Solar Panels in Lichfield

Lichfield is really two places for solar panels. The old cathedral city in the middle has over 230 listed buildings, many of them Georgian, and Lichfield District Council has 22 conservation areas. Around it are estates built from the 1930s onwards: council houses in the Dimbles in the 1930s, a large estate at Boley Park in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and Darwin Park, which Wikipedia says added about 3,000 residents.

On those newer estates, solar is usually simple. The roofs are modern, the houses are outside the conservation areas, and panels are normally permitted development. In the historic centre, the planning question comes first, and for a listed building it decides whether panels can go on at all.

Planning in Lichfield

Lichfield is in Staffordshire, so planning goes to Lichfield District Council. For most homes, the national rules allow roof panels that stand no more than 0.2 metres beyond the roof slope and stay below the highest part of the roof, not counting chimneys. In a conservation area, panels can’t go on a wall that fronts a highway, and they should be sited to keep their effect on the building’s appearance down.

A listed building is different. Works that affect its character need listed building consent from the council, and panels on a visible roof slope usually count. If your home is listed, talk to the council’s conservation team before you get a quote. Sometimes a rear slope or an outbuilding gives a way to have panels without touching the main roof.

How much sun a Lichfield roof gets

PVGIS puts Lichfield at about 973 kWh a year for every kWp of panels on a south-facing roof at a 35 degree pitch, and about 779 kWh facing east or west. That is slightly above central Birmingham. Roof direction and shade from trees matter far more than the location.

Batteries, repairs and roof work

If you are out during the day, a solar battery keeps what the panels make for the evening. If an older system has stopped generating, solar panel repair starts by tracing the failed part; the Energy Saving Trust says inverters need replacing after around 12 years. On older roofs, panels sometimes have to come off for repairs. Solar panel removal and refit makes the system safe and puts it back working.

Every new system has to be registered with National Grid Electricity Distribution, the local network operator. For a normal home system, that is a notification within 28 days of it being switched on.