There's no doubt that solar panel installation can provide your household with significant benefits, such as reduced fuel bills, but what sort of initial disruption should you expect while the work is being carried out?  Reputable solar panel installers should be able to put your mind at rest when carrying out their initial survey of your home, and will be able to explain exactly what will happen during the solar panel installation.

Firstly, good solar panel installers will be able to advise whether your home is suitable for solar panels.  If your house has a sloping roof with little or no shading, and faces south, south east, south west, east or west, or anything in between these, your home will be suitable for PV panels and they will be fixed either to underlying roof joists or free standing mounting frames. 

Do I need Planning Permission for Solar Power?

If your roof is flat, you may require planning permission for solar panels, which brings us to the next question of whether planning permission is required: again, your solar panel installers should be able to advise on this and also provide a standard letter which can be sent to your local authority if you are in any doubt. If your solar panel installation is on a flat roof, a non-residential property, or if your property is a flat, listed building or located in either a World Heritage site or a conservation area, you will require either listed building consent or planning permission.  If you wish to install solar panels on a sloping roof, provided the PV panels project no further than 200mm from the roof surface, photovoltaic systems can be installed without planning permission, meaning one less disruption on the road to generating your own solar energy!

Once this has been established, there should be minimal disruption during the solar panel installation.  As the majority of the work is based on the roof, there will be minor disruption to your home.  For most installations of photovoltaic systems, scaffolding will be required so as to protect the workmen whilst working on the roof and to comply with health and safety legislation.  There will also be some small scale disruption whilst work is carried out on the electrics within the house, but good solar panel installers will be able to make you fully aware of what needs to be done and how it will affect you before the installation commences.  Rest assured, however, that any disruption will be minimal.

Good solar panel installers will also be able to fit your solar panels within two or three days, and just a few weeks after originally quoting you for the work.  This means no long periods of building work to endure and fully operating solar panels for your home installed quickly and efficiently!

So as you can see, there is actually very little involved when thinking about solar panel installation.  Remember also that reputable solar panel installers will be able to guide you through the whole process, and make it as easy as possible for you, so that you can enjoy the benefits of solar panels for your home without worrying about disruption!