Solar Panels in Solihull

Solihull is next door to Birmingham, but for solar panels it is a separate place. Planning goes to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, not Birmingham City Council, and the borough keeps its own list of 20 conservation areas, from Ashleigh Road near the town centre out to villages such as Barston and Berkswell. Advice about Birmingham’s conservation areas doesn’t apply here, so the first job on any Solihull survey is to check your street against Solihull’s list.

For most homes in the borough, roof panels are permitted development. The national rules allow panels that stand no more than 0.2 metres beyond the roof slope and stay below the highest part of the roof, not counting chimneys. They should be sited, as far as practicable, to keep their effect on the building’s appearance down. In a conservation area, panels can’t go on a wall that fronts a highway. If you’re in one of the 20 areas, or your home is listed, talk to Solihull Council before you commit.

A borough of very different homes

Solihull covers a lot of ground. The borough runs from the post-war estates of Chelmsley Wood and Kingshurst in the north to Shirley, Olton and the town centre, and out to Knowle, Dorridge and Hampton-in-Arden. Those areas have very different roofs, so there is no standard Solihull system. A semi may have one usable slope, while a larger detached house may have room for panels split across two faces.

That’s why the survey starts with your electricity use, not the roof size. The Energy Saving Trust puts the average home system at 4.5 kWp. If you are out at work all day, a smaller array with a battery often beats a bigger one exporting most of what it makes. Solar battery storage covers how batteries are sized.

How much sun a Solihull roof gets

PVGIS puts Solihull at about 979 kWh a year for every kWp of panels on a south-facing roof at a 35 degree pitch, and about 786 kWh facing east or west. That is a touch higher than central Birmingham, though the difference is small next to the effect of roof direction and shade. Trees are the thing to watch in the leafier parts of the borough. The Energy Saving Trust says keeping nearby trees trimmed is the main maintenance job for a solar system.

EV chargers, batteries and older systems

A lot of Solihull homes have a car on the drive, and more of them are electric. An EV charger can be set to use spare solar, and planning the charger, battery and panels together saves a second visit. If you already have panels that have gone quiet, solar panel repair starts by finding which part has failed. The Energy Saving Trust says inverters need replacing after around 12 years.

Every new system has to be registered with National Grid Electricity Distribution, the local network operator. For a normal home system, that is a notification within 28 days of it being switched on. You should get confirmation that it has been done.