Frequently asked questions

Send us your address, a recent electricity bill and a rough idea of what you are after. We carry out a desktop assessment using satellite imagery and irradiance data, then arrange a free on-site survey. You receive a fixed written quote with a generation estimate specific to your roof — usually within five working days of the survey.

No. Surveys and quotes are free and carry no obligation. We would rather tell you at survey stage that your roof is not suitable than sell you a system that will disappoint.

Typically four to six weeks from accepted quote to switch-on. Systems needing a G99 application to NIE Networks take longer because approval must be granted before connection — allow eight to twelve weeks for those.

All six counties. We are based in Larne and cover Belfast, Lisburn, Bangor, Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus, Ballymena, Antrim, Derry~Londonderry, Coleraine, Newry, Craigavon, Omagh, Enniskillen and everywhere in between.

Yes. Farm sheds and light industrial roofs are often better solar sites than houses, because consumption is daytime-heavy and roof spans are large and unshaded. We handle everything from a 20 kWp shed array to multi-hundred-kWp commercial roofs, including the G99 process and any three-phase design.

South is ideal, but east and west roofs are well worth doing in Northern Ireland — they typically produce around 80–85% of a south-facing equivalent and spread generation across the morning and evening, which often suits household demand better. North-facing roofs are not viable.

Shading is manageable but must be designed for. We model it panel-by-panel and specify power optimisers or module-level electronics where a shadow crosses part of the array, so one shaded panel does not drag down the whole string. Where shading is severe all day, we will tell you the roof is not worth doing.

Sometimes. Older boards without RCD protection, or without a spare way for a dedicated circuit, need upgrading before a solar system or EV charger can be connected safely. We check this at survey and include any required work in the fixed quote rather than raising it on install day.

For virtually all pitched-roof solar installations, yes — it is a working-at-height requirement, not an optional extra. It is included in our quoted price. Scaffolding is typically erected the day before installation and removed a day or two after.

We can introduce you to regulated finance providers who specialise in renewable energy installations. We are not a lender and do not give financial advice — compare any offer against your own bank before committing.

Not by a third-party scheme yet — we are a young company and not currently a member of a consumer code such as RECC. What you do get is a fixed written contract before you pay anything, and contracts agreed in your home carry a statutory fourteen-day cancellation right. If deposit protection matters to you, raise it when we quote and we will agree payment terms you are comfortable with.

Panels carry a 25-year performance warranty, inverters 10–12 years, and batteries 10 years or a stated cycle count. We register the manufacturer warranties for you and hand over all documentation at commissioning.

Rarely in Northern Ireland — rainfall does most of the work. We recommend a visual inspection every few years, and cleaning where panels sit at a shallow pitch, under trees, or in an area with heavy bird activity. Inverters and batteries need no routine servicing beyond a firmware and performance check.

Monitored systems alert us to faults, often before you notice. Call or email and we will diagnose remotely where possible; where a site visit is needed, our engineers are based in Northern Ireland rather than routed through a call centre in another country.

Yes. Northern Ireland receives roughly 850–950 kWh per kWp of installed solar per year, around 10–15% less than the south of England, but well within the range where solar pays back. Panels run on daylight, not heat, and NI's cooler climate actually improves panel efficiency. High local electricity prices mean each unit you generate is worth more here than in most of the UK.

A typical 4 kWp domestic system costs around £5,000–£6,500 fully installed, and a 6 kWp system around £7,000–£9,000. Adding a battery usually adds £3,000–£5,000. Prices include scaffolding and VAT at 0%. Larger commercial and agricultural roofs work out cheaper per kWp.

For most homes, no. Roof-mounted solar is usually permitted development in Northern Ireland provided panels do not protrude more than 200mm from the roof plane and do not sit above the highest part of the roof. Listed buildings, conservation areas and some ground-mounted arrays do need permission. We check your property's status as part of the survey.

