To not want to allow neighbours access to put up solar panels?

[TheHorneSection]

The back of our neighbour’s house is the rear wall of our small courtyard garden. We’ve just received a letter from the council saying planning permission has been requested to put solar panels on their rear roof. This rear roof is a) about 10 foot at most from our floor to ceiling kitchen window, and level with our first floor so we can see the entire roof from our kitchen table, and b) seemingly inaccessible without them putting up scaffolding or gaining access through our garden.

They haven’t spoken to us about it, or tried to put letters through the houses they might guess back onto theirs, we’ve only heard through the planning department.

On the one hand, it’s solar panels, and these are good things. But on the other hand, they’ll completely fill our eyeline from the kitchen, and they haven’t asked about access yet.

Would I be a complete arse to tell them I’m really not happy and don’t want to provide access, or do I need to suck this one up for the greater good?

We went through all the options when we had our solar panels installed last march. Warm roof space.....it's like an inferno up there.

They’ve only just applied for planning permission, which can take up to two months to grant and then they have 3yrs to do the works. They are probably waiting until their application is even granted before making any firm plans. Go online and look in more detail at the application and stop being such a sour neighbour.

In many areas you only need Building Control.

I've experienced both approaches to planning applications - being spoken to first about the planning and having it land as a total surprise. Tbh being spoken to in advance just felt like I was being guilted into not raising objections through social embarrassment so I'm not sure speaking to neighbours ahead of time is always the best idea.

Modern solar panels are matt black and I would think give off very little glare. We have them on our roof and neighbours have them too and they have never bothered me.

You can raise objections but if the application doesn't contravene any planning rules it will go ahead.

I think you would be very unreasonable to not allow access. It's just for a few days and solar panels are a good thing.

Unless there are issues with glare etc, it should be OK. I would be more concerned about access for maintenance. Panels need regular cleaning to perform optimally.

Modern panels don't need to be cleaned regularly, they will be self cleaning. If it rains, they clean. Only if there is something really stubborn on then do they need cleaning.

Also your “garden” is pebbles around the side of your house

I’m so sorry our courtyard garden doesn’t meet your standards of a garden 😂

Self cleaning,we had ours installed last march. DH gets up on the roof to remove the bird crap. They get dusty,it's just part of keeping your property looking decent. You have to remove snow.(We had a really expensive new conservatory roof installed,that says its self cleaning glass, doesn't work either.

The paperwork with guarantees says,",a layer of dust will significantly impact the photovoltaic effect, by as much as 30%,panels should be cleaned monthly"

I think that’s an ideal, the truth is occasional heavy rain sorts them out.
had ours for 18 months, they are still working at 100% and have not been properly cleaned yet

Eh?
Right now you've a view of a stunningly attractive.... roof.

And you think them adding solar panels will make any difference?!

Totally petty nimbyism. We all need to accept changes for the good of the environment.

Don’t listen to everyone virtue signalling about how you should allow almost certain damage and certain inconvenience for a stranger’s benefit, OP. You can be certain that most of them wouldn’t put up with it on their own properties, there would be loud cries of ‘CF’.

Who says your new neighbours are using children to dig up rare metals for the sake of the ‘planet’, anyway? Just as likely to be for perceived financial benefit to themselves.

The neighbours can find another way to access their roof, using their own property. If the climate is so important to them, I’m sure they will manage.

Ironically,we live in the 3rdsunniest part of the UK SE corner,10 minutes from the sea,we have a south facing roof and very little rainfall.

I think YABU, my mum solar panels, by looking at your pictures it looks very similar to the layout of my mum with her neighbours.

she didn’t need access to anyone’s property and they didn’t use scaffolding either, it only took one day for them to come and and put them up!

they have told you they don’t need access to your property, so I don’t see why you would object?

I would leave them to it, if they did need access then let them, it’s really not the end of the world, however they’ve explained there won’t be any need to come round and see your property and also they won’t need access..

I also second that they don’t need to inform you or ask until the planning permission has been granted, my mum had this chat with me, she didn’t know what to do because she didn’t want to mention it to any neighbours incase it wasn’t granted.. so she waited for the permission to be granted and then informed the neighbours of what was going ahead, none of them were funny with her and stated if access was necessary they can by all means have a look.

very similar set up to yours, also no glare comes off them either.

I would be objecting to the planning application personally, on the risk of glare from them into your property. The fact that their roof is below your house windows should be taken into consideration I would hope.

Have you read all the comments above from solar owners who confirm that glare from solar is, in fact, not a thing?

I have. I’ve also read the fact that most of them are not looking at them from above, as the op will be. Also, a five second google brings up a shit ton of articles that would in fact suggest it is very much a potential issue.

https://forum.cleanenergyreviews.info/t/neighbor-complaining-of-blinding-glare-from-my-solar-panels/1595/8 (someone posting as energy500 has a link to a pic of their neighbours solar panel glare).

Or skip to 1.56 on this YouTube.

Solar panels, fairly obviously, absorb light. They aren't reflective.

My neighbour who backs onto me, got solar panels.
When I'm sitting in the garden, there is a certain time of day when the sun reflects off the solar panels causing awful glare.
It had never occurred to me that this could happen. Of course those with solar panels are saying there is no glare - you don't see the glare in your own garden.
Luckily it only lasts a short while until the sun moves position.

Hi The HorneSection,

How did you get on with access to your land and the panels in general? I have a very similar problem that's ongoing at the moment. They're proposing to put them on a roof that's even closer to some bedroom windows. The proposer lives in a listed building, the instal is proposed on an old building in their grounds. They need PP because of the GII listing and we're both in a conservation area. My bungalow is less than 1.2m from the wall of the old building. The panels would be on the same level as roof windows in 2 bedrooms.

If they haven't been installed yet I've some info that may help you. I'd be happy to share experiences.

Fred

Treat your neighbour as you would like him to treat you if the situation was reversed.

Hello @Fredman

We are going through a similar situation with our neighbour. We are in a AONB, conservation area and live in a small village full of listed / protected heritage buildings. They are proposing to install panels onto their kitchen roof which we have full view over from our kitchen and other rooms in our home. The panels would massively impact the landscape and appearance of the village, which has been protected over hundreds of years.

Would really love it if you might be able to share any helpful information with me about your experiences?

Huge thanks in advance.

I expect the reality is that if people regularly object to solar panels the govt will start to look at changing the rules so the installation of them does not require planning permission.