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YES

As of 13 August 2026, AI can estimate your solar panel generation.

Most people should do this themselves; the prompt is on this page.

Can you do it?

5 minutesto a draft.

30 minutesto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill needednone

Who has to check ityou

What the alternative costsThe listed commercial candidates are AI design tools rather than solar-generation calculators, so no comparable alternative price is provided.

If this goes wrong: you use an over-optimistic estimate when comparing panels or installers, but you can replace it with a checked calculator result before committing.

What to actually do

  1. Do it yourself

    The route this page recommends

    A chat interface, no skill needed, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

    How to actually do it

    1. Open your panel or installer paperwork and record the system capacity in kWp, panel direction, roof tilt and any information about the panel type or inverter.
    2. Use a map or satellite view of your home to note the postcode or location and identify shading from trees, chimneys, neighbouring buildings or other roof sections.
    3. Paste the gathered details into the prompt, replacing each bracketed slot and leaving a slot blank if you do not know the answer.
    4. Ask the chatbot to produce the annual and monthly kWh estimate, the assumptions and the low-to-high range requested in the prompt.
    5. Open the PVGIS website or another independent UK solar-generation calculator and enter the same location, capacity, direction, tilt and shading assumptions.
    6. Compare the independent result with the chatbot's estimate, then ask the chatbot to explain any material difference without changing the input facts.
    7. Keep the checked estimate separate from any estimate of savings, export payments or payback until you have supplied the correct electricity tariff and export terms.

    Prompt

    Estimate how much electricity my solar panels could generate in the UK. Use only the information I provide and do not invent missing values. Show the calculation clearly and give estimated annual and monthly generation in kWh, with a low-to-high range if the assumptions justify one. Use these inputs: location or postcode [LOCATION], total panel capacity in kWp [CAPACITY], panel direction or azimuth [DIRECTION], roof tilt in degrees [TILT], shading from trees, chimneys or nearby buildings [SHADING], panel type and system details if known [SYSTEM DETAILS], and installation date or age if relevant [AGE]. State every assumption, distinguish generation from electricity used in the home, and explain which missing detail would affect the estimate most. Do not estimate financial savings or export payments unless I provide the relevant tariff and payment terms. End with a short checklist of figures I should compare against an independent UK solar calculator such as PVGIS.

    Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

  2. Use a tool built for this

    Second choice

  3. Hand it to a person

    The distant third

    A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

What it gets wrong

  • AI cannot see the actual roof, measure its angle or identify every source of shading from a text description.
  • AI cannot know whether your installer has entered the panel capacity, inverter limits or system losses correctly unless you provide the paperwork.
  • AI cannot provide a live, site-specific irradiance measurement or guarantee the generation of an installed system.
  • AI cannot replace an installer’s survey when the estimate is being used to approve a purchase or design a system.

Even on a YES, the friction has a name: context depth and real time truth.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output2
Inputs2
Verification2
Liability2
Effort delta2
Total10 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can ChatGPT calculate how much electricity my solar panels will produce?
Yes, it can produce a useful estimate if you provide the system capacity, location, panel direction, roof tilt and shading information. Treat it as an estimate and compare the result with an independent UK solar calculator before using it to choose an installation.
What information do I need to estimate solar panel output?
Gather your postcode or location, total panel capacity in kWp, roof direction, roof tilt and any shading from trees or buildings. Panel and inverter details, system age and the actual roof layout can improve the estimate.
How accurate is an AI solar panel estimate?
It can be a reasonable planning estimate when the inputs are accurate, but it cannot inspect your roof or guarantee real-world generation. The result becomes less reliable when the direction, tilt, shading or system specifications are guessed.
Can AI tell me how much money my solar panels will save?
It can calculate a financial estimate only if you provide your electricity tariff, expected self-consumption and export payment terms. Do not rely on figures based on assumed tariffs, and check important financial decisions with your installer or energy provider.

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Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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