Solar · East Kent
Solar panels in Canterbury
The city, the villages around it, and the barns and outbuildings between. A regular run from Thanet, and worth the drive.
Canterbury splits into two jobs. Inside the city there is a lot of history: a World Heritage Site around the cathedral, several conservation areas, and a great many listed buildings. Solar is still possible on plenty of it, but the planning position has to be established before anything else, and on a listed building that means consent, not an assumption.
Outside the walls it opens up. Wincheap and St Dunstan's are Victorian terraces, Rough Common and Sturry and Hersden have modern estates, and the villages beyond have the barns, cartlodges and outbuildings that often make a better site for an array than the house itself.
Planning
Canterbury has more listed buildings and conservation areas than anywhere else we work. Listed needs consent. Conservation areas normally allow roof panels, with conditions on where they go. This is established at the survey, before you are quoted, so nobody designs a system the council will not allow.
The roofs round here
City centre
Historic, often listed, often in a conservation area. Consent first, design second. Not every roof will get there, and it is better to know that early.
Victorian terraces
Wincheap, St Dunstan's, Northgate. Steep simple slopes, same approach as Thanet's terraces.
Modern estates
Rough Common, Sturry, Hersden, Chartham. Concrete tile, modern boards, clear access.
Barns and outbuildings
Long roofs, good aspect, easy access. The run back to the house is the part that needs pricing properly.
Roofs like yours
Jobs on the kind of roof Canterbury has
How a job runs
Four stages, in order
Assessment
Roof pitch, orientation, shading, structure and the state of the existing electrical installation. All four matter, and the last one is the one that catches people out.
Design and quote
A layout for your roof with the panel and inverter specified, the expected generation stated with the assumptions behind it, and a fixed price.
Installation
Scaffold, mounting, panels, then the electrical work. Most domestic installs are done inside a few days.
Certification and handover
Testing, commissioning, MCS certificate, and a walk through of the monitoring and the shutdown procedure before we leave.
Questions from Canterbury
Asked here more than elsewhere
Do you really come out to Canterbury from Thanet?
Yes. It is a regular run and the villages around the city are as much our patch as the coast is.
My house is in a conservation area. Can I still have solar?
Usually. Roof panels in a conservation area are normally permitted development, with conditions about position and projection. What is not allowed on a listed building or on a wall facing the road is a different question, and we check it.
Is a barn roof better than the house?
Often. Barns and cartlodges tend to have long uninterrupted slopes, decent aspect and easy access, and the array is out of sight of the house. The cable run back is the deciding cost.
Nearby
Solar in the towns around Canterbury
Get a price
Solar in Canterbury,
priced for your roof
A postcode and a rough idea of the job is enough. You get a straight answer from the people who would do the work, not a sales call.