Warwickshire
Solar panels in Birmingham, sized to your roof.
About 6,160 kWh a year from 12 panels in Birmingham, £6,360 installed, with your system designed on a free 30-minute video call.
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Birmingham's solar year
Birmingham's best month is July, at 119 kWh per kWp; December manages 34.1. Over the year that comes to 968 kWh per kWp, 3% below our Warwickshire county estimate.
Generation per kWp, month by month
Show the monthly figures
| Month | kWh/kWp |
|---|---|
| January | 36.7 |
| February | 51.5 |
| March | 85.3 |
| April | 108 |
| May | 118 |
| June | 116 |
| July | 119 |
| August | 106 |
| September | 90.7 |
| October | 61.5 |
| November | 42.6 |
| December | 34.1 |
Source: PVGIS v5.2 (European Commission JRC), SARAH3 database, 1 kWp, 14% system loss, 35 degree pitch, due south, checked September 2026.
For scale: 968 kWh per kWp in Birmingham against 925, our GB average (the mean of our 85 county PVGIS estimates), which puts Birmingham 5% above it.
How Birmingham compares
Birmingham is one of 19 Warwickshire towns we track, and it ranks joint 18th of 19 for solar yield. The House of Commons Library settlement classification puts it in the core city class, with a population of 1,159,936, which makes it one of the largest places we publish figures for. Scale changes nothing about the physics: PVGIS gives a roof here 968 kWh per kWp a year, 2.65 peak sun hours a day averaged across the seasons, and on the 12p scenario about £247 of the year one benefit comes from solar you use yourself, with export income adding £626.
Every figure here assumes a clear, south-facing roof at 35 degrees. Yours will differ, which is what the free design call is for; until then, the calculator below tests panels, batteries and export rates on Birmingham's own yield.
Planning applications in Birmingham go to its own council, and the House of Commons Library classes it as a core city.
The charger is in the installed price but left out of payback: charging savings depend on your mileage and tariff, which the design call models properly.
Your real roof and usage, worked through on a free 30-minute video call. Use the full form or leave three details below.
Price this for your roof
Three details. We call or text within one working day to book your free 30-minute design call, on video or by phone if you prefer.
Modelled for Birmingham at 52.4686, -1.87923 on PVGIS data, with imports valued at 26.32p/kWh and solar at £1,000 per kWp installed. Sources and assumptions: help page.
Who runs the grid in Birmingham
Birmingham is served by National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED): the town's centre falls inside its West Midlands licence area on NESO's boundary map.
Most home systems stay within 3.68kW per phase of inverter output, which puts them on G98, a notification to NGED within 28 days of switch-on. Panel count does not decide it; the inverter and any battery do.
Anything bigger is a G99 case and is applied for first. NGED's guaranteed standards give 45 working days for a low voltage generation quotation, with £80 paid for each working day late.
Sources: NESO DNO licence areas (3 May 2024); NGED, guaranteed standards of performance table, checked 25 September 2026. G98 vs G99, explained.
Beyond the panels: heating and car charging in Birmingham
A heat pump in Birmingham
A heat pump does most of its work from November to February. Over those four months, 12 panels in Birmingham make about 1,050 kWh, against 2,920 kWh from May to August, so winter heating runs mostly on grid electricity and the tariff matters more than the roof.
In England, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump and £2,500 towards an air-to-air one, with £1,500 more until March 2027 for homes heated by oil or LPG with no mains gas (gov.uk, checked 28 September 2026).
Charging an EV in Birmingham
A 12-panel roof in Birmingham makes about 760 kWh in July. A typical home uses around 70 kWh of that in daylight (the calculator's typical-use settings), which leaves most of the month's output for an EV or for export.
If you rent, or own a flat, and have private off-street parking, the government chargepoint grant covers 75% of the cost, capped at £500 a socket, until 31 March 2027 (gov.uk, checked 28 September 2026). The calculator above prices a 7.4kW smart charger from £1,100 installed.
The packages, priced before anyone visits
Every system is designed around your roof on the free call before anything is fitted.
What else is true of Birmingham
Birmingham's housing spans several distinct eras: dense back-to-back terraced courts from nineteenth-century industrial expansion, almost all demolished by the early 1970s bar one preserved court; large interwar council estates, one of which alone housed around 30,000 people; and garden-suburb developments such as Bournville, which today has around 7,800 homes with larger gardens. That range of housing eras means roof shape and available roof space vary considerably by neighbourhood.
