Solar panels in Bristol: your questions answered

As a guide, a 3–4 kW system for a typical terrace costs around £5,000–£7,000, and a 4–6 kW system with battery for a family semi around £9,000–£13,000. Residential solar currently attracts 0% VAT. Every home is different, which is why we quote from a free survey rather than over the phone — and the price we quote is the price you pay.

For most suitable roofs, yes. The South West gets some of the best solar yields in the UK, electricity prices remain high, and the Smart Export Guarantee pays you for surplus power. Most systems we install pay back well within their warranty period, then keep generating for decades.

Roughly 10m² of roof for every 1kW of panels, so a typical 4kW system needs about 40m². It doesn’t have to be one unbroken stretch — we regularly split an array across two or three roof faces to catch the best of the daylight, which is often the answer on Bristol terraces and semis.

Usually not — domestic solar is normally permitted development. Exceptions include listed buildings and some conservation areas, where consent is needed. We’ll identify this at your free survey and help with the application if required.

For systems up to 4kWp — that’s the system’s rated size — we simply notify your local electricity network operator once the work is done. Anything larger needs their approval first. Either way we handle the paperwork; you don’t need to contact anyone.

Most domestic systems are installed in one to two days. Scaffolding typically goes up a day or two before, and we handle all certification and export-payment paperwork afterwards.

Yes — panels generate from daylight, not just direct sun. Output is lower under cloud, but Bristol’s annual daylight is more than enough for strong year-round returns, especially with a battery to shift generation into the evening.

A standard solar system shuts itself down automatically during a power cut. That’s a safety requirement — it stops electricity flowing back into the network while engineers may be working on it. If you want your home to keep running through an outage you need a battery with house backup built in, which is a specific option rather than something every battery does. We’ll tell you at survey whether it’s worth it for your property.

It’s the scheme under which energy suppliers pay you for electricity you export to the grid. Because our installations are carried out to the required accredited standards, your system qualifies — and we sort the paperwork.

If you’re out during the day, almost certainly. A battery stores your lunchtime generation for the evening, typically lifting self-use from around a third to 70–80%. We’ll model it both ways in your quote so you can see the difference.

Yes, and it’s one of the most common jobs we do. We can add storage to an existing system whoever installed it. If you’re still receiving Feed-in Tariff payments for your original panels, adding a battery doesn’t affect them.

Most panels are still producing well past 25 years, and there is very little to maintain — no moving parts, and British weather keeps them reasonably clean. We suggest a check every couple of years to confirm everything is performing as it should, and we offer a maintenance package if you’d rather not think about it.

Our own workmanship guarantee covers the installation itself for two years, and it is insurance-backed — so it still stands even if we are not around to honour it. That is the minimum required by RECC, the Renewable Energy Consumer Code we belong to, which also protects your deposit.

The equipment is separate: every part has its own manufacturer warranty, and the terms differ by product and change over time. Rather than quote headline figures here, we itemise the exact warranty for the exact products in your written quote, before you commit to anything.

No. We’re an engineering business, not a sales operation — you get a survey, a fixed itemised quote, and time to decide. No sitting at your kitchen table until you sign.