We catch daylight for a living.
We’re Solar Squirrel, a team of professional, local solar panel installers helping homes across West Sussex and nearby make the move to clean energy. We keep things simple, honest, and neat.
Seven ways we put Sussex sunshine to work.
Surveyed properly, booked in honestly, and finished to the standard we’d want on our own roofs. Houses and businesses, on the roof and inside the building — and we’d rather do these seven well than thirty badly.
Solar Panel Installation
Smart designs, clean installs, built to last.
What’s involved
Battery Storage
Keep your extra energy to use at night or sell it back to the grid.
What’s involved
EV Chargers
Charge your car at home with a fast, tidy setup.
What’s involvedClimate Squirrel Air Conditioning
The supply, the circuit and the first fix — with the refrigerant work certificated separately.
What’s involved
System Design & Consultation
Not sure where to start? We’ll talk you through it.
What’s involved
General Electrical Work
We’re a full-service electrical team too, not just solar.
What’s involved
Commercial Solar & Electrical
Solar, storage, EV charging and three-phase electrical work for businesses, farms and landlords.
What’s involvedLet’s have a look at your roof.
Tell us what your bills look like and we’ll tell you which of these your building actually needs — and, just as often, which it doesn’t.
Book Your Free SurveyYour bill, on this roof
Put it on the house. Then read the numbers.
Tell it what you pay and which way your roof faces, then switch things on. Every constant is disclosed below — nothing here is a sales target.
Your house
Which way it faces
The house is drawn as it stands; the bronze plate on the lawn shows the way you have picked.
Due south. The best case, and the one every other figure here is measured against.
What goes on it
What it’s worth
Off your own roof
29%
System size
~5.0 kWp
Indicative cost
~£8,600
Pays for itself
~12 yrs
CO₂ avoided a year
~870 kg
Crosses the cost line at about 12 years.
~£17,100 by year 25 — ~£8,500 clear of the system cost
A battery moves 1,045 units a year from the sold pile to the kept pile — about £137. It also costs £4,600, and on these numbers that pushes payback from about 12 years to about 16 years. We’d rather you knew that before we quoted.
The array on the house is a drawing of a system, not a count of your panels — how many, and where they go, is what the survey is for. The size that moves with your answers is the kWp figure above. Solar Squirrel’s own published guidance is that “£300–£600 per year” is the average UK household saving, with their own caveats attached. The figures above are a design preview worked from the constants below — not a quote, and not a guarantee.
Every assumption behind this number
Nothing here is hidden, because a number you can’t interrogate isn’t worth having. These are the exact constants the instrument above uses:
- Electricity unit rate
- 0.2611 £/kWh
- Standing charge
- £220 a year, removed before usage is worked out
- Export rate (SEG)
- 0.13 £/kWh for anything you don’t use — a flat rate, held all day. This does not model time-of-use tariffs, which is where a battery usually earns its keep.
- System sizing
- 1 kWp of panels per 950 kWh of annual use, held between 2.5 and 9 kWp for a house. This is the step that fixes the size, so it fixes the cost and the payback too.
- Annual yield
- 857 kWh per kWp, South East England
- Roof direction factor
- South 1.00 · SE/SW 0.94 · E/W 0.83 · North 0.62
- Self-use without a battery
- 48% ceiling
- Self-use with a battery
- 85% ceiling
- Indicative system cost
- £6,100 is the basis for a 3.5 kWp system, and the cost scales linearly with size from there. This is a modelled figure and it sits a little above the “£4,000 to £6,000” we publish as a typical starting point — your own price comes from the survey, not from this.
- Battery cost
- £4,600 added when the battery is on
- Electric car
- adds 1,800 kWh a year to consumption
- Panel degradation
- 0.5% a year across the 25-year view
- Carbon factor
- 0.207 kg CO₂ per kWh displaced — this counts everything the roof generates, used or exported, which is why it doesn’t move when the battery does.
