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Twin black solar panel arrays installed either side of a chimney on a pitched tiled roof in Devon
Solar Panel Installation · Devon & Somerset

Solar Panels, Fitted Right.
Independent Advice Across Devon & Somerset.
Chosen For Your Roof, Not A Sales Target.

Free, impartial guidance on the right panels, inverter, and installer for your home, from an ex-roofer who has walked more roofs than showrooms. Systems from £6,995, three vetted quotes, and a broker who is still on the end of the phone in five years' time.

MCS-vetted installers · Licensed drone survey · £1M Public Liability · Independently underwritten guarantees

MCS-vetted installer panelSystems from £6,995 fully installed£1M Public Liability insuranceDBS Certified · EPVS registeredIndependently underwritten guarantees
The service

Solar Panels, what it is, who it is for, and why professional advice matters.

A solar panel system is the largest single upgrade most Devon and Somerset homeowners will make to their property this decade. Get the design right and it pays back for twenty-five years or more. Get it wrong and the mistakes are on the roof for the same length of time. Our job is to make sure the design is right, the installer is right, and the price is right, before a single fixing goes into your rafters.

What it is

We arrange the full solar PV installation on your behalf. That means design, panel and inverter selection, string layout, mounting choice, MCS commissioning, grant applications, and Smart Export Guarantee registration, all handled by an installer we have vetted, not a call-centre lead you were handed to. What you buy is a system sized for your actual consumption and roof, not the biggest one that fitted on the quote sheet.

Who it is for

Solar panels suit any Devon or Somerset homeowner with a reasonably unshaded roof, a daytime or shiftable electricity load, and a plan to stay in the property long enough to see the payback build. That includes families running dishwashers and washing machines in the day, home-workers, EV owners, self-employed trades, and older couples who want a hedge against rising unit rates. If solar is not the right answer for your specific home, we tell you so on the first call.

When it makes sense

The best time to install is before your next big electricity bill and before your next roof project. If your roof is due to be re-covered inside the next ten years, do it first, panels come off and go back on far more expensively than they went up. If your unit rate has just risen, or a new EV is on the drive, the maths sharpens further.

Why a professional

A professionally designed system uses shade modelling, string-level MPPT planning, correct DC-to-AC ratios, and a mounting system rated for the local wind zone. A DIY quote from a national sales team rarely accounts for any of it. We use paid bespoke design software and a licensed drone survey on every roof, the same tools the best installers use, applied on your behalf before you commit.

What happens if you get it wrong

What a bad solar install actually costs you.

The panels rarely fail. What fails is the design decision made in ninety seconds by a salesperson on commission. Those decisions are on your roof for twenty-five years and quietly cost you money every month.

Risks of getting it wrong
  • Undersized inverter clipping generation on the sunniest days, the exact days you were relying on to earn back the cost.
  • Panels laid across a shaded dormer or chimney line, dragging the whole string down instead of splitting it onto its own MPPT.
  • Cheap mounting rails that void the roof's weather guarantee and start leaking after the first serious Atlantic storm.
  • Missed Smart Export Guarantee registration or ECO4 eligibility, real money left on the table because nobody chased the paperwork.
Common homeowner mistakes
  • Choosing the cheapest quote without checking whether the installer is MCS-registered or FCA-approved for finance.
  • Signing a same-day discount contract at the kitchen table before comparing a single alternative quote.
  • Sizing the battery before sizing the panels, the array should lead the design, not the other way round.
  • Assuming every installer's warranty is equal. Some are underwritten independently; others vanish the day the company does.
Our process

How we handle solar panels, step by step.

  1. Step 01

    Free phone consultation

    A 10–20 minute call to understand your bill, your home and what you actually want from your solar installation. No sales script, Dan answers his own phone.

  2. Step 02

    On-site + licensed drone survey

    Dan attends personally, flies a licensed drone over the roof, and designs the system in paid bespoke software, not a free web tool. Site visits typically within 2–3 days of your call.

  3. Step 03

    Vetted installer quotes

    Around three like-for-like quotes from the small panel of MCS installers we vet against seven strict criteria. Every installer pays us the same commission, so there is no hidden reason to favour one.

  4. Step 04

    Installation + verification

    You contract directly with your chosen installer. They complete the work to MCS standards, and we cross-check the commissioning paperwork, EPVS registration and grant applications on your behalf.

  5. Step 05

    Aftercare | indefinitely

    You keep Dan's number. Independently underwritten guarantees stand even if the installer changes shape, and any dispute is escalated by us on your behalf.

Benefits

What you actually get.

Right-sized generation

System sized to your real consumption pattern using bill data and a paid design tool | not a generic kWh-per-m² estimate.