Yes, but through a different route than the rest of the UK. The Smart Export Guarantee is a Great Britain scheme and does not apply in Northern Ireland. Instead, NI suppliers including Power NI, SSE Airtricity, Budget Energy and Electric Ireland offer voluntary microgeneration export tariffs, typically in the region of 4–6p per kWh. You will need NIE Networks registration, and some suppliers still ask for an MCS certificate. Confirm the current requirements with yours.

Panels are warranted for 25 years at typically 85–87% of original output and generally keep producing well beyond that. Inverters are the shorter-lived component, with 10–12 year warranties and a realistic service life of 12–20 years. Mounting systems are aluminium and stainless steel and are designed to outlast the panels.

Not when installed correctly. Mounting brackets fix to the rafters, not the tiles, and lead or proprietary flashings restore weathertightness at each penetration. We survey the roof covering first. If slates or tiles are near end of life, we will recommend addressing that before the array goes on, because removing panels later is an avoidable cost.

Expect roughly £3,000–£4,500 for a 5 kWh system, £4,500–£6,000 for around 10 kWh, and £6,000–£7,500 for 13 kWh and above, fully installed with 0% VAT. Fitting a battery at the same time as solar is cheaper than a later retrofit because the hybrid inverter, scaffolding and electrical works are shared.

Yes, and it is increasingly common. A battery-only install charges from the grid on a cheap night rate and discharges during the expensive evening peak. It also carries 0% VAT in its own right following the April 2024 change to the energy-saving materials relief, so you no longer need panels to qualify.

Most Northern Ireland households land between 5 kWh and 13 kWh of usable capacity. The right figure is roughly your evening and overnight electricity use, which for a typical home is 6–10 kWh. Going bigger than your daily cycle simply adds cost that never gets used, so we size from your actual consumption data.

Only if a backup gateway is specified. A standard grid-tied battery shuts down in an outage for safety, because it must not energise a network that engineers may be working on. Adding an islanding-capable gateway lets the battery run selected essential circuits while staying safely disconnected from the grid.

Modern lithium iron phosphate batteries are warranted for 10 years and typically 6,000–10,000 full cycles, retaining around 70–80% of capacity at end of warranty. Cycling once a day, that is a realistic service life well beyond the warranty period.

The LFP chemistry we install is thermally stable and does not contain cobalt, making it substantially more fire-resistant than the NMC cells used in older products. Units are installed to BS 7671, in a ventilated location away from escape routes, with isolation and fire detection as required by the risk assessment.

Most home installations come in at £800–£1,200 fully fitted for a 7.4 kW smart chargepoint, including the dedicated circuit, protection and certification. Costs rise where the cable run exceeds about 10 metres, where a consumer unit upgrade is needed, or where an earth rod must be installed.

The general home chargepoint grant for owner-occupied houses has closed. The OZEV EV chargepoint grant of up to £350 is still available for people living in flats and for anyone in rented accommodation. Businesses can claim through the Workplace Charging Scheme, worth up to £350 per socket across up to 40 sockets.

A 7.4 kW chargepoint adds roughly 25–30 miles of range per hour, so a typical 60 kWh car goes from 20% to 80% in about five hours. That comfortably covers an overnight charge on a cheap night rate. Three-phase 22 kW charging is only possible where you have a three-phase supply, which is rare in NI homes.

Yes. Solar-aware chargepoints read your export via a CT clamp and modulate the charge current to match surplus generation, so the car only draws what the panels are producing above household demand. Most units let you choose between solar-only, solar-plus-topup, and fast charge modes.

In most cases the installer notifies the chargepoint under the standard process and applies load management to keep demand within your existing supply capacity. Where you want multiple chargers, or a high-power unit on a constrained supply, a formal application for a capacity increase may be needed. We deal with that for you.

Yes. Both are routine. What matters is the cable route and the earthing arrangement. A long run to an outbuilding may need a larger cable or a submain, and a garage on a separate supply has its own protection requirements. Our survey establishes exactly what is needed so the price is fixed before we start.