Solar panel installation in Devon that starts with your home.
The best solar system isn’t the one with the most panels. It’s the one that makes sensible use of your roof and your household’s actual electricity use. We assess the property, design the array around usable roof space, and show you what the proposed system is expected to generate before you decide anything. Solar and battery installations are currently zero-rated for VAT, a relief that runs until 31 March 2027.
No obligation. Finance and no-upfront options can be discussed with your proposal.
Roof-mount or ground-mount, sized properly.
The great majority of the systems we fit in Devon go straight onto the roof, since it’s the simplest option and doesn’t eat into garden space. Where a roof is too shaded, badly oriented or structurally unsuitable, we’ll look at a ground-mounted array instead. Which one suits your property is a survey decision, not something we assume before we’ve seen the roof.
Peak generation happens in the middle of the day, which for a lot of working households is exactly when the house is empty. Adding battery storage means that daytime generation doesn’t just get exported at a low rate, it’s there waiting for you that evening.
What solar panels actually change for your electricity bill.
Your panels generate electricity whenever there’s usable daylight. Your home uses that electricity first, so every unit used directly is one you don’t need to buy from your supplier.
Solar still works on grey Devon days. Output simply changes with the weather and the seasons, which is why we look at what your system is expected to generate across a full year, not how it performs on one sunny afternoon. Add battery storage and some of that spare daytime generation can be kept for the evening instead.
The number that matters isn’t Devon’s average sunshine figure. It’s what your roof, your proposed system and your own electricity use could mean for your bill. There’s more on how that works on our Why Solar in Devon page.
String inverters
A single inverter handling the entire array. Cheapest option on the table, and fine if your roof has no shading issues to work around.
Microinverters
Each panel gets its own small inverter, adding roughly £200–£500 to the system cost. Worth it on a multi-aspect or partly-shaded roof, since one shaded panel won’t drag the rest of the array down with it.
Hybrid inverters
Designed with battery integration in mind from the outset. If a battery is anywhere in your plans, now or down the line, this is normally the sensible starting point.
What ongoing maintenance actually involves.
With nothing mechanical to wear out, panels are genuinely low-maintenance. A periodic look for debris, moss or bird mess covers most Devon roofs, with rain doing the rest of the work between checks. Manufacturer performance warranties typically run 25 years or longer, on top of a separate, shorter product warranty and our own workmanship cover, and we confirm the exact terms for your quote since they differ by manufacturer.
If anything gets replaced over a system’s lifetime, it’s usually the inverter, string inverters typically run 10–15 years before needing swapping out. We’ll set expectations on inverter lifespan for your specific setup when we quote.
How do solar panels actually work?
Each panel is built from photovoltaic cells, monocrystalline silicon on almost every residential job we fit now, which produce a direct current the moment daylight hits them. That doesn’t require direct sun: a grey Devon afternoon still generates, just at a reduced rate. An inverter then converts that DC output into the AC current your sockets and appliances actually use.
How long does a solar panel installation take?
A typical home is fitted in a day, with larger arrays or trickier roofs sometimes running into a second. Scaffolding usually goes up the day before, and your installer will talk you through the system before they leave.
Do I need planning permission?
Most home solar installations fall under permitted development and don’t need planning permission, including within Dartmoor National Park, provided panels don’t protrude more than 200mm from the roof plane. Listed buildings are an exception. See our Devon planning guide for the detail.
How much roof space do I need?
That comes down to your household’s usage and how much of the roof you want covered, both of which the survey establishes properly. We map the usable roof area, its orientation and any shading before landing on a panel count, rather than starting from a stock number and working backwards.
Pairs well with.
Battery Storage
Bank what your panels make during the day and draw on it once the sun’s gone down.
Learn more →
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