Why you Might Need Planning Permission for Solar Panels

Solar photovoltaic panels can be a great monetary investment that will decrease your electrical power costs and make you money. They’re similarly a smart concept if you wish to reduce your carbon emissions.

However, you do need to make sure that your proposed domestic photovoltaic panel setup follows planning policies prior to you continuing. Something you may have to do is apply for planning permission.

The bright side is, planning requirements aren’t as complex as they might at first appear and on many occasions planning approval isn’t needed. Take a look at our guide to find more about planning permission and whether you require it for your domestic solar panel setup.

What is Planning Permission?

Acquiring planning consent is a process that you may need to go through prior to doing particular types of building work. To get planning approval, you’ll have to make an application and send it to your local planning authority.

When your local planning authority has got your application, they’ll take a look at if the work you wish to do needs preparation approval. If it does, they’ll look at the legislation and choose whether to grant it to you. Whether you’re given planning consent or not may rely on the size, look, use and access of the proposed work. Your local authority will similarly think about how it will affect individuals residing in the area.

Do I require planning permission for solar panels?

With photovoltaic panels, on various occasions planning permission isn’t needed. This is due to the fact that they’re thought about as a permitted development, which is in useful. This does not suggest that there aren’t restrictions though, so you still have to take care about how you continue with your setup.

If you’re installing photovoltaic panels on your roof or wall and do not want to apply for preparing approval, you need to ensure that:

• They aren’t higher than the highest part of the roof
• They do not protrude more than 20cm from the roof or wall
• They’re not set up on a structure that remains in the grounds of a listed building or monument
• If your home remains in a conservation area or World Heritage Site, the panels aren’t on a wall fronting a roadway
• The setup affects the appearance of the structure as little as possible
• Any unneeded equipment is eliminated as rapidly as possible

If you’re developing stand alone photovoltaic panels and do not want to search for preparing authorization, you require to guarantee that:

• The setup is no higher than 4m and covers no greater than 9m²
• The setup is at least 5m from the property boundary



• The panels aren’t established within the limitations of a listed building or monument
• If your home is in a conservation area or World Heritage Site and there’s a highway surrounding your land, the panels are no closer to the road than your house is
• There are no pre-existing photovoltaic panel setups on the land
• The setup doesn’t limit access to or the usage of any buildings on the land plot
• Any unneeded equipment is removed as rapidly as possible

If your solar panel setup isn’t going to abide by any of these restrictions then you’ll need to look for planning approval.

How can I apply for planning consent?

You can ask for planning authorisation through your local authority’s website. If you’re not sure who your local authority is, you can use the government’s helpful tool to find out.

If you aren’t 100% sure whether you need planning permission or not, it does not hurt to contact your local planning authority and find out. You’ll have to pay a charge to get planning approval, but there’s no charge for just getting advice.