The maths: annual usage is your bill less the standing charge, divided by the unit rate. System size is that usage divided by 950 and held between 2.5 and 9 kWp. Generation is system size × yield × roof factor. The share you actually use yourself follows a saturating curve capped at the ceilings above; the rest is exported at the SEG rate. Payback is the interpolated point where the cumulative saving crosses the system cost.
Representative figures for a design preview. Solar Squirrel’s own published guidance is that most domestic installations “£4,000 to £6,000” to start, and that “£300–£600 per year” is the average UK household saving — with their own caveats attached. This tool is not a quote and not a guarantee.
From first survey to switch-on.
Five steps, no jargon, and nothing you have to chase us for. We do the certificates and the paperwork; you mostly make the tea.
Free survey
We visit your home, check your roof space and electrical setup, and talk through your energy use. It usually takes 30–45 minutes.
Design & clear quote
A design and a clear, no-pressure quote, written in English. No hidden extras.
Neat install
Dust sheets down, radio kept sensible. Most domestic systems are installed in 1–2 days.
Commission & paperwork
We do the MCS certificate and the DNO application. You do nothing at all.
Switch on & monitor
It goes live, and you get quietly obsessed with the app. Everybody does.
A family firm, not a call centre.
Solar Squirrel is a family business, run from Washington at the foot of the South Downs. Ring us and one of us answers — no menu, no hold music, nobody reading a script at you. We quote what your roof genuinely needs, we turn up when we said we would, and we leave your house tidier than we found it. That’s the whole pitch, really. It’s how we’d want it done for us.
- Local & friendly: family-run team, no call-centre sales
- MCS-certified installers: quality panels, neat wiring, tidy roofs
- Full service: survey, design, install, battery storage, EV chargers
- Transparent pricing: clear quotes, no hidden extras
- Ongoing support: monitoring, maintenance and warranty help
— The Solar Squirrel familyWashington · West Sussex
More about us
Dust sheets down. Radio kept sensible.
Gather sunlight by day.
Spend it after dark.
A battery is where the day goes to wait. It holds on to the daylight your panels catch, so the evening — and a good chunk of the winter — runs on electricity your own roof made.
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Sized to your usage
We look at how your house actually uses power before we suggest a size. No one-size-fits-all box off the back of the van.
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Carries your evenings
Dinner, the dishwasher and the telly, all running on this afternoon instead of buying electricity at peak rates.
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Or sell it back
Anything you don’t use and don’t store can go to the grid under the Smart Export Guarantee. We’ll explain what applies to your setup and provider.
The lines we fit — your free survey sizes the real thing to your house, not to a brochure. See what we fit.
Local firm, local roofs.
We’re based in Washington, just outside Worthing, and we mostly serve West Sussex, Hampshire and parts of Surrey and the South Coast. We know these lanes — including the ones the van only just fits down — and we know what this weather does to a roof.
West Sussex · Hampshire · Surrey borders · the South Coast
- Washington
- Worthing
- Chichester
- Horsham
- Brighton & Hove
- Littlehampton
- Storrington & Pulborough
- Petersfield
- Steyning
- Findon
- Angmering
- Rustington
- Goring-by-Sea
- Lancing
- Shoreham-by-Sea
Stills from the job,
hung in the light.
Scroll, and the hall comes down to meet you. Move your cursor to look around — every print is a real Solar Squirrel install. Swipe through the prints — every frame is a real Solar Squirrel install.
We know these lanes. And these roofs.
Charge the car on sunshine.
A charge point wired in properly and paired with your panels, so the school run leaves on yesterday’s daylight. We fit tidy, certified home chargers and set them up so the cheapest miles you do are the ones your own roof made.
Which charger, and what size, is a survey answer — it depends on your car and your consumer unit. Yes, we’ll ask what you drive.
The things everyone asks us first.
Straight answers, with none of the hedging. If yours isn’t here, ask it at your free survey — the awkward ones are our favourites.
How much does it cost to install solar panels in the UK?
The cost depends on the size of your home and the amount of energy you use, but most domestic solar panel installations in the UK typically start from around £4,000 to £6,000. If you add battery storage, that cost will go up, but so will your savings. We’ll give you a detailed, personalised quote during your free survey.
