Solar panels sized to your roof, not a brochure.
An MCS-certified surveyor checks your actual roof, whether that’s a terrace in Poole, a bungalow near Weymouth or a stone cottage inland, before we spec anything. Solar and battery installations are also currently zero-rated for VAT, a relief that runs until 31 March 2027.
Solar panels ready for installation
The right fit for your property.
Roof-mounted covers most homes we quote, and it’s usually the most cost-effective option where there’s enough clear, unshaded space. Dorset has plenty of larger rural plots too, particularly inland and around the Blackmore Vale, where a ground-mounted array can make more sense than fitting panels onto a shaded or awkwardly pitched roof.
Either way, panels generate most of their power in the day, often when a household is out or using the least electricity. If that sounds like your pattern, battery storage is worth adding so that generation doesn’t just get exported at a lower rate than you’d pay to buy it back.
Sunlight in, electricity out.
A panel is a grid of photovoltaic cells, almost always monocrystalline silicon on a modern residential install, producing direct current the moment daylight hits them. Dorset’s south-facing coastline means panels here are rarely short of a clear run at the sun. That DC output passes through an inverter, converting it to the alternating current your home actually runs on.
Bournemouth’s roughly 1,780 hours of average annual sunshine puts Dorset among the sunnier counties in England, which is one reason systems here tend to pay back a little faster than the national average.
String inverter
One unit runs the whole array. The cheapest option, and fine for a simple, unshaded roof.
Microinverters
One small unit per panel. Costs more, but a chimney or dormer shading part of the roof won’t drag the whole array down.
Hybrid inverter
Built with battery storage in mind from day one. The sensible default if a battery’s on the cards now or later.
Looking after your system.
Panels have no moving parts, so there’s very little to go wrong. An occasional check for moss, salt spray residue near the coast, or built-up debris is generally enough. Manufacturers typically back panels with a 25-year-plus performance warranty on top of a shorter product warranty, and we add our own workmanship warranty on the install itself.
On Dorset’s older stone-built and thatched properties, we check roof construction and tile or thatch condition as part of every survey. Purbeck and Portland stone roofs need mounting fixings matched to the material, not a standard bracket, and thatch can’t take panels directly at all.
How long does an installation take?
One to two days for most homes, depending on system size and roof access. Scaffolding usually goes up the day before, and your installer will walk you through the system before they leave.
Will I need planning permission?
Most Dorset properties fall under permitted development, so no application is needed. Parts of the county sit within the Dorset National Landscape (formerly the AONB), where visual impact is considered more carefully and permission can be required even for work that would be permitted development elsewhere. See our Why Dorset page for the detail.
Can solar go on a thatched roof?
Not directly. Thatch can’t safely take the fixings or the weight, and it’s a fire-risk factor insurers take seriously. A ground-mounted array or an outbuilding roof is usually the better option, which we’d talk through at survey stage.
How much roof space do I need?
It depends on your household’s electricity usage and how many panels you want fitted, which is exactly what a site survey establishes. We model your roof’s usable area, orientation and shading before recommending a system size.
Pairs well with.
Battery Storage
Keep hold of what your panels generate in the day so it’s there in the evening. Learn more →
EV Charging
Put your own generation into the car instead of paying grid rates for it. Learn more →
Why Dorset
The Jurassic Coast, the sunshine hours and the older housing stock, explained. Learn more →
Find out what your roof could generate
Free, no-obligation quote, based on a proper survey of your property.