Built by a homeowner.
For homeowners.

SolaClear started as a personal project. After spending weeks trying to figure out whether solar panels would actually pay off for my house in Shoreham-by-Sea — trawling through installer quotes, reading r/solaruk, arguing with spreadsheets — I decided to build the tools I wished had existed.

The UK solar market is full of information, but most of it comes from installers with a sale to make, or comparison sites that earn referral fees. SolaClear is neither of those things. It is an independent tool funded by advertising, not by commissions from the industry it covers.

What SolaClear does

There are currently four tools on the site, with more planned:

The principles behind the tools

• Location-aware — irradiance figures, assumptions, and projections adjust to your specific UK region. No generic national averages.
• Transparent assumptions — every calculation shows its working. Panel count, irradiance used, orientation factor, energy price assumptions — all visible.
• No false precision — solar payback calculations involve real uncertainty. We show honest ranges and caveat our projections clearly, rather than presenting spuriously exact figures.
• Real benchmark data — the Quote Checker uses a database of real UK solar installation quotes, not industry-average estimates. The data is updated weekly.
• No installer commissions — the installer referral form connects you with local MCS-certified installers, but SolaClear does not take a cut of any sale. The tool's job is to help you make a good decision, not to generate leads for any particular installer.

Data sources

SolaClear uses the following data sources:

• Sheffield Solar PV_Live API — real-time and near-real-time UK solar generation data. Free and publicly available. We are grateful to Sheffield Solar and NESO for making this data accessible.
• MCS irradiance data — regional solar irradiance values for the UK, used in payback calculations.
• Ofgem energy price data — current and historical electricity unit rates and price cap levels.
• Community quote data — anonymised UK solar installation quotes from verified buyers, used to power the Quote Checker benchmarks.
• NESO GeoJSON boundaries — DNO licence area boundaries for the live map.

Contact

SolaClear is an independent project and is not affiliated with any solar installer, energy supplier, or financial services provider. Figures produced by SolaClear tools are estimates only and should not be taken as financial advice. Always obtain multiple installer quotes and consider seeking independent financial advice before making a significant home improvement decision.