Most UK houses have a roof which is suitable for a solar PV installation. Ideally a south facing roof will receive the most sunlight – the perfect home for solar has a roof orientated somewhere between South West and South East, with a 30 degree slope and no shading. For homes that do not have a south facing roof, east-west splits are quite common, and will produce roughly 85% of the energy a south facing roof will. (which most roofs are) - flat roofs are also good as you can angle the panels to perform at their optimum.

Any shade cast on the roof by surrounding buildings, trees or chimney's needs to be taken into account as it will reduce the performance. How much it affects it by depends on type of shading: nearby structures such as adjoining buildings or chimney's can reduce output significantly as they will tend to throw shade on the panels for longer periods of the day. Further away objects such as trees o may not block the sun during summer, but create shade when the sun is lower in the sky in winter. There are complex formula we use to help predict the impact shading will have on estimated performance of a solar array.

The Size of your roof will dictate how many solar panels or tiles can be installed on your roof. All solar panels are available in either landscape or portrait orientation to maximise the available roof space.

Is your current roof strong enough to hold the weight of the solar pv panels?
Each panel weighs approximately 15kg . The condition of your roof will be assessed during the initial site survey.

The government has targets to reach on reducing carbon dioxide emissions and therefore they are encouraging householders to install micro generation technologies such as Solar PV. They have amended the laws and now many installations come under permitted development which does not require planning permission.

What size / cost for solar PV panels?
Size of system will depend on which type of PV cell you choose, how good your site is, which part of the country you live in and how much electricity you want to generate. As a rule of thumb, a 1kWp system will generate an average of 850kWh of power in the UK. Most domestic systems are between 1.5 and 3 kWp.

The cost of photovoltaic systems tend to range between £5,000 and £8,000 per kWp installed. The cost of producing PV systems is falling and is expected to continue to do so.

Planning Permission

If a proposed change to your house is considered as being Permitted Development then under planning law, you will not need to apply for Planning Permission. If, however, the proposed change does not fall within Permitted Development a Planning Application will need to be submitted with your Local Planning Authority. On roof or In roof solar panels will be considered Permitted Development if the following provisos are met:

The solar panels should not be installed above the ridgeline and should project no more than 200mm from the roof or wall surface.

If your home is in a Conservation Area, an Area of Outstanding Beauty or in a World Heritage Site the panels on your roof must not be visible from the street ('highway').

If your home is a Listed Building the installation of solar panels is likely to require an application for Listed Building Consent, even where Planning Permission is not needed.

If your home is a flat then you are advised to contact your Local Planning Authority for guidance on what the next steps are.

The total size of the solar system is limited to 9m or 3m wide by 3m deep.

If the building is in a conservation area, area of outstanding natural beauty, or in a world heritage site, the panels on your roof must not be visible from the street (highway)
If your home is a flat you are advised to contact your local planning authority for guidance on the next steps.
If your solar PV system does not qualify for permitted development under the above criteria then planning permission will need to be submitted to your local planning authority.

Ground mounted systems will be considered permitted development if:

The solar panels are no higher than 4m
They are at least 5m from any boundaries
The total size of the solar system is limited to 9m� or 3m wide by 3m deep
Only 1 stand alone solar installation is permitted