What we do
Solar Panel Installation
Smart designs, clean installs, built to last.
Panels are the easy part. The design is what decides whether you get twenty-five good years or a roof full of compromises — so that is where we spend the time.
We design the array around your roof, not the other way round
Sussex roofs are rarely a clean rectangle. Hips, dormers, a chimney in exactly the wrong place, a conservation officer with a view — we survey the whole thing before we quote a single panel, so what lands on the day is what we drew.
That means shading is modelled properly, panel rows are set out to the tile course, and the array is placed where it earns its keep rather than where it happens to fit.
All-black panels, because most people want the roof to still look like a roof
Nearly every domestic system we fit now is all-black — black frame, black backsheet. From the pavement it reads as a dark panel of roof rather than a grid of silver lines.
Most panels last 25–30 years, and many come with warranties of 20+ years. Inverters and batteries might need replacing sooner, but we’ll talk you through it all.
The install itself is a tidy two days
Most domestic systems are installed in 1–2 days. Bigger or more complex systems might take a little longer. Scaffold goes up, panels and mounts go on, the electrical side gets tied in, and everything gets tested and signed off.
Dust sheets down, cables clipped and run properly, and the loft left as we found it. You mostly make the tea.
Bird mesh, before you need it
Pigeons will nest under an array given half a chance, and clearing them out later costs more than preventing them. We fit mesh along the perimeter as part of the job on roofs that need it — it clips to the panel frame, so nothing is screwed into your tiles.
What we publish about cost and saving
- 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.
- On average, UK homeowners save £300–£600 per year, sometimes more if you add battery storage or work from home during the day.
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.
Every figure above is quoted whole, with its own caveat attached — the rest of the questions are answered here.
What it looks like when we’re there
Our own photographs. They show the systems we design and fit — not specific completed jobs, and no customer or address is identified.
Why nearly every roof we do now is all-black
Black frames, black backsheets and why the silver grid disappeared from Sussex roofs. What you gain, what it costs, and when it isn't worth it.
Read it
Horsham stone, flint and the Sussex roof problem
Some local roofs make solar straightforward. Others need a different conversation entirely. A survey-level guide to what we find on West Sussex roofs.
Read it
Pigeons, panels and why we fit mesh as part of the job
The gap under a solar array is a perfect nesting site, and clearing a colony out later costs far more than preventing it. Which roofs need mesh.
Read itThe next step
Book your free survey
Thirty to forty-five minutes, at your house, at no cost. We look at the roof, the fuse board and how you actually use the place — then send you a clear quote with the assumptions shown.
- 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.
Rather see the numbers before you speak to anybody? Put your own bill on the house — it works out the size, the saving and the payback while you watch, and brings them down to this form with you.