Solar panels, batteries and heat pumps in York
MCS-certified solar, batteries, heat pumps and EV chargers across York and the towns around it.
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Photo: Tim Green, CC BY 2.0, adapted, via Wikimedia Commons
Solar panel installers for York.
York's walled centre has been a conservation area since 1968, but most of its homes are outside the walls: semis make up 36% of the city's housing and detached houses 23%, in suburbs and villages with straightforward roofs. Beyond the city boundary, in the former Selby and Hambleton districts, more than one home in ten still heats with oil, which makes the towns and villages around York heat pump country. This page covers both, with the figures for each district rather than one number for the whole area.
Every install is MCS certified (NAP-75287), with 0% VAT on solar, batteries and heat pumps until March 2027 and the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant claimed for you.
- Postcode districts
- YO1 for the centre inside the walls, YO10 the south-east from Fishergate and Fulford to Heslington, YO23 and YO24 the south-west from Dringhouses and Bishopthorpe to Acomb, YO26 the west from Holgate to the Poppletons, YO30 and YO31 the north from Clifton and Rawcliffe to Heworth, YO32 Haxby, Huntington and Strensall, and YO19 and YO41 for the villages to the south-east and east, Elvington among them; plus YO8 for Selby, LS24 for Tadcaster, YO42 for Pocklington and YO61 for Easingwold
- Network operator (DNO)
- Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire). We make the G98 notification or G99 application for your solar or battery; you do not need to contact them.
What the figures say about York homes.
What the public data says about homes here, and what it means for yours.
960 kWh
a year from each kW of panels
A south-facing roof at 35° in York, after losses. An east or west roof gives about a fifth less over the year, and a battery makes better use of what it does produce by moving the daytime surplus into the evening.
Source: PVGIS (European Commission Joint Research Centre), central York
35
conservation areas in the city
From the Central Historic Core inside the walls out to villages such as Haxby, Bishopthorpe and Elvington. Being in one does not rule solar out, but it changes what needs consent, so we check before we design.
Source: City of York Council, conservation areas, and the York Historic Environment Record
1 in 11
York homes heated by electricity alone
9.1% of households, rising to 30% in Guildhall ward in the centre, where flats make up nearly half the homes. Those homes gain the most from a battery charged on a cheap overnight tariff.
Source: Census 2021, TS046 central heating and TS044 accommodation type (ONS)
11%
of homes in the former Selby district run on oil
And 20% in the former Hambleton district, which includes Easingwold, against 1% in York. Oil and LPG homes in the villages are where a heat pump pays back fastest, and they qualify for the higher £9,000 grant.
Source: Census 2021, TS046 central heating (ONS)
Want to know what your roof could do?
We come out, look at the roof, the loft and the meter, and tell you what is worth doing. No obligation.
Photo: Des Blenkinsopp, CC BY-SA 2.0, adapted, via Wikimedia Commons
The houses here, and what works on them
Terraces are 24% of York's homes, and nearly half the homes in Micklegate and Clifton wards, in streets such as Bishophill, Clementhorpe, the South Bank, Leeman Road and the Groves. The roofs are long and narrow, often split by a rear outrigger, and one good slope with eight to ten panels is typical. Several of these streets are in conservation areas such as St Paul's Square and Holgate Road or Fulford Road, so we check the map before we design.
Semis are the commonest house in the city at 36%, and two-thirds of homes in Acomb ward. Acomb, Dringhouses, Huntington and Heworth Without are the easiest roofs in York: simple gables and gardens with room for a heat pump. Further out, Copmanthorpe and Strensall are more than half detached, often with hipped roofs that split the panels over two or three slopes, so we design to the roof rather than a standard layout.
A quarter of York households have no car, against one in eight in the former Selby and Hambleton districts, so an EV charger is mostly a conversation for the suburbs and villages. A battery and the right smart tariff make sense everywhere, and most of all in the city-centre flats heated by electricity.
Planning and conservation areas
City of York Council has 35 conservation areas. The Central Historic Core covers the old city, mostly inside the walls, and many of its buildings are also listed, which means listed building consent for panels or a heat pump on the building itself. Elsewhere, from New Earswick to the Racecourse and Terry's Factory, a conservation area changes what is permitted rather than ruling it out. We check the council's map at the survey and make the application for you if one is needed.
