Solar Panels in Derby

What a solar PV system is

A domestic solar system is four things: panels on the roof, an inverter, a mounting system holding it all on, and the electrical work that ties it into your consumer unit. Optionally a battery, and increasingly an EV charger alongside it.

Panels generate DC when light hits them. The inverter turns that into AC your house can use. Anything you do not use in that moment goes to the grid, unless you have storage to hold it.

What a Derby roof brings to it

Derby housing is mostly Victorian terraces, interwar and post-war semis, and modern estates. The coverings are typically clay tile and slate on the older stock, concrete interlocking tile on later housing, and that decides the mounting system before anything else is chosen.

Derby's post-war semis tend to have shallow-pitch roofs, which changes the mounting detail and can make an east-west split array the better option.

Panels

Almost everything sold domestically now is monocrystalline. The real choice is silver-framed or all-black: all-black looks considerably better on a prominent roof and costs a little more, and on a conservation-sensitive street it is often what makes a scheme acceptable.

Panels carry two separate warranties — a product warranty against defects and a performance warranty on output over time. They are different lengths and both should be stated in your quotation.

Inverters

A string inverter is the standard answer and the component most likely to need replacing before the panels do. Microinverters and optimisers add panel-level control, which earns its money on shaded or broken-up roofs and often does not on a clean south-facing slope.

Batteries

A battery holds your surplus for the evening instead of exporting it. Whether that is worth it depends on when your house actually uses electricity. Compare usable capacity rather than nominal, and check whether backup during a power cut is included — it usually is not by default.

Orientation, pitch and shading

South is ideal, east-west splits work well and often suit household usage better, north-facing slopes generally do not. Shading through the middle of the day matters far more than early or late shading, and it needs assessing across the year rather than on the day of the survey.

Mounting

On-roof anchors and rails for tile and slate; in-roof trays where the array should sit flush; ballasted or tilted frames on flat roofs; clamps on standing seam. The covering and the roof structure decide which.

The Smart Export Guarantee

Licensed suppliers must offer a tariff for exported electricity. You need MCS certification for the installation and a meter that records half-hourly export. You apply to a supplier of your choice, and it need not be your import supplier. Rates vary and change, so check them directly rather than relying on a figure on a website.

Grid connection

Most domestic systems are notified to National Grid Electricity Distribution (East Midlands) after installation under G98. Larger systems, or areas where the network is constrained, need a G99 application and approval first. Ask which applies before you book a date.

Planning

Solar on a house often falls under permitted development, but not on listed buildings and not always within conservation areas. It is property-specific, so check with your local planning authority rather than assuming.

Cost and savings

Cost follows system size, panel and inverter choice, battery capacity, roof type and access, scaffolding and electrical work. We do not publish a payback period, because it depends on variables nobody can pin down for you from a postcode.

Actual generation, savings and export income depend on the system size, roof orientation and shading, your electricity use and tariff, battery usage, weather and future energy prices. Figures are estimates, not guarantees.