Gloucestershire
Solar panels in Bristol, designed on a free call.
Twelve panels (6.36 kWp) here make about 6,490 kWh a year for £6,360 installed, designed around your roof on a free 30-minute video call.
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Sunlight in Bristol, in numbers
Bristol's best month is July, at 125.3 kWh per kWp; December manages 35. Over the year that comes to 1,021 kWh per kWp, 2% above our Gloucestershire county estimate.
Generation per kWp, month by month
Show the monthly figures
| Month | kWh/kWp |
|---|---|
| January | 38.3 |
| February | 54.7 |
| March | 88.6 |
| April | 117 |
| May | 125 |
| June | 122 |
| July | 125 |
| August | 110 |
| September | 95.9 |
| October | 65.3 |
| November | 44.5 |
| December | 35 |
Source: PVGIS v5.2 (European Commission JRC), SARAH3 database, 1 kWp, 14% system loss, 35 degree pitch, due south, checked September 2026.
Against Great Britain as a whole: Bristol makes 1,021 kWh per kWp a year, and the mean of our 85 county PVGIS estimates (our GB average) is 925, so Bristol is 10% above it.
How Bristol compares
Bristol is one of 24 Gloucestershire towns we track, and it ranks 3rd of 24 for solar yield. The House of Commons Library settlement classification puts it in the core city class, with a population of 444,562, which makes it one of the largest places we publish figures for. Scale changes nothing about the physics: PVGIS gives a roof here 1,021 kWh per kWp a year, 2.80 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 £667.
Treat these as calibration rather than a quote. The calculator below runs the same model, opened on Bristol's own yield, and prices a 12 panel system at £6,360 installed before any battery. Your free design call reworks every number for your actual roof, its shading and your usage.
Planning applications here go through City of Bristol; nationally, the House of Commons Library classes Bristol 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 Bristol at 51.45716, -2.59324 on PVGIS data, with imports valued at 26.32p/kWh and solar at £1,000 per kWp installed. Sources and assumptions: help page.
The network operator for Bristol
The distribution network operator (DNO) for Bristol is National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED), which runs the South West England licence area.
For a typical home the paperwork is light: a system of up to 3.68kW per phase goes through G98, which means NGED is notified within 28 days of switch-on rather than asked beforehand.
Above that, G99 means applying before the work is booked. 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.
Heat pumps and EV charging in Bristol
A heat pump in Bristol
In December, the darkest month here, 12 panels in Bristol make about 220 kWh. That is when a heat pump runs hardest, so its running cost in Bristol comes down to the tariff and the flow temperature rather 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 Bristol
Bristol's July output, about 800 kWh from 12 panels, is several times the 70 kWh or so a typical home uses in daylight that month on our calculator's settings. Daytime charging turns that surplus into miles.
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.
Installed prices, the same in every town
Every system is designed around your roof on the free call before anything is fitted.
What else is true of Bristol
Bristol's Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, drawing on Census 2021 data, records 35% of the city's 191,600 households living in flats against a 22% England and Wales average, a share that reaches 93% in the Central ward and 80% in Hotwells and Harbourside. The remaining homes are concentrated in houses and bungalows in wards such as Filwood, so whether a Bristol roof is a shared flat roof or a private house roof depends heavily on which part of the city it sits in.
Bristol sits in National Grid Electricity Distribution territory, on its South West 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. Bristol City Council is the planning authority and lists 33 conservation areas across the city, each protected for its own particular character.
The council's Mission Net Zero programme targets carbon neutrality for the city by 2030, twenty years ahead of the UK's national date. Bristol City Leap, a 20-year partnership between the council and Ameresco, has chosen its first site for a 4.8MW solar farm on Severn Road, Avonmouth, expected to generate enough clean energy for the equivalent of 1,868 homes a year.
Planning authority: Bristol City Council
Sources: bristol.gov.uk · bristol.gov.uk
Solar panel servicing and repair in Bristol
If a system in Bristol is underperforming, start with the guides below: repair benchmarks, service scope, and the inverter question.
Bristol solar questions
How much energy would 12 solar panels make in Bristol?
Bristol averages 2.80 peak sun hours a day, which PVGIS turns into 1,021 kWh per kWp a year. On a 12-panel, 6.36 kWp roof that is about 6,490 kWh, 68% of it between April and September.
Is solar more expensive in Bristol?
Prices on this site are the same everywhere: £1,000 per kWp installed, which puts a 12-panel system at £6,360 in Bristol, and a Duracell Dura16 installed with solar at £4,450 on top. The local part is generation, about 6,490 kWh a year here, which is what drives payback.
Who is the network operator in Bristol, and do I need a G99 application?
The operator is National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED). Most home systems use the G98 route, a notification within 28 days of switch-on for up to 3.68kW per phase, so nothing waits on the network. Above that, G99 applies and has to be granted first. NGED's guaranteed standards give 45 working days for a low voltage generation quotation, with £80 paid for each working day late. Your design call checks which route yours needs.
What could I earn from exporting in Bristol?
On the 12p export scenario, a 12-panel system in Bristol sends about 5,557 kWh a year to the grid, worth around £667. The export rates table compares what each supplier pays.
How does solar perform in Bristol in the winter months?
December is the weakest month in Bristol: about 220 kWh from 12 panels, against 800 kWh in July. The panels still generate on bright winter days; they just cover a smaller share of what the house uses.
How Bristol compares with its neighbours
How the towns nearest Bristol compare on the same PVGIS settings, closest first.
| Town | kWh per kWp a year | vs Bristol |
|---|---|---|
| Bristol | 1,021 | this town |
| Filton | 1,014 | −7 kWh |
| Kingswood and Fishponds | 1,019 | −2 kWh |
| Stoke Gifford | 1,010 | −11 kWh |
| Patchway | 1,013 | −8 kWh |
| Keynsham | 1,020 | −1 kWh |
| Bradley Stoke | 1,009 | −12 kWh |
PVGIS v5.2 for each town centroid, identical assumptions throughout. A few kWh either way is weather-year noise; a spread beyond about 30 kWh per kWp is real geography.
Also for Bristol: Solar panels in Bristol from OVO Solar & Battery
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.
Reading for Bristol homeowners
Sourced, dated and written by us. The same ground we cover on your free call.
G98 vs G99: the 28-day form and the eight-week wait, in plain English
One number on your quote decides between a formality and an eight week wait.
Read the guide →Which battery size band does your home fall into?
Where UK homes actually land, why oversizing costs you, and what shifts the band.
Read the guide →What it really costs to charge an EV at home versus in public
Home off-peak charging costs a fraction of the public price. The arithmetic, and the tariff it depends on.
Read the guide →How much does a heat pump cost? The 2026 numbers, before and after the grant
UK median installed cost around £12,908, before the up to £7,500 grant comes off.
Read the guide →Choosing a tariff when you have solar, a battery and an EV
Solar, battery and EV want different tariffs. How to work out which one to protect.
Read the guide →NAPIT, NICEIC and competent person schemes: who tells building control about your solar
Solar work is notifiable. A competent person scheme means your installation team notifies, not you.
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.