The amount of time it takes for you to recoup the initial cost of the solar panel system (the payback time) depends on:
- The amount you paid for your system
- The amount of electricity that you generate – see more below
- The amount of generated electricity that you use – see more below
- How much you pay for your electricity from the national grid via your electricity supplier
- How much you get paid for electricity that you export (the Smart Export Guarantee, which varies from supplier to supplier) – see more below
If you can optimise these variables (i.e. a reasonably priced system, good generation, good self-consumption, low rate for buying electricity and high rate for exporting (selling) electricity), your payback could be around 10 years. Once an installer has designed your specific system, payback can be estimated, but will remain difficult to pin down exactly due to the factors that are outside of the installers’ control.