Solar panels

[herigoagain]

Can you put solar panels up in a conservation area. Does anyone have experience of this - houses are mixed style - some older/ some more modern - and no precedent in the road. Would this be permitted ?

You would have to ask your local council. Different areas are conserved for different reasons/features.

In the vast majority of cases, yes, as the government has made it difficult to block as they want everyone to get them. I live in a conservation area where many things (TPOs and boundary arrangements- hedges only, no walls, no fences) are v strict but solar panels are completely fine. A lot of my neighbours have them on Victorian properties and we are about to.

I live in a conservation area and the local council approved mandate states that solar panels are permitted. The conservation officer told us that councils can’t deny them due to government pressure. We’re considering getting them but the cost seems to be eye watering!

Yes, it is a big upfront cost. However, while the economics of it depend on a lot of different factors (size and aspect of roof, ability to feedback to grid, whether you use gas or electricity for cooking/heating etc) , just getting the batteries can be worth it as it allows you to get all your electricity at the overnight rates and then just draw on the batteries during the day. We would save around 500 per year just doing that. I know the electricity companies are now offering free electricity at various times to balance the grid but those times are often not the times I want to be making stock or doing laundry