Solar panels in Birmingham
PVGIS climate data puts Birmingham at roughly 940 kWh per kWp each year, so a typical 6 kWp roof makes around 5,637 kWh. Birmingham City Council runs Switch Together Birmingham (formerly Solar Together) with iChoosr, a group-buying scheme for solar panels and battery storage decided by a reverse auction among pre-vetted installers. Worldwide it ranks 39th of the 41 cities we cover. Year-one savings come to about GBP 1,055, for a simple payback of 10.8 years. Output peaks in July (686 kWh) and bottoms out in December (195 kWh). Birmingham ranks 2nd of the 4 cities we model in the United Kingdom for yield. For comparison, London reaches 988.
Month by month in Birmingham
Modelled output of a 6 kWp system at 35° facing south (towards the equator), from PVGIS climate data (PVGIS-SARAH3, 2005 to 2023).
| Month | kWh | Share of year |
|---|---|---|
| January | 219 | 3.9% |
| February | 302 | 5.4% |
| March | 490 | 8.7% |
| April | 628 | 11.1% |
| May | 681 | 12.1% |
| June | 680 | 12.1% |
| July | 686 | 12.2% |
| August | 618 | 11.0% |
| September | 525 | 9.3% |
| October | 367 | 6.5% |
| November | 248 | 4.4% |
| December | 195 | 3.5% |
- Best month: July (686 kWh). Weakest: December (195 kWh), a 3.5x difference.
- May, June, July produce 36.3% of the year; January, November, December produce 11.7%.
- Year-to-year variation: about 196 kWh (3.5%, one standard deviation).
- Sunlight reaching the panels: 1,193 kWh per m² a year.
Local rules and support in Birmingham
Rules set by the city or its region, on top of the national scheme. Each one was checked against the official source on the date shown.
- Birmingham City Council
Switch Together Birmingham group-buying scheme
Birmingham City Council runs Switch Together Birmingham (formerly Solar Together) with iChoosr, a group-buying scheme for solar panels and battery storage decided by a reverse auction among pre-vetted installers. The council said personal recommendations would be emailed from April 2026 and all installations were planned to be completed by the end of December 2026.
Source: Birmingham City Council, How it works | Switch Together Birmingham (checked 2026-09-25)
How Birmingham compares
Birmingham ranks 2 of 4 for yield among the cities we model in the United Kingdom, and 39 of 41 across every country on Solar Figures. Within one country the prices are the same, so a payback gap between these cities comes from sunshine alone.
| City | kWh per kWp / yr | Payback (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| London | 988 | 10.2 yrs |
| Birmingham | 940 | 10.8 yrs |
| Manchester | 861 | 13.2 yrs |
| Glasgow | 835 | 13.6 yrs |
| National reference point (country page) | 939 | 10.8 yrs |
Closest yield abroad: Hamburg (955 kWh per kWp), Utrecht (991 kWh per kWp), Amsterdam (992 kWh per kWp).
What moves the payback in Birmingham
Power you use yourself is worth the retail price (£0.28 per kWh); power you export earns £0.15. So the share you use at home, by running appliances in daylight or adding a battery, changes the payback. The system cost stays the same in every row (a battery would add to it).
| Used at home | Year-1 savings | Payback |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | £982 | 13.2 yrs |
| 30% (our default) | £1,055 | 10.8 yrs |
| 50% | £1,200 | 9.2 yrs |
| 70% | £1,345 | 8.1 yrs |
- Net system cost after incentives: £10,500 for 6 kWp.
- Incentive modelled: No capital grant; 0% VAT on residential PV to 31 Mar 2027 (embedded in price), then reverts to 5%. Export via Smart Export Guarantee..
- 25-year net savings at our default: £24,339.
Best panel angle in Birmingham
At latitude 52.48°N, PVGIS finds the fixed tilt and direction that maximise yearly output. Our figures use a common 35° roof; the table shows what the optimum adds.
| Setup | Tilt | Facing | kWh per kWp / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard roof (used on this page) | 35° | south | 940 |
| PVGIS optimum | 40° | south (175°) | 942 |
The optimum adds 0.3% a year over the standard roof in Birmingham. Most of a roof's value comes from its direction: a roof facing away from the equator loses far more than a few degrees of tilt.
See the full the United Kingdom picture on our United Kingdom solar page, or the national incentives in our United Kingdom solar guide.
Sources and method
Figures computed 2026-09-25 for a 6 kWp system, 35° tilt, 14% system losses, terrain shading on. An estimate, not a quote: your installer's quote will be exact.
- PVGIS 5.3 PVcalc (PVGIS-SARAH3), European Commission JRC (checked 2026-09-25)
- the United Kingdom tariff and incentive inputs (see DATA_SOURCES.md) (checked 2026-06-21)
- the United Kingdom tariff and incentive inputs (see DATA_SOURCES.md) (checked 2026-06-21)
- Birmingham City Council: How it works | Switch Together Birmingham (checked 2026-09-25)
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