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Send us a bill and a roof photo.
We give you a full design and price within two working days.
Solar panels and battery storage for homes across Cheshire and Greater Manchester
Designed for your roof and the way your house actually uses electricity. Not picked from a menu. MCS certified, and honest about when solar is not the right call.
Start with the bill, not the roof
Most solar companies start by looking at your roof. We start by looking at your electricity bill.
A roof tells us how many panels will fit. A bill tells us how many you actually need, when you use power, whether a battery would earn its keep, and whether the whole thing makes sense for you at all. Two identical houses on the same street can need completely different systems because one family is out all day and the other works from home.
So the first thing we will ask for is a recent bill. The second is a photo of your roof. From those two things we can usually tell you within a few days roughly what we would suggest and roughly what it would cost, before anyone comes out to measure anything.
What you get
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A complete system, installed and signed off, with nothing left for you to organise.
- 01Solar panels, sized to your usage rather than to fill the roof
- 02An inverter, which turns what the panels make into electricity your house can use
- 03Battery storage if it suits how you live, and an honest recommendation to skip it if it does not
- 04Monitoring on your phone, so you can see what the system is doing
- 05The paperwork: DNO notification, MCS certificate, and everything you need to apply for export payments
- 06A proper handover, where we show you how it works and how to set the battery up for your tariff
Every installation is designed by us and signed off by us, and fitted by teams we have worked with for years under our accreditation. You will know who is coming before they arrive.
What it costs
We publish a range because an honest single figure does not exist. Roof access, orientation, whether scaffolding is needed, and whether you add a battery all move the number.
Most home installations we quote land between £5,995 and £8,995 installed, including VAT at 0%. That runs from eight panels with a 5kWh battery to ten or twelve panels with a 10kWh battery.
For context, the Energy Saving Trust puts a typical 4.5kWp domestic system at around £7,600.
What we will not do is quote you a headline price for a system smaller than the one you need. That practice has been ruled against by the Advertising Standards Authority, and it wastes everyone's time.
What moves the price
| Factor | Effect |
|---|---|
| System size | The biggest single factor. More panels, more cost, more generation |
| Roof access | A two-storey house needing scaffolding costs more than a bungalow that does not. Scaffolding is normally included in our price, and typically accounts for £500 to £1,000 of it, depending on size and access |
| Roof type and pitch | Slate, tile and flat roofs need different fixings |
| Battery | Adds £2,800 to £5,000 depending on capacity |
| Electrical work | Older consumer units sometimes need upgrading |
You get a fixed written quote after a survey. The price on the quote is the price you pay.
Is it actually worth it for your house?
Sometimes not, and we would rather tell you at this stage than after installation.
Solar works well when your roof is reasonably unshaded, you plan to stay in the house for a good few years, and you use a fair share of what you generate while the sun is up. It works less well on a heavily shaded roof, on a roof that will need replacing in the next few years, or if you are expecting it to pay for itself in three years. It does not.
Ofgem research found that around a quarter of people who have not gone solar believe their home is unsuitable. Some are right. If yours is one of them, we will say so.
What we will not give you on this page is a savings figure. Our trade body requires that any estimate is written down, based on how your household actually uses electricity, and clear about what it assumes. So that number comes with your quote, worked out for you, not pulled from a brochure.
Grants and VAT
There is no universal grant that every UK homeowner can claim for solar. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. What does exist:
0% VAT
Solar panels and battery storage installed in a home are currently zero-rated for VAT. This applies to everyone with no eligibility test, and it is already reflected in the prices above. It is scheduled to end on 31 March 2027, after which the rate is due to return to 5%. If you are thinking about it, that date matters.
Warm Homes: Local Grant
Available in England until March 2028 through participating councils, for owner-occupied or privately rented homes typically rated EPC D to G with a household income at or below £36,000, or through certain benefits or postcode routes. It can fund solar alongside other improvements. The council assesses the home.
ECO4
A supplier-funded scheme for lower-income and vulnerable households. It closes on 31 December 2026, so it is unlikely to be the right route for anyone reading this after the autumn.
Smart Export Guarantee
Not a grant, but worth knowing about. Once your system is installed and MCS certified, energy suppliers will pay you for electricity you export to the grid. Rates vary widely between suppliers and change often, so we help you compare when the time comes.
We will tell you which of these, if any, applies to you. We will not tell you that you qualify for something until we have checked.
How it works, and how long it takes
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Survey.
If the rough numbers work for you, we come out to measure the roof, check the electrics and confirm the design. Usually an hour or so.
