In Devon, we have a wet and windy winter ahead, if the MetOffice predictions about El Nino come to pass. So, you might be forgiven for wondering whether the British weather really makes solar panels worthwhile.
But new analysis reported by The Guardian suggests that even households in some of the UK's cloudiest regions could save hundreds of pounds a year by installing rooftop solar.
And it highlights something we hear a lot at Bloom: solar panels don't need hot, sunny weather to work. They need daylight.
Solar panels still generate electricity when it's cloudy
Solar PV panels convert light into electricity. While they generate more power in bright, direct sunshine, they continue generating on overcast days because some of the wavelengths they use pass through cloud.
The Energy Saving Trust confirms that solar panels continue to generate electricity on cloudy days and estimates a typical solar installation currently pays for itself in around 10 to 12 years, although this varies considerably according to location, system design and how you use the electricity generated. (Energy Saving Trust).
So, while a grey December afternoon certainly won't produce as much electricity as a sunny June day, cloudy weather doesn't stop your solar panels working.
What about here in the Southwest?
The latest Government figures show that the Southwest is already one of Britain's leading regions for solar. More than 17,500 new installations were recorded in the region during the first seven months of 2026, taking the total to over 271,000. (GOV.UK)
And if solar can deliver worthwhile savings much further north, the question for Devon homeowners isn't really ‘Is it sunny enough? It's ‘Is my home suitable for solar?’ And that's where good system design matters.
Roof orientation and pitch, shading, available roof space, your household electricity consumption and when you use electricity all influence how much a solar PV system could generate and how much money it could save you.
How much could solar panels save?
There's no single figure that applies to every home. Government currently says rooftop solar could save homeowners up to £480 a year, while Energy Saving Trust's current modelling puts typical payback periods at around 9 years in London, 10 to 11 years in Manchester and 11 to 12 years in Stirling. No specific Government data for Devon, but broadly speaking, we get more sun down south, so we'd expect the conditions to be as - if not more - favourable here. And this is something we calculate in each bespoke household solar design.
Adding battery storage can allow you to use more of the electricity you generate rather than exporting it immediately. It can also open up opportunities to use smart tariffs to buy, store and use electricity more intelligently. Recent Energy Saving Trust modelling found that some combinations of solar, batteries and other low-carbon technologies with appropriate smart tariffs could save households around £800 a year. (Energy Saving Trust)
So don't let a potentially wet Devon winter off making the investment now. If you'd like to know what solar and battery storage could generate and save at your Devon home, talk to the Bloom team for straightforward advice based on your property and energy use.