Birmingham sits in National Grid Electricity Distribution territory, on its West Midlands licence. National Grid Electricity Distribution's own published Guaranteed Standard is 45 working days for a low voltage generation quotation, with a complete application acknowledged within 10 working days; most single home systems use the quicker 28-day G98 route instead. Birmingham City Council is the planning authority and lists 29 conservation areas across the city.
The council declared a Climate Emergency on 11 June 2019 and has set a target of net zero carbon by 2030, or as soon after that date as a genuinely just transition allows for the city. Its own Switch Together Birmingham scheme, run with iChoosr, already offers residents solar panels and home battery storage at a group-buying price, negotiated on behalf of everyone who signs up rather than house by house.
Planning authority: Birmingham City Council
Sources: birmingham.gov.uk · birmingham.gov.uk
Solar panel servicing and repair in Birmingham
Faults, servicing and ageing inverters follow the same economics in Birmingham as anywhere else, and the guides below price them plainly.
Solar in Birmingham: your questions answered
What does a solar panel system produce in Birmingham?
Each kWp of panels in Birmingham makes 968 kWh a year on PVGIS figures, so a typical 12-panel system produces around 6,160 kWh, from about 220 kWh in December up to 760 kWh in July.
How much are solar panels in Birmingham?
The price does not move by postcode. At £1,000 per kWp installed, 12 panels (6.36 kWp) come to £6,360 in Birmingham before a battery. What Birmingham changes is the return, about 6,160 kWh a year from that system, and your design call prices your actual roof.
Would a system in Birmingham need approval from the network operator?
Birmingham is on National Grid Electricity Distribution's network (West Midlands licence area). Systems up to 3.68kW per phase of inverter output follow G98: NGED is notified within 28 days of commissioning, with no approval needed first. Anything larger needs a G99 application before installation. NGED's guaranteed standards give 45 working days for a low voltage generation quotation, with £80 paid for each working day late. Our G98 vs G99 guide explains both routes.
How much can I earn from exporting solar in Birmingham?
With typical use and no battery, a 12-panel system in Birmingham exports about 5,220 kWh a year. At 12p per kWh that is roughly £626; a supplier paying more, or a battery that keeps more for the evening, changes the figure. See the export rates table.
Is solar worth it in Birmingham in winter?
It works, but the year is lopsided. 68% of a Birmingham roof's output lands between April and September; the four months from November to February give about 1,050 kWh on a 12-panel system. Payback is worked out on the whole year, not the winter.
How Birmingham compares with its neighbours
Same satellite dataset, same assumptions, so the differences are real geography rather than modelling noise.
| Town | kWh per kWp a year | vs Birmingham |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | 968 | this town |
| Smethwick | 967 | −1 kWh |
| Solihull | 979 | +11 kWh |
| Oldbury | 965 | −3 kWh |
| Pheasey | 967 | −1 kWh |
| West Bromwich | 966 | −2 kWh |
| Royal Sutton Coldfield | 968 | level |
Same PVGIS v5.2 query for every town. Small differences are within year-to-year weather; more than about 30 kWh per kWp apart is geography.
See a number before you speak to anyone
Answer a few questions about your roof and usage and see an instant solar and battery estimate. No email needed to see the result.
Further reading for Birmingham
Sourced, dated and written by us. The same ground we cover on your free call.
What a solar service costs, and how often you actually need one
MCS advises a contractor visit at year 10 on a privately owned home. Most plans sell one a year.
Read the guide →What a battery gateway actually does
Without a gateway your system shuts down when the grid does. Here is what the box actually does.
Read the guide →What an EV charger installation actually involves
Main fuse, DNO notification, load balancing and the paperwork. What really happens.
Read the guide →Sizing a heat pump: what a proper survey covers
Sized by calculation, not by rule of thumb. What the survey covers, and what guessing costs.
Read the guide →What the Smart Export Guarantee actually is
The scheme obliges suppliers to pay above zero, and leaves the rate to them.
Read the guide →How to check an MCS certificate is genuine, before the deposit leaves your account
A logo proves nothing. Certification is business specific, technology specific and checkable.
Read the guide →Get my free quote
Takes about two minutes. We call or text within one working day to book your free 30-minute video design call at a time that suits you. We design it around your roof and your numbers, and our MCS-certified, fully insured installation teams install it.