What does electricity cost in the UK right now, and what can plug-in solar take off it?
Ofgem caps electricity at 26.32p per kWh plus a 54.83p daily standing charge from 1 October 2026, with no VAT until March 2027. Here is the bill arithmetic, and how much of it an 800 W plug-in kit can realistically remove.
Rules and product details last checked on .
Key takeaways
- From 1 October 2026 to 31 December 2026 the price cap sets electricity at 26.32p per kWh and a standing charge of 54.83p per day, for a Direct Debit customer on a standard variable tariff, averaged across England, Scotland and Wales.
- There is no VAT on electricity from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. Gas keeps its 5 per cent.
- The standing charge is about £200 a year whatever you use. Plug-in solar cannot touch it.
- Every kilowatt hour you use directly from the kit saves 26.32p. Modelled output for an 800 W kit is roughly 500 to 830 kWh a year, worth £133 to £219 if every unit were used at home.
- Nobody uses every unit. Expect less, and we would treat any page that gives a single confident saving as guessing.
“Average electricity bill” has no single answer, because a bill is two lines and only one of them depends on you. This page gives you the two lines, so you can work out yours.
The two lines on your bill
According to Ofgem’s announcement of the cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026, a Direct Debit customer on a standard variable tariff pays 26.32 pence per kWh for electricity and a standing charge of 54.83 pence per day, averaged across England, Scotland and Wales. The government has removed VAT from electricity from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, so the figures exclude it. Ofgem attributes the 4 per cent rise for a typical dual-fuel household to wholesale gas.
Your yearly electricity cost is therefore:
365 × 54.83p + your kWh × 26.32p
The first term is £200.13 and does not move. Some worked examples, to show the shape rather than to claim an average:
| Yearly use | Standing charge | Usage | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,500 kWh | £200 | £395 | £595 |
| 2,000 kWh | £200 | £526 | £727 |
| 2,700 kWh | £200 | £711 | £911 |
We have not verified which of those is typical for a UK flat, so use your own figure from a bill or your meter. Rates vary by region, payment method and tariff, and a fixed deal will not match the cap.
What plug-in solar takes off
It only touches the second column. Our modelled output for an 800 W kit is roughly 500 to 830 kWh a year depending on city and mounting. At 26.32p, that is £133 to £219 if all of it displaced power you would otherwise buy.
It will not, because a kit without a battery exports whatever your home is not using at that moment, unpaid, as we explain here. So the working number sits below those, and depends on how much of your load runs while the sun is up. The government’s own headline figure, in its press coverage, is savings of up to £110 a year, which is in the same range once you allow for that.
What this means for payback
A kit at the £549 typical of a complete set, priced in our buying guide, against savings of £70 to £110 a year, pays back in roughly five to eight years. That is arithmetic on two numbers, not a forecast, and our cost guide works it through with the assumptions stated.
What we have verified, and what we have not
Verified against Ofgem, 30 September 2026. The 26.32p unit rate, the 54.83p standing charge, the VAT removal and its dates, and the 4 per cent rise.
Calculated, method shown. The yearly standing charge, the worked bill examples, and the value of modelled solar output.
Not verified. Any “average” household consumption, and the £70 to £110 figure, which we take from press coverage of a government estimate and have not traced to its source.
Our editorial policy explains how we handle claims we cannot check.
The cap changes every quarter. This page carries the date it was last checked; if a rate has moved, tell us and we will update it.