Most of what solar saves you comes from the electricity you generate and use yourself, not from what you export. That makes sizing the array to how you actually live more important than filling every square metre of roof.
We fit LONGi, JA Solar and AIKO modules. They differ in efficiency, appearance and warranty rather than in whether they work, and the right choice depends on how much roof you have and what you want it to look like. On a constrained roof, a higher-efficiency module earns its extra cost. On a large one, it usually does not.
On-roof mounting sits the array on rails above your existing tiles and suits most homes. In-roof replaces a section of tile so the panels sit flush, which looks considerably better on a prominent elevation and is usually specified on new builds. In-roof costs more and needs the roof structure checked properly.
South-facing is the textbook answer, but east and west both work and often suit real households better: an east-west split spreads generation across the morning and evening instead of concentrating it at midday when nobody is home. We model your actual roof at survey rather than assuming.
A roof that needs recovering within a few years should be recovered first. Taking an array off and refitting it costs more than waiting. Heavy shading from a chimney or a neighbour's tree can also make a roof not worth doing, and we would rather tell you that at survey than sell you a system that underperforms for twenty years.
The questions we get asked most about solar panels.
A free survey, a written quote, and an honest answer about whether it is worth doing. No obligation either way.
