MCS certified · Cert. NAP-32603

Solar panel installation

Designed around your actual electricity use, installed by the same people who quoted it, and certified under MCS so you can claim the Smart Export Guarantee.

Our approach

Sized for your house, not for our order book

A lot of quotes are generated from a satellite image and a postcode. We'd rather come and look at the roof, get up into the loft space, check the consumer unit and go through a year of your electricity bills before proposing anything.

That usually means a smaller, better-matched system than you'd be sold elsewhere, and occasionally it means telling you your roof isn't worth doing. We'd rather say so at the survey than after the scaffolding is up.

Full roof, loft and consumer unit survey before quoting
Shading assessed properly, not estimated from aerial imagery
Written quote naming the exact panel, inverter and battery models
Fixed price: scaffolding, certification and paperwork included

All-black array on a standing seam metal roof, scaffolding still up

The kit we fit

Components we'd actually put on our own roof

We're not tied to a single manufacturer, but these are the products we specify most often because they're reliable, well supported and sensibly priced.

Jinko Solar

Tier 1 panels, typically 470W monocrystalline modules

Fox ESS

Hybrid inverters and battery storage, commonly 5kW / 11.5kWh

Your call

Every quote names the exact models proposed, no “or similar”

What's included

Everything from the survey to the handover

We handle the whole job in-house, including the parts most solar companies subcontract. The electrical work is our original trade, so the consumer unit changes and the DNO paperwork aren't an afterthought.

Most domestic installations take one to two days on site. From first contact to a commissioned, certified system is typically four to eight weeks, most of which is scaffolding and DNO lead time rather than work on your house.

Design, supply and installation
Scaffolding arranged and cleared
Consumer unit work and any remedial electrics
DNO application (G98 or G99) to UK Power Networks
MCS certificate issued on completion
Smart Export Guarantee paperwork so you can start getting paid for exports
Monitoring app set up and explained before we leave

All-black array on a standing seam metal roof

Conservation & heritage areas

“We're in a conservation area, so we can't have solar.”

It's the most common misconception we hear, and in a lot of cases it simply isn't true. We recently completed an installation inside Letchworth's Heritage Area (ten Jinko 470W panels with Fox ESS hybrid inverter and battery), designed so the array sits sympathetically with the character of the property.

Conservation area status changes what you can do and where, and sometimes it means a planning application. It rarely means no. If you've been told otherwise, it's worth a second opinion.

The Letchworth Heritage Area property with the array on the rear roof slope

Detail that shows

Bird guarding you have to look for

Pigeons nesting under an array is one of the most common problems on older installations: mess on the roof and in the gutters, noise coming through the ceiling, and restricted airflow under the panels. A mesh guard around the perimeter prevents all of it, and it should be part of every pitched roof installation.

The difference is in the fitting. Done in a hurry, the mesh stands proud of the panel edge and you get a grey band running round the whole array, visible from the pavement. We tuck ours in behind the frame and clip it tight to the panel edge, so it does its job without becoming the thing you notice about the roof.

Bird guard mesh clipped tight behind the panel edge

Common questions

Things people usually ask

Do I need planning permission for solar panels?

For most houses, no. Roof-mounted solar is normally permitted development, provided the panels don't project more than 200mm from the roof surface and don't sit above the highest part of the roof. Listed buildings, and some properties in conservation areas or with an Article 4 direction, are the exceptions. We'll tell you which category you're in at the survey.

Can I have solar in a conservation area?

Usually yes, with the right design. We've installed within Letchworth's Heritage Area. It may mean siting the array on a less prominent roof slope, using all-black modules, or submitting a planning application, but a conservation area designation on its own is not a blanket ban.

What does a typical system cost?

A typical 4kWp domestic system currently runs from about £6,600 to £8,500 installed, depending on roof type, access and whether you add storage. Domestic solar carries 0% VAT until 31 March 2027. We give fixed written quotes rather than ballpark figures.

How long will the panels last?

Panels are typically warranted for 25 years of performance, inverters for 10–12 depending on the model, and batteries usually 10 years or a stated throughput. We'll set out the actual warranty terms for the products we're proposing in the quote.

Will you be the one doing the work?

Yes. Dan carries out the survey and designs the system, and he and his team install it. You won't be passed to a subcontractor you've never met, and the person who answers the phone afterwards is the person who was on your roof.

Where we work

Royston, and about half an hour around it

Almost every roof we work on is within about half an hour of our base. We're based in Meldreth, three miles outside Royston, and cover Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex and Bedfordshire from there: Royston, Melbourn, Baldock, Letchworth Garden City, Hitchin, Stevenage, Saffron Walden, Cambridge, Buntingford, Duxford and the villages in between. Close enough to come back if you ever need us.

Get started

Free, no-obligation survey and quote

Tell us a bit about your property and we'll come and look at it. You'll get a straight answer either way, including if solar isn't the right fit.

Get a free quote Call 07971 199 642