Roofer's-eye install

Dan spent years on roofs before he sold his first panel. Mounting, flashing, and penetration detailing get checked by someone who has fixed leaks caused by lazy solar installs.

Independent guarantees

Workmanship warranties from every installer we recommend are underwritten by an independent insurer, so the cover survives even if the installer does not.

Grant maximisation

We check every case for SEG, ECO4, 0% VAT eligibility and | where paired with an EV charger | OZEV. Nothing quietly left on the table.

Genuine aftercare

You get Dan's mobile. He recently helped a customer from eight years ago come back for a new project.

No sales pressure

You pay nothing to us. You never sign anything with us. The contract is between you and the installer you choose, in your own time.

Recent solar panels projects

Real installs, not stock photos.

A selection of solar panels projects brokered across Devon & Somerset, every one designed on the roof it lives on.

Twin black solar panel arrays installed either side of a chimney on a pitched tiled roof in Devon
Close-up of all-black monocrystalline solar panels on a residential slate roof under blue sky
Full-black solar array on the pitched roof of a modern grey-brick home
Solar panel installation on a red-brick semi-detached house with black-tile roof
Twelve-panel residential solar PV system on a red-tile pitched roof
Row of solar panels along a black-tile pitched roof on a red-brick outbuilding
Ballasted flat-roof solar array on tilt frames overlooking a garden
Tilted flat-roof solar panel array installed alongside a large rooflight
In detail

The technical bit, in plain English.

Solar PV is one product name for a lot of very different pieces of hardware. The difference between a good and an average install is almost never the panel brand, it is the way the whole system has been specified, mounted, and commissioned for the specific roof it lives on. This section explains what we actually look at.

Panels: monocrystalline is now standard

Monocrystalline modules from major, reputable manufacturers are the default across our installer panel. They give you higher efficiency in a smaller footprint, better performance in the diffuse light common to Devon winters, and a linear power warranty that typically holds 87–92% of rated output at year twenty-five. We do not recommend white-label panels from unknown factories, the price saving of a few hundred pounds is not worth a warranty that cannot be honoured.

Inverters: string, hybrid or micro

For most homes a hybrid string inverter is the right answer, it handles solar generation and battery charging in one box and integrates cleanly with export monitoring. Where shading is severe or roof aspects vary, we specify optimisers or micro-inverters so a single shaded panel does not throttle the rest of the string. DC-to-AC ratios are chosen deliberately to avoid clipping without over-spending on inverter capacity you will only see for two hours a year.

Mounting: the part that stays on the roof

Mounting systems are chosen based on tile type (interlocking, plain, slate, pantile), rafter spacing, and local wind uplift zone. Roof hooks are stainless, flashings are lead or lead-alternative to match the covering, and every penetration is detailed to preserve the original roof's weather performance. This is the part where cheap installs quietly fail, and the part an ex-roofer notices first.

Roof aspects and shading in the South West

Devon and Somerset roofs face every direction and often carry chimneys, dormers, and mature trees within their throw. East-west split arrays frequently out-perform a single south-facing string on real household usage because they spread generation across the morning and evening peaks. We model shading month by month rather than relying on a single annual figure, the honest picture is often more encouraging than a rushed quote suggests.

New build, retrofit, and listed properties

Most of what we install is retrofit onto occupied homes. New-build integration is possible where the builder will co-operate on the roof timeline. Listed buildings and conservation areas need planning consideration and often benefit from in-roof (integrated) mounting rather than on-roof rails; we handle the design conversation with your local planning officer where required.

Straight answers

Solar Panels, the questions homeowners actually ask.

Can't see yours? Ask Dan directly, no bots, no call centre.

Systems start from £6,995 fully installed. The final figure depends on panel count, whether you add a battery, roof complexity, and any scaffold requirement. You get a firm price on the day of the site visit, not a range that changes at signing.

Related services

Often paired with solar panels.

Battery Storage

Store the solar you generate. Use it after dark, cut peak-rate imports, and stay powered during outages.

Learn more

EV Chargers

Home charging paired with your solar and battery, including OZEV grant guidance where you qualify.

Learn more

Drone Surveys

Roof surveyed personally by Dan using a licensed drone and bespoke paid design software, not free web tools.

Learn more
Or return to the homepage, browse all services, or call Dan on 07973 710352.
Ready when you are

Get honest solar advice for your Devon or Somerset home.

Free 10–20 minute call with Dan. No sales script, no obligation, and the site visit, if you want one, usually within 2–3 days.

MCS-vetted installers · £1M Public Liability · Independently underwritten guarantees

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