The FREE solar panel calculator

If you’re tired of paying sky-high electricity bills each month, and you want to cut your carbon footprint fast, solar might just be the solution you’ve been looking for! Here’s how it works.

Your solar panels generate energy from the sun, which you can use to power your home. As a result, you’ll rely less on the grid and your electricity bill will plummet. And here’s the best part: any excess energy you generate can be sold back to the grid through the Smart Export Guarantee.

Now, you may be thinking: “But I live in the UK. We don’t get that much sun!” But even with our infamous weather, the average UK solar home generates more electricity in a year than it uses. That’s right – you’ll actually be generating more energy than you need.

And don’t worry about maintenance – solar panels are built to last. They can withstand rain, hail, and even snow, and require very little upkeep. Plus, they come with a whopping 25-year warranty, so you can rest assured that you’re making a smart investment.

Installation is a breeze, too – it typically takes just one or two days, with minimal disruption beyond a short disconnection of power during the installation process. Once it’s done, your solar journey begins.

Take the risk out of solar and test before you invest, with Loop’s free in-app Solar Simulator. See the impact solar could make on your monthly energy bills and reliance on grid energy today!

Solar panels can work for more homes and lifestyles than you might imagine! For many people, home energy means nothing more than bills and paperwork. But, once you start generating your own energy, that can all change, as you become more self-sufficient.

Easy behaviour changes can make a big difference to how much value you get from your solar installation. Put simply, if you don’t have a home battery, the more of your solar power you use, the less you need to buy from the grid later. So by making sure you are doing your washing, running the dishwasher, using your electric oven and even heating your hot water whilst your solar is generating you are avoiding having to pay for these with expensive grid energy.

Fitting solar panels will save money on your energy bills, as you won’t have to buy as much energy from the grid!

With a solar array on your roof, you generate your own power. The portion of the solar you generate and use is called your self-consumption. Every unit of electricity you self-consume saves you buying that unit from the grid. This saves you over 34p per unit based on current prices. The higher your self-consumption, the larger your savings.

Any energy you can’t use yourself is exported to the grid. As a solar household, your utility will pay you for exported electricity under the Smart Export Guarantee. This is at a lower rate, anything between 3p and 7.5p depending on your supplier.

With current energy prices, the payback period is likely to be shorter than you were expecting. The Price Cap increase in April 2022 reduced the payback period on a typical install by around 30%, and this was reduced by a further 18% in October with the government’s new Energy Price Guarantee. 

Buying solar is a big commitment and typically costs between £6-9k, depending on the size of your home. But in return you get panels that are warrantied for 25 years. That’s 25 years of reduced energy bills. Typically an install will pay for itself two or three times over its lifetime.

A 4kW array on a south-facing roof will make over 100,000 kWh of energy in its lifetime. At today’s prices that’s £34,000 of electricity you’ll be saving! 

Solar is a great option for households looking to reduce their carbon emissions – a typical installation cuts emissions from energy use by about 1.6 tonnes PER YEAR. Every year. It’s a large and sustained impact.

To get the most out of solar panels, ideally you would live in a house with an unshaded, south-facing roof, which is angled between 30 and 50 degrees from horizontal.

Of course, not everyone is so lucky as to have the perfect position for solar panels on their home. But that’s not to say you can’t still successfully harness the power of the sun! Even on north, east or west-facing roofs you’ll only lose around 15% compared to a south-facing option. 

If you have a flat roof, it can be a little more complicated to have solar systems fitted compared to a pitched roof as flat roof systems take up more space per kW than sloping roof systems. But, it is still entirely possible!

Working out the number of solar panels needed for your home depends on the amount of roof space available and the amount of electricity you use. Luckily, using Loop’s free in-app Solar Simulator, can give you the answers. 

Simply download the free Loop app, and find out how much of your usage would be covered by a 4kWh solar array and a 3kWh battery. These are the average sizes for domestic systems, which on a home in the south of England, can generate around 4,200 kilowatt hours of electricity a year!

Then, after 90 days, the Solar Playground feature opens and you can explore the effect different sizes of solar array and various battery sizes have on your self-sufficency. 

Electric cars and solar go hand in hand! If you have an EV, charging it at home is most likely to be your cheapest and most convenient option.

As EVs drain a lot of electricity when charging, you want to be able to have your own source of cheap, renewable electricity. Solar panels are often the best answer to offset these costs. Free mileage, courtesy of the sun!

Once you’ve downloaded the free Loop app, you’ll see an option on the dashboard to ‘Register for Solar and Battery Offers’. It couldn’t be easier!

Then, we crunch the numbers and calculate your Loop Solar Score – the higher the number, the more suitable you are for solar. This is based on your roof, smart meter data, and how much you could save with solar.

We’ll email your score and give you the option to book a callback with our trusted solar installers to get your personalised quote.

We’ve provided some indicative costs for a small, medium, and large array below. 

*Indicative prices include installation and warranty. Installation will be carried out by one of Loop’s solar partners.

The numbers above include a 5.2 kWh battery. Smaller and larger batteries are available. 

Want to see the savings this will make to your bill?  Download the free Loop app, register for solar, and we’ll show you! We calculate savings based on your actual electricity data, not guestimates. So you won’t get a better indication of payback periods and return on your solar investment than this.

These are the current solar panel grants and schemes running in the UK for 2023.

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4 scheme)

Running between 1st April 2022-2026, this is a government energy-efficiency scheme aimed at making renewable energy sources like solar more accessible for low-income households.

Energy suppliers with over 150,000 customers are obligated to support eligible households and the amount of funding you receive depends on your eligibility and how effective solar is for your home.

You don’t need to apply for a grant from your supplier. So, find the one that best suits your needs from the eligibility criteria.

You can apply for the ECO4 grant if you’re receiving benefits and own your home, or if you rent and have permission from your landlord. 

Read more about the ECO4 scheme here. 

Smart Export Guarentee (SEG) 

Launched in 2020, replacing the Feed-In-Tariff, the Smart Export Guarantee is a government initiative where energy suppliers with over 150,000 customers are required to pay homeowners for any excess solar-generated electricity produced from MCS-certified panels.

As part of this scheme households are required to have a registered smart meter to record exported electricity.

You can apply for this scheme through your energy supplier. Read more here. 

VAT Reduction

The government introduced 0% VAT on the installation of energy-saving measures like solar panels, electric heat pumps, and home insulation, to help support high energy bills. This runs until April 1st 2027. 

Read more about VAT reduction here. 

The Green Deal

Originally government funded, this now-private loan repayment scheme is designed to help households manage the upfront cost of a solar installation, spreading the cost over 10-25 years. 

Whether you have an electricity meter or a prepayment meter, you can be eligible for this scheme. Once your property is assessed, you can apply for a Green Deal Finance Plan. 

Read more about the scheme here.

Before you apply for a grant, you need to find out how solar could work for your home. That’s where Loop can help! 

Simply download the free Loop app and use the Solar Simulator feature to test the impact of solar on your home. Then, once you’re armed with this information, you can make an informed decision about how to go ahead with your solar journey.