Photovoltaics and Planning

In these days of spiralling energy prices and increasing availability of ‘affordable’ PV panels, installing photovoltaics is a no brainier.

Planning law generally considers renewables like PVs to be lawful development, which means you can add them to a roof without the need for planning approval. There are often exceptions to this so we would always recommend formalising this with a permitted development application for peace of mind and to make things official.

In conservation areas, the need for planning approval is often the source of confusion. Genrally full planning and conservation area consent is required for any change to the external appearance of a building.

This comes from a concept called an ‘Article 4 Directive’ which removes some of the lawful development rights in conservation areas, for example to prevent oversize box dormers that often dominate properties elsewhere.

In some cases, photovoltaics would dominate a roof if not properly considered. We have the tools to do this, to visualise PVs in context and to assess the visual impact and present this to planners.

We are knowledgable on alternatives to conventional surface mounted panels and can offer visualisations and feasibility studies to achieve the most discreet yet efficient integration.