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Is solar right for your situation?
A quick fit-check on ownership, roof, and planning before we get into the maths.
Written by Sepehr · Last reviewed May 2026
Five quick questions to flag whether solar is fundamentally viable for your property — before we get into savings numbers, components, or quotes. If you tick a red flag here, the rest of the guide won't help you much, and we'd rather tell you that up front than after you've spent an hour reading.
Ownership and permission
Solar is almost always an owner-occupier or freeholder decision. If you rent, you need your landlord's permission — both to install and to benefit from the system. If you own a leasehold flat, you typically need freeholder permission, and getting a block of flats to agree on anything is notoriously difficult. Neither situation is impossible, but both require conversations before you spend time on the rest of the process.
Planning permission
Most domestic solar installations in England and Wales fall under permitted development rights — no planning application required. The main exceptions are listed buildings, properties in conservation areas where panels would be visible from a highway, and some flat-roof configurations. Scotland has slightly different rules. If your property might be affected, a five-minute check with your local planning authority is faster than discovering a problem after you have quotes in hand.
Roof orientation and shading
South-facing is optimal. East or west facing will produce roughly 15–20% less annually — not a reason to rule out solar, but worth factoring into your payback estimate. North-facing roofs are the only scenario where the economics become genuinely tight, as generation drops enough to stretch payback significantly.
Shading is a separate issue. A chimney stack casting shadow across panels for two hours a day can cost more generation than a sub-optimal orientation in some configurations. If your roof has significant shading from trees, chimneys, or neighbouring buildings, this is solvable with micro-inverters or DC power optimisers — but it adds cost, and it is worth being clear-eyed about it before you get to the quote stage.