Selby, Tadcaster and Easingwold have been planned by North Yorkshire Council since April 2023. The former Selby district has 23 conservation areas, four of them in Selby town, and Easingwold's conservation area has Article 4 directions. Outside conservation areas and listed buildings, roof solar, batteries and air source heat pumps are permitted development on most houses in the city and the country around it.
What York homeowners ask us.
Who do you need permission from to connect solar in York?
Northern Powergrid runs the network across York and the towns around it. A typical home system is notified to them after the install under G98; a bigger inverter or a large battery needs a G99 application first, which can take several weeks. We make the application and deal with them; you do not need to contact them yourself.
I live inside the city walls. Can I have solar panels?
Sometimes. The walled centre is the Central Historic Core conservation area, and many houses there are also listed. A listed building needs listed building consent for panels, and in a conservation area panels on a wall facing the road need planning permission. Roof panels should be sited to keep their effect on the street to a minimum, so a hidden rear slope or a valley roof is often the answer. We check your house at the survey and, if consent is needed, prepare and submit the application.
Is a heat pump worth it in a village outside York with no gas?
That is where it makes most sense. One home in nine in the former Selby district heats with oil, and one in five in the former Hambleton district, which includes Easingwold. Oil and LPG cost more per unit of heat than a heat pump does to run. A home coming off oil or LPG gets the higher £9,000 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, taken off the price up front. We size it from a room-by-room heat loss survey, not from the size of your current boiler.
My flat or terrace has electric heating. What helps most?
Usually a battery charged on a cheap overnight tariff, with panels if you have a roof of your own. In York one home in eleven is heated by electricity alone, and nearly one in three in the city centre, and moving that use into the cheap hours is the biggest saving available to them.
Do you cover the villages and towns around York?
Yes: the city and every village inside its boundary, and the towns around it, including Selby, Tadcaster, Pocklington, Easingwold, Stamford Bridge, Malton and Thirsk. We fit anywhere in the country, so if your postcode is just outside, put it in anyway.
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Around York.
We cover York and everywhere around it. A few of the places nearby, and what tends to matter there.
Selby
YO8 · North Yorkshire Council
An abbey town on the Ouse with four conservation areas of its own, Selby Town and Millgate among them. Terraces are 43% of the homes in Selby East ward and suit a compact array and a battery; in the villages around the town, oil heating is common.
Tadcaster
LS24 · North Yorkshire Council
The brewing town on the Wharfe whose bridge partly collapsed in the floods of December 2015. It has its own conservation area, and homes near the river get a flood-risk check before we decide where a battery goes.
Pocklington
YO42 · East Riding of Yorkshire Council
A market town at the foot of the Wolds, with a conservation area in the centre. In Pocklington Provincial ward nearly half of homes are detached and 5.5% heat with oil; in Wolds Weighton next door it is nearly a quarter, which makes the bigger houses off the gas main strong heat pump candidates.
Elvington
YO41 · City of York Council
A village on the Derwent beside the former RAF airfield, with a conservation area taking in Main Street, the Green and the riverside meadows. It sits in Wheldrake ward, where two-thirds of homes are detached and 16% heat with oil.
Bishopthorpe
YO23 · City of York Council
Home of the Archbishop of York's palace on the Ouse, with a conservation area around the palace and Main Street. Over a third of homes in the ward are detached, and 5.6% run on tank or bottled gas, unusually high for a village so close to the city.
Haxby
YO32 · City of York Council
The old village core is a conservation area; around it, Haxby and Wigginton ward is half detached houses, 85% on mains gas, and only one household in seven has no car. The usual job is panels, a battery and an EV charger on the drive.
Easingwold
YO61 · North Yorkshire Council
A market town whose conservation area also carries Article 4 directions, which remove some permitted development rights. In Easingwold ward 14% of homes heat with oil, and in the villages around it far more: over half in Hillside and Raskelf ward.
Everything we install across York.
Solar panels
Solar and battery starting at £6,995 installed. 0% VAT until March 2027.
Battery storage
Sized to how you actually use power, not to fill a wall. 0% VAT until March 2027.
Air source heat pumps
£7,500 or £9,000 off under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, claimed for you. 0% VAT until March 2027.
EV chargers
Fixed prices from £1,195 fitted, VAT included. Pick your charger, pay online, and we fit it.
Air conditioning
Priced per room. 0% VAT on a fixed system in your home until March 2027.
Commercial
Solar, batteries and air conditioning for York businesses, schools and farms.
Tell us about your York home.
We will come and look, talk you through what would actually work and give you a figure. No obligation.