SURVIVAL BUNKER

Plug-in solar calculator

What would a plug-in kit make and save in your home? Ranges, not one flattering number, from the EU's PVGIS solar data for your part of Great Britain. The rules and how it works.

Buying through our links costs you nothing extra. Some of them earn us a small commission, and that's what keeps Survival Bunker going: it pays for the time it takes to keep our picks and figures up to date. Thank you for helping. How we choose and how we earn.

First, can you use the plug-in route?

Where do you live?
Do you rent, or own a leasehold flat or house?
Do you already have a plug-in solar kit?
Does the kit you're looking at have a battery built in?

Your home and the panels

How many watts of panels?

W(up to 2,000 W)

Which way would the panels face?
How would they be mounted?
Any shade in the day?
Is anyone home in the day?
Your price and the kit's

p per kWh(the price cap is 26.32p)

(a typical kit this size; put in the one you're looking at)

Example: London, 460 W facing south, angled, about 35 degrees; shade: none; anyone home in the day: some days. Change any answer to match your home.

Made a year
453-490 kWh
Saved a year
£66-£103
Pays for itself in
4.4-6.9 years
Back to the answer

Edit answers

Of that, you'd use 249-392 kWh at home as it's made; the rest goes back to the grid unpaid.

60kWh a month0Jan: about 19 kWhJanFeb: about 24 kWhFebMar: about 41 kWhMarApr: about 53 kWhAprMay: about 56 kWhMayJun: about 56 kWhJunJul: about 57 kWhJulAug: about 51 kWhAugSep: about 44 kWhSepOct: about 31 kWhOctNov: about 22 kWhNovDec: about 17 kWhDec
Month-by-month figures
MonthMade (middle estimate)
Janabout 19 kWh
Febabout 24 kWh
Marabout 41 kWh
Aprabout 53 kWh
Mayabout 56 kWh
Junabout 56 kWh
Julabout 57 kWh
Augabout 51 kWh
Sepabout 44 kWh
Octabout 31 kWh
Novabout 22 kWh
Decabout 17 kWh

Checks before you buy

  • Where you live FineYou're in Great Britain, where the plug-in route applies.
  • Kits you have FineOne plug-in device per household: you register this one with your network operator when it goes in.
  • Built-in battery FineNo built-in battery, so the kit can use the plug-in route.
  • Permission FineYou own the place, so you don't need a landlord's permission. The mounting rules still apply: not on timber balconies or timber cladding.
  • Panel size FineUp to 960 W of panels: work through the kit's own electrical checklist.
  • NoteIt switches itself off in a power cut, so it won't keep anything running then.

Kits on sale

Prices checked 3 November 2026. Stock has been patchy since launch.

How we worked this out

Monthly output per kilowatt of panels comes from PVGIS ((c) European Union, 2001-2026. Reuse allowed with attribution.) for a city in each region, with 14% system losses, and its year-to-year spread sets the weather range. The 800 W inverter cap is a rough regional allowance from PVGIS's hour-by-hour output for 2018-2020, for south-facing panels at 35 degrees; it doesn't account for your own direction, tilt or shade. We assume some shade cuts output by15-30% and a lot of shade by 35-55%: our assumptions, not PVGIS figures. The share you use at home is 40-60% if you're out most days, 55-80% some days and70-90% most days, ten points lower over 800 W; also our assumption. Electricity sent back to the grid is counted as paying nothing. The kit price we start you with is £450 for one 460 W panel and £650 for two, the prices of one supplier's kits; over 920 W, enter your own. Middle estimates in the chart.

Saves £66-£103 a yearSee the answer