Solar Panels in Walsall

Walsall’s housing tells you a lot about what a solar survey will find. Wikipedia records that after the First World War, slum clearance moved people out of the old town centre into new estates built in the 1920s and 1930s, and most of the 1960s tower blocks near the centre had been knocked down by 2010. So a large share of Walsall homes are interwar houses on estates, with a roof shape that is usually the same along the street.

That matters because the roof shape sets how many panels fit. Many houses of that era have hipped roofs, where the slopes meet at the ends as well as the ridge. That leaves a smaller, trapezoid-shaped area for panels than a straight gable. The survey measures what fits on the slope you have and sizes the system to your electricity use, rather than filling the roof for the sake of it.

Planning in Walsall

Planning here goes to Walsall Council, which has 18 conservation areas across the borough. Birmingham’s list doesn’t apply. For most homes outside those areas, 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. In a conservation area, panels can’t go on a wall that fronts a highway, and a listed building needs the council’s say before anything is fitted.

How much sun a Walsall roof gets

PVGIS puts Walsall at about 966 kWh a year for every kWp of panels on a south-facing roof at a 35 degree pitch, and about 777 kWh facing east or west. That is almost identical to central Birmingham. On an estate where every house faces the same way, the difference between a south-facing back roof and an east or west one is the number that matters.

Batteries, repairs and pigeons

If you are out during the day, much of what the panels make gets exported. A battery stores it for the evening, and adding a battery to existing solar panels is usually possible without touching the roof. If an older system has stopped generating, solar panel repair starts by tracing the failed part. The Energy Saving Trust says an inverter needs replacing after around 12 years.

Pigeons are a common complaint wherever panels sit close to a roof. Solar panel bird proofing closes the gap with mesh once any active nest is empty.

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.