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Fixed quote.
Written, itemised, with your savings estimate worked out from your actual usage.
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DNO notification.
We handle the paperwork with your electricity network operator. For most home systems this is a notification after installation rather than an approval before it.
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Installation.
Typically one to three days on site, depending on the size of the system.
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Commissioning and handover.
We test everything, show you the monitoring, and set the battery up for your tariff.
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Certificates.
Your MCS certificate and paperwork arrive within a week of installation, ready for export payment applications.
From first contact to switched on is usually three to four weeks. Most of that is the network operator, who has to approve larger systems before they connect.
Certified, and what that means for you
MCS certified for solar PV and battery storage. This is the certification that matters most: it is normally required for your system to qualify for Smart Export Guarantee payments, and it means our installations are inspected against a national standard.Certificate NIC-601172 · check the register
RECC member. The Renewable Energy Consumer Code sets rules on how we sell, quote and estimate savings, and gives you a route to redress if we get it wrong.Registration 00075024 · check the register
NICEIC registeredRegistration NIC-601172 · check the register
CHAS accredited. CHAS assesses how a contractor manages health and safety, so a business or farm can check our standards before we set foot on site.Membership 29017638 · check the register
IWA insurance-backed guarantee. Our workmanship guarantee is insured through IWA, so it stays valid if we ever stop trading, and deposits on home installations can be protected from the point of sale.Member until April 2027 · check the register
Guarantees
- Panels
- Manufacturer warranty: up to 25 years on the product and 30 years on performance, depending on the panel
- Inverter
- 5 to 10 years as standard, longer with an extended warranty
- Battery
- 5 to 10 years, depending on the manufacturer
- Our workmanship
- 2 years as standard and up to 10 years, insurance-backed through IWA
Questions people ask
What does it cost to install solar panels in the UK?
Most of our domestic installations land between £5,995 and £8,995 with a battery, and the Energy Saving Trust puts a typical 4.5kWp system at around £7,600. The variables that move the price most are system size, roof type and access, whether scaffolding is needed, and whether you add battery storage.
How many solar panels does a three-bedroom house need?
Usually somewhere between eight and fourteen panels, which is roughly a 3.5kWp to 6kWp system. The right number depends less on the size of your house than on how much electricity you use and how much usable roof you have facing anywhere between east and west.
Are solar panels still worth it in the UK in 2026?
For most suitable homes, yes, but it is not automatic. Solar makes sense if your roof is reasonably unshaded, you plan to stay put for several years, and you use a decent share of what you generate during the day. It makes less sense on a heavily shaded roof, on a roof that will need replacing soon, or if you are expecting the system to pay for itself in three years. We would rather tell you that at survey stage than after installation.
Who qualifies for a solar panel grant, and are free solar panels real?
There is no universal grant that every UK homeowner can claim. Targeted schemes exist for lower-income households: the Warm Homes Local Grant in England (running to March 2028, typically for homes rated EPC D to G with household income at or below £36,000) and ECO4, which closes on 31 December 2026. Separately, and with no eligibility test at all, solar and battery installations currently attract 0% VAT, scheduled to end on 31 March 2027.
Why do some people say they regret getting solar panels?
Usually because of the sale rather than the technology. Ofgem research found cost was the most common barrier for people not adopting solar, cited by around 48%, with roughly a quarter saying their home was unsuitable. Regret tends to follow when someone was sold optimistic generation figures, an export tariff they never actually got, or a system on a roof that was never right for it. That is why we would rather quote honestly and lose the job than oversell it.
Is it hard to sell a house with solar panels?
No, though it pays to have your paperwork in order. Buyers and their solicitors will usually want the MCS certificate, the DNO notification, and details of any Feed-in Tariff or Smart Export Guarantee arrangement. Owned systems are straightforward. Leased-roof arrangements from the older "free solar" schemes are the ones that cause complications.
Do solar panels work on cloudy days?
Yes, just less well. Panels generate from daylight rather than direct sunshine, so a bright overcast day still produces a useful amount, typically a fraction of peak output. This is why UK solar is designed around annual generation rather than best-case days.
Can I install solar panels myself?
Technically some of it, practically no, and we would advise against it. The electrical connection must be carried out by a competent person, the installation has to be notified to your DNO, and a self-installed system will not be MCS certified, which normally rules out Smart Export Guarantee payments. Add working at height to that and the savings rarely justify it.
Find out what your roof would do
Send us your last bill and a photo of your roof. No site visit needed to get started, and no obligation at any point.
We reply to every enquiry within two working days.