Plug-in Solar West Midlands

The rest of the country, measured from here.

Thirteen points were queried across the United Kingdom. Sort them and this one lands in the middle. Average them and the mean comes out at 752.9, which is within a single kilowatt hour of what Birmingham returns. That makes this region a yardstick, so the whole site is built as an index with it set to 100.

PlaceDistance from 100Index
South EastBrighton, 897 kWh a year119
South WestExeter, 822 kWh a year109
East of EnglandNorwich, 802 kWh a year107
WalesCardiff, 798 kWh a year106
LondonLondon, 795 kWh a year106
East MidlandsNottingham, 760 kWh a year101
West MidlandsBirmingham, 752 kWh a year100
YorkshireLeeds, 736 kWh a year98
North EastNewcastle, 734 kWh a year98
Northern IrelandBelfast, 714 kWh a year95
North WestManchester, 689 kWh a year92
Scotland, southGlasgow, 661 kWh a year88
Scotland, northInverness, 628 kWh a year84
Below this region100Above

Ideal south-facing roof at 35 degrees, 0.8 kWp, 14 per cent losses, unshaded. PVGIS, 13 September 2026. Median of the thirteen: 752. Mean: 752.9.

What being average is worth

Two conclusions come straight off that chart, and the second one is the reason this site exists.

The first is that the country is tighter than people assume. The best point in the United Kingdom sits at 119 on this scale and the worst at 84. That is the entire national spread, from the south coast to the Highlands, on identical equipment.

The second is what happens when you stop moving house and start moving the panel.

PlaceDistance from this region's roofIndex
This region, ideal pitched roofDue south at 35 degrees, 752 kWh a year100
This region, garden frameDue south at 30 degrees on the ground, 746 kWh a year99
This region, south wallVertical, facing due south, 555 kWh a year74
This region, east wallVertical, facing east, 389 kWh a year52
Below this region100Above
The east wall is off the national scale

An east-facing wall here indexes at 52. The dimmest point in the entire country, on a proper south-facing roof, indexes at 84. One decision about which way a panel points is worth several times the whole geography of Britain.

What the index will not do

Turning kilowatt hours into an index makes them easier to compare. It does not make them truer.

Still assumedConsequence
Nothing shades the panel at any hourShade is larger than everything charted above. A tree can cost more than moving to Inverness would
One city stands for a whole regionBirmingham is the point queried. Shropshire is not Birmingham
Generation counts as benefitOnly the part used as it is produced counts, and storage sits outside the approved class
A single deviceThe connection rules cap a household at one, so the index describes a total

Put your own address on the scale

Birmingham is a dot on a map. Your wall has a fence in front of it.

Send a postcode and what you are thinking of, and we will run the same query at your own coordinates, index it against this region the way the charts above do, and show the arithmetic so you can check it.

You also get the licence area we can confirm for the address and whether the planning conditions reach the mounting you described.

An emailed answer with the arithmetic shown. Nothing sold, no commission, no installer contacted.