The new rate
From 1 October to 31 December 2026, Ofgem’s price cap puts electricity in the East Midlands at 25.36p per kWh for customers paying by Direct Debit, with a daily standing charge of 51.45p. For July to September the East Midlands unit rate was 25.10p, so the unit price has risen slightly while the standing charge has come down (Ofgem).
The cap is a limit on the rates a supplier can charge on a standard variable tariff, not a limit on your total bill, so what you pay still depends on how much you use.
What it means for solar
Solar panels can’t do anything about the standing charge, which you pay whatever you use. What they reduce is the number of units you buy. Every kWh your panels make and your home uses at the time is a kWh you don’t pay 25.36p for.
PVGIS, the European Commission’s solar model, gives a south-facing roof in Derby about 979 kWh a year for every kWp of panels (PVGIS). A 4 kWp system therefore makes around 3,900 kWh in an average year. If half of that is used in the home, that is about 1,950 kWh you no longer buy, worth roughly £495 a year at the new rate.
Why the share you use matters
The power your panels export is paid at whatever your export tariff offers, which is usually far less than the price you pay for electricity. So the value of solar depends heavily on how much of it you use yourself. Running the washing machine and dishwasher in the day helps, and a battery can move daytime power into the evening. Solar battery storage explains how batteries are sized.
What happens next
Ofgem reviews the cap every three months, so the figure will change again from 1 January 2027. The calculation above changes with it: a higher unit rate makes each unit of solar worth more, and a lower one makes it worth less. The solar panel calculator uses the current East Midlands rate.