Solar equipment attached to a building does not require planning permission on a house, outbuilding or flat provided:
- They do not protrude more than 200 mm from the plane of the wall or roof slope on which they are mounted
- They do not project above the highest part of the roof, excluding any chimney
- If the house is in a designated Conservation Area or a World Heritage Site they would not be on a wall fronting a highway
- The site is not a Scheduled Monument
- They are not to be installed on an outbuilding to a Listed Building
Solar panels erected under this provision are subject to the conditions that so far as practicable they should be sited to minimise the effect on the external appearance of the building and the amenity of the area and when they are no longer required they should be removed as soon as reasonably practicable.
Also, a single, stand alone (i.e not attached to a building) solar panel facility within the curtilage of a house or flat ("curtilage" normally means the land associated with the property, i.e. the garden in the case of a house) does not require planning permission provided:
- It would not exceed 4 metres in height
- It would not be within 5 metres of a boundary
- The surface area of the solar panels does not exceed 9 sq. metres
- Including housing it should exceed 3 metres in any direction
- If the property is in a Conservation Area or a World Heritage Site it is closer to a highway adjoining the property than the property
- The site is not a Scheduled Monument
- the property is not listed
Solar panels erected as under this provision are subject to the conditions that, so far as practicable, they should be sited to minimise the effect on the amenity of the area and when they are no longer required they should be removed as soon as reasonably practicable.
Further guidance can be found on the Planning Portal here.
Existing solar panels and proposed new development
It’s worth noting that recent appeal decisions and caselaw have established that the effect of a new development upon existing solar panels (even at a small domestic scale) is a legitimate planning consideration. This means that in considering new development proposals, local councils will need to have regard to whether a development has the potential to overshadow or compromise the functioning of existing domestic solar panels.