Solar Panels in a Bexley home by Future Home Energy
MCS Certified • DA5, DA6, DA7, DA14, DA15, DA16, DA17

Solar Panel Installation in Bexley

Solar PV and battery storage across Bexley, which has the best roofs for solar of any borough we cover and the fewest planning obstacles standing in the way of them.

07538 192738
MCS
Certified Installer
1-2 Days
Typical Install
70-80%
Self-Use With Battery
SEG
Export Payments
South East London

Solar Panels in Bexley

If you live in Bexley you are in the best solar borough in our coverage area, and that is a statement about roofs rather than marketing. Interwar semi-detached housing gives you a large, unbroken, uniformly pitched rear slope with at most one chimney on it. That is close to the ideal surface for a photovoltaic array, and it is a completely different proposition from the chopped-up, dormered, multi-chimney roofs of inner London.

Planning helps too. Bexley has sixteen conservation areas, modest for a London borough, so most properties fall squarely under permitted development. Panels must not protrude more than 200mm from the roof surface or rise above the ridge, which no normal domestic installation does. Where you are inside one of the conservation areas, mainly Old Bexley Village, Danson Park, Upton, Blendon, Lamorbey and Crayford, the restriction is that panels cannot go on a slope fronting a highway, and on a semi with a big rear roof that is rarely the slope we wanted anyway.

The practical advantages carry through to the installation itself. Driveways and side access mean scaffold goes up without a road permit, and garages and utility spaces give a battery somewhere sensible to live rather than forcing it into a hallway. Bexley is also where the battery case is strongest across our patch: these are family houses with high evening consumption, and a battery lifts self-consumption from roughly 30-50% to 70-80%, which is where the real saving is.

Local Detail

Why Solar Works Well in Bexley

Four reasons this borough gets better results from the same equipment than most of London does.

Large Unbroken Rear Slopes

The defining feature of interwar semi-detached housing, and the reason Bexley outperforms. One continuous pitch, uniform angle, usually a single chimney, and frequently facing somewhere between south and west. That geometry lets us lay out a full array with no gaps forced by dormers or stacks, which is where inner-London roofs lose capacity before a single panel is fitted.

Mostly Permitted Development

With only sixteen conservation areas, most of the borough is unrestricted for domestic solar provided panels stay within 200mm of the roof surface and below the ridge. Inside Old Bexley Village, Danson Park, Upton, Blendon, Lamorbey or Crayford the rule is that panels cannot front a highway, which on a rear-slope scheme is usually no obstacle at all. We confirm the designation before quoting.

Somewhere to Put the Battery

Batteries need a dry, ventilated, temperature-stable space, and Bexley houses have garages, utility rooms and integral stores that suit them. In flats and terraces further in, finding that space is frequently the hardest part of the design. Here it usually is not, which keeps the installation simple and keeps the battery out of your living space.

Easy Scaffold and Access

Driveways, side returns and the general absence of controlled parking mean scaffold goes up without a highways permit and materials come off the van at the house. That takes cost and delay out of the job, and it is a genuine reason a Bexley installation typically completes inside the one-to-two day window rather than stretching.

Coverage

Where We Work in Bexley

Postcode Districts
  • DA1
  • DA5
  • DA6
  • DA7
  • DA8
  • DA14
  • DA15
  • DA16
  • DA17
  • DA18
  • SE2
  • SE28
Neighbourhoods
  • Bexleyheath
  • Old Bexley
  • Sidcup
  • Welling
  • Erith
  • Crayford
  • Belvedere
  • Barnehurst
  • Blackfen
  • Slade Green
  • Albany Park
  • Blendon
  • Lamorbey
  • Northumberland Heath
  • East Wickham
  • Falconwood

Read more about solar panels and battery storage across London, or see every area we cover.

Common Questions

Solar Panels in Bexley FAQ

Do I need planning permission for solar panels in Bexley?
Usually not. Most of the borough is outside a conservation area, so domestic solar is permitted development provided the panels do not protrude more than 200mm from the roof surface and do not rise above the highest part of the roof excluding the chimney. Inside the sixteen conservation areas, principally Old Bexley Village, Danson Park, Upton, Blendon, Lamorbey and Crayford, panels cannot go on a slope fronting a highway. Listed buildings need full planning permission and listed building consent.
Why do Bexley roofs suit solar better than inner London?
Geometry. Interwar semis give you one large, continuous, uniformly pitched rear slope with usually a single chimney, and often a south to west orientation. Inner-London period roofs are broken up by multiple chimney stacks and loft-conversion dormers, which cost you both array area and output through shading. The same equipment simply produces more on a Bexley roof.
Should I add a battery to my Bexley solar system?
In most cases here, yes. Without a battery you typically use 30-50% of what you generate and export the rest. With one, that rises to 70-80%, because the evening consumption of a family house is exactly when the panels have stopped producing. Bexley houses also have garages and utility spaces to site a battery properly, which is often the limiting factor elsewhere.
Which way does my roof need to face?
South is ideal, but south-east through to south-west all perform well, and even east or west orientations are worth doing with the right system design. What matters as much as direction is whether the slope is unbroken and unshaded. We measure orientation, pitch and shading at the free survey and give you a realistic annual generation figure for your actual roof rather than a national average.
Will I get paid for exported electricity?
Yes, under the Smart Export Guarantee. Suppliers must pay for surplus electricity you send back to the grid, typically 3 to 15p per kWh depending on the tariff you are on. We register you with the best available SEG tariff after commissioning rather than leaving you to sort the paperwork.
How long does installation take?
One to two days for most Bexley homes, scaffold up to system live. Access here helps: driveways and side returns mean scaffold goes up without a highways permit, so the job tends to run to schedule rather than waiting on the council.
Can I have solar and a new boiler at the same time?
Yes, and where both are due it is worth doing together. The two systems interact, particularly if you are considering how to heat water, and specifying them at the same survey avoids paying twice for scaffolding, twice for a survey and twice for the disruption. We do both in-house, so it is one company and one design rather than two contractors working around each other.
Which parts of Bexley do you cover?
All of it. DA5 Bexley and Albany Park, DA6 and DA7 Bexleyheath and Barnehurst, DA8 Erith, DA14 and DA15 Sidcup and Blackfen, DA16 Welling, DA17 Belvedere, DA18 Erith Marshes, DA1 around Crayford, and the parts of SE2 and SE28 inside the borough.
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