Are there any grants or incentives for solar in the UK?
Yes, you can benefit from the Zero VAT scheme on solar panels and batteries (for domestic installs), and in some cases, you can sell your excess energy back to the grid through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). We’ll explain what applies to you based on your setup and provider.
How much will I actually save with solar panels?
On average, UK homeowners save £300–£600 per year, sometimes more if you add battery storage or work from home during the day. Your savings depend on:
- Your energy usage
- System size
- Whether you use a battery or export energy
- Electricity prices in your area
How long does a solar installation take?
Most domestic systems are installed in 1–2 days. Bigger or more complex systems might take a little longer. We’ll go over the full timeline during your site survey.
What happens during the free survey?
We visit your home (or site), check your roof space, electrical setup, and talk through your energy use. It usually takes 30–45 minutes. After that, we’ll send you a clear, no-pressure quote.
Do solar panels work in winter or on cloudy days?
Yes, they still generate power on overcast days, just less than in full sun. Battery storage can help you make the most of what you generate all year round.
Still wondering about something? Read all the questions, or ring 01243 882444 — you’ll get a person, first time.
In their words, not ours.
Solar Squirrel’s own Google reviews, copied word for word. Long ones are cut short on the card, and every one is on Google in full.
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Had 12 panels installed. Young apprentice was brilliant and did most of the cabling. Superb. Charlie was a delight to do business with and cant hesitate to recommend them. Top Class.
Colin E.
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I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this company. Everything Gareth said they would do in the initial meetings, they have delivered on perfectly and on time. We had Charlie & Declan on site, they were both polite and tidy but were also personable which made having people working in our home so much easier. Since it has been fitted, they have been really good at staying in contact and setting the systems up. It also did not go unnoticed that the other company they brought in for scaffolding were also really efficient, clean, tidy and friendly and they took it away quickly after. I would highly recommend Solar Squirrel.
Corinne W.
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Absolutely delighted that I chose Solar Squirrel. I received great advice from Gareth about our Solar System before we chose them to instal our system. Their quote included everything and was very competitive. The installation was completed very quickly in 3 days and to a very high standard. The team were very customer focused and really pleasant and helpful to deal with. The Solar system worked immediately it was installed with no issues. My App showed all the information about our electric generation and our usage. Gareth returned a week after the installation to show me how to start the process of selling back electricity to the grid. Our electric bill was £3 a day. Now 5 pence. Once we start selling back electric to the Grid I expect a further £3 per day generation during the Summer months. I have already started recommending neighbours to talk to Solar Squirrel if they are looking to install Solar. I have nothing but praise for this Company. Murray
Murray C.
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Highly professional, from start to finish, nothing was too much trouble excellent service would recommend this quality service,if you are looking for solar panels to be fitted.
Neil B.
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Excellent service and they care about their customers. Would highly recommend!!
Kristy K.
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A+++ great all around service from Gareth.
Joe R.
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Fantastic comprehensive service from Charlie and Gareth, from calling to quote to install completion. Full system including 16 panels, 9.4kw hybrid system. Having previously used their sister company Edmonds Electrical for general electrical work. Would highly recommend to anyone looking for a competitive price on a solar installation. Will be strongly considering a system for commercial use.
Neo
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I can highly recommend Solar Squirrel if you’re looking to have solar fitted to your home, Gareth’s team are a great bunch of lads who work with great dedication, clean tidy with no fuss. I had ten panels and a 5:3 kw battery installed. All fitted beautifully straight and level, the hole job looks very tidy which is very important to me,
Alan D.
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Certified, registered, and accountable to somebody other than us.
Raising the roof on renewable energy
The sun is already on your roof.
A free, no-pressure survey from a local family firm. We’ll tell you what your roof can genuinely do — and if solar isn’t right for your house, we’ll say that too, and you’ll have lost nothing but a cup of tea.
- Call 01243 882444
- Email hello@solar-squirrel.co.uk
- Based Washington, West Sussex
If solar genuinely won’t pay for itself on your usage, we’ll say so and save us both an afternoon.
