to the inverter to the power in your kettle, and why it runs on light rather than heat.

Not a sales pitch and not a hit piece. The honest balance sheet, with the genuine downsides given as much space as the benefits, so you can judge your own case rather than being sold to.

One rule of thumb answers it: about 900 to 1,050 units a year per kWp, so a 4 kWp system makes around 3,400. Here's the breakdown by size, what changes it, and how it compares to what you use.

Most UK roofs suit solar; the question is how well. Six factors decide it, from orientation and pitch to shading, space and roof age. Here's the checklist an installer runs, so you can run it first.

"You need a south-facing roof" is only half true. South gives the most total output, but east-west often matches your usage better, and the lower-output roof can be the one that saves you more.

A small shadow can cost more output than it looks, because one shaded panel drags down its string. Here's why, how optimisers and microinverters fix it, and how to assess your own roof.

The kit on your roof matters less than the company that fits it. Here are the accreditations that actually matter, how to compare quotes fairly, and the sales tactics that should make you walk away.

A quote is only as good as the questions behind it. These flush out corner-cutting, vague warranties and optimistic savings before you commit thousands, grouped by what each one protects.

Three letters that decide whether you get paid for your solar. Here's what MCS certifies, why it's required for export payments and grants, and how to check an installer genuinely holds it.

A flat tariff charges the same all day; a smart one doesn't, and that's the opening a home with solar, a battery or an EV can use. Here's how the import and export types work, and how to match one to your kit.

Charge at home overnight and a mile costs about 2p; charge at a public rapid and it can cost as much as petrol. Here's what a charger costs, what the electricity costs, and where solar fits in.

A battery can lift your savings or barely pay for itself. On solar alone it's often marginal; on a smart tariff the maths changes sharply. Here are the real UK numbers, both ways.

The main UK grant for swapping a boiler for a heat pump pays a flat £7,500, and your installer handles it, not you. Here's who qualifies, the exact steps, and what it leaves you to pay.

After the £7,500 grant the upfront cost is close to a new boiler, but running costs swing on your home, your installer and your tariff. Honest UK numbers on where a heat pump pays and where it doesn't.

Most UK homes break even in about 8 to 14 years, then run in profit for over a decade. Three levers decide your number. Here's how they work, with a 4 kWp example you can check against your own bills.

A roof that pours out power in June can do little more than trickle in December. Winter output really is low, but it was always in the numbers. Here's what the dark months deliver, and why the annual figure is the one that counts.

"They don't work when it's cloudy." "You'll never make your money back." Some solar myths are half-true, some are flat wrong, and a few cost people real savings. Here's what the evidence actually says.

Two quotes for the same roof can differ by thousands, and the cheapest isn't always the best buy. The detail that decides it sits in the line items. Here's how to read one like an installer would.

Solar pays off more the more electricity you use, and nothing raises your use like a heat pump or an EV. Electrify your heat and your car, and the panels on your roof start working a lot harder.

Every unit of solar you don't use yourself is sold back to the grid, and the price varies by more than you'd think. Picking the right export tariff can be worth hundreds of pounds a year.

A battery can lift your savings, or sit there barely paying for itself. The difference comes down to how and when you use electricity. Here's how to tell whether storage is worth it for your home.

A plain-English breakdown of 2026 prices by system size, with and without a battery: what's included, what drives the range, and how to sanity-check an installer's quote before you sign.

The question every homeowner asks first. The honest answer is "it depends", but the handful of factors that decide it are knowable, and you can get a personalised estimate in minutes. Here's what actually moves the numbers.