Lancashire
Solar panels in Manchester, with the numbers shown.
A 12-panel roof in Manchester makes about 5,640 kWh a year and costs £6,360 installed; a free 30-minute video call sizes it to yours.
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Manchester's solar year
PVGIS puts Manchester at 887 kWh per kWp a year, 2% above our Lancashire county estimate. 69% of it arrives between April and September, peaking in May.
Generation per kWp, month by month
Show the monthly figures
| Month | kWh/kWp |
|---|---|
| January | 26.4 |
| February | 46 |
| March | 78.9 |
| April | 104 |
| May | 115 |
| June | 109 |
| July | 108 |
| August | 96 |
| September | 81.2 |
| October | 55.9 |
| November | 38.1 |
| December | 28.4 |
Source: PVGIS v5.2 (European Commission JRC), SARAH3 database, 1 kWp, 14% system loss, 35 degree pitch, due south, checked September 2026.
Our GB average is 925 kWh per kWp a year, the mean of the 85 county PVGIS estimates we publish; at 887, Manchester is 4% below it.
How Manchester compares
Manchester is one of 109 Lancashire towns we track, and it ranks 77th of 109 for solar yield. The House of Commons Library settlement classification puts it in the core city class, with a population of 506,808, which makes it one of the largest places we publish figures for. Scale changes nothing about the physics: PVGIS gives a roof here 887 kWh per kWp a year, 2.43 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 £565.
These are starting numbers, not a quote. The calculator below opens on Manchester's own PVGIS figure; change the panels, the battery or the export rate and it reruns. The design call replaces every assumption with your roof and your bills.
Planning applications in Manchester 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.
The figures use PVGIS for the centre of Manchester (53.47187, -2.21773), a 26.32p/kWh import price and £1,000 per kWp installed; see the help page for the full method.
Who runs the grid in Manchester
Electricity North West owns and runs the local electricity network in Manchester, as part of its North West England licence area.
What decides the paperwork is the inverter and battery output, not the number of panels. Up to 3.68kW per phase, a system follows G98: Electricity North West is notified within 28 days of commissioning and nothing has to be approved first.
Anything bigger is a G99 case and is applied for first. Ofgem's guaranteed standard for a low voltage generation connection quotation is 45 working days, with £80 paid for each working day late, and it binds Electricity North West as it does every network operator.
Sources: NESO DNO licence areas (3 May 2024); Ofgem, Distributed Generation Standards Direction guidance, checked 27 September 2026. G98 vs G99, explained.
Adding a heat pump or an EV charger in Manchester
A heat pump in Manchester
A heat pump does most of its work from November to February. Over those four months, 12 panels in Manchester make about 880 kWh, against 2,720 kWh from May to August, so winter heating runs mostly on grid electricity and the tariff matters more than the roof.
Grant support in England comes from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme: £7,500 for an air source or ground source heat pump, £2,500 for air-to-air, and an extra £1,500 until March 2027 where the home is heated by oil or LPG off the gas grid (gov.uk, checked 28 September 2026).
Charging an EV in Manchester
From April to September, 69% of a Manchester roof's yearly output arrives, peaking at about 730 kWh in May on 12 panels. A car parked at home in daylight can soak up what the house, at around 70 kWh of daytime use that month, cannot.
The calculator above includes a 7.4kW smart charger from £1,100 installed. Renters and flat owners with off-street parking can claim 75% of a chargepoint's cost, up to £500 per socket, until 31 March 2027 (gov.uk, checked 28 September 2026).
What the named kit costs, installed
Every system is designed around your roof on the free call before anything is fitted.
What else is true of Manchester
Manchester's housing stock skews older, with 44.7% of dwellings built before 1945, and Census 2021 data shows semi-detached houses as the largest single type at 32%, with flats and terraces each around 28%. That spread of terraces, semis and flats means roof shape and orientation vary considerably from street to street, so what a system can generate depends more on the individual property than any single citywide figure.
Manchester sits in Electricity North West territory. Electricity North West does not publish its own day count for a standard low voltage generation quotation, so the 45 working day standard that applies across the industry is the figure to plan against, with most single home systems using the quicker 28-day G98 route instead. Manchester City Council is the planning authority and lists 34 conservation areas across the city, each with its own protected character.
The council's Climate Change Action Plan 2025 to 2030 keeps Manchester on track for zero carbon status by 2038. Greater Manchester also runs its own Solar Together group-buying round for residents, and more than 2,800 solar panels have gone up on the roof of Joie Stadium, home to Manchester City Women, one of the largest solar sites in the city centre.
Planning authority: Manchester City Council
Sources: manchester.gov.uk · solartogether.co.uk
Solar panel servicing and repair in Manchester
Faults, servicing and ageing inverters follow the same economics in Manchester as anywhere else, and the guides below price them plainly.
Common questions about solar in Manchester
What does a solar panel system produce in Manchester?
Each kWp of panels in Manchester makes 887 kWh a year on PVGIS figures, so a typical 12-panel system produces around 5,640 kWh, from about 170 kWh in January up to 730 kWh in May.
How much are solar panels in Manchester?
The price does not move by postcode. At £1,000 per kWp installed, 12 panels (6.36 kWp) come to £6,360 in Manchester before a battery. What Manchester changes is the return, about 5,640 kWh a year from that system, and your design call prices your actual roof.
Would a system in Manchester need approval from the network operator?
Manchester is on Electricity North West's network (North West England licence area). Systems up to 3.68kW per phase of inverter output follow G98: Electricity North West is notified within 28 days of commissioning, with no approval needed first. Anything larger needs a G99 application before installation. Ofgem's guaranteed standard for a low voltage generation connection quotation is 45 working days, with £80 paid for each working day late, and it binds Electricity North West as it does every network operator. Our G98 vs G99 guide explains both routes.
How much can I earn from exporting solar in Manchester?
With typical use and no battery, a 12-panel system in Manchester exports about 4,705 kWh a year. At 12p per kWh that is roughly £565; 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 Manchester in winter?
It works, but the year is lopsided. 69% of a Manchester roof's output lands between April and September; the four months from November to February give about 880 kWh on a 12-panel system. Payback is worked out on the whole year, not the winter.
How Manchester compares with its neighbours
The six closest towns we publish, run through the identical PVGIS query as Manchester.
| Town | kWh per kWp a year | vs Manchester |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester | 887 | this town |
| Droylsden | 864 | −23 kWh |
| Salford | 895 | +8 kWh |
| Reddish | 882 | −5 kWh |
| Failsworth | 875 | −12 kWh |
| Audenshaw | 864 | −23 kWh |
| Old Trafford | 908 | +21 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 Manchester: Solar panels in Manchester from OVO Solar & Battery
Also near Manchester
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Guides worth reading before your call
Sourced, dated and written by us. The same ground we cover on your free call.
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Read the guide →What it really costs to charge an EV at home versus in public
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Read the guide →Are air source heat pumps any good? What owners actually report
The UK's largest survey found 80% of heat pump owners satisfied, against 70% for gas boilers.
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 →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.