Solar panels, batteries and heat pumps in Preston
MCS-certified solar, batteries, heat pumps and EV chargers across Preston, central Lancashire and the Fylde coast.
4.7 on Trustpilot
No obligation
Photo: Francis Franklin, CC BY-SA 3.0, adapted, via Wikimedia Commons
Solar panel installers for Preston.
Preston sits between two very different kinds of housing. To the east are the brick and stone terraces of the mill towns, where half the homes in some districts share a wall on both sides; to the west and south are the semis of South Ribble and the detached houses of the Fylde. Out towards the Forest of Bowland the gas main runs out and oil takes over. This page gives the figures for each district, because a terrace in Accrington and a farmhouse above Longridge need different answers.
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
- PR1–PR5 for the city and its edges (PR1 the centre, Avenham, Deepdale and Penwortham, PR2 the north side from Ashton-on-Ribble and Ingol to Fulwood and Ribbleton, PR3 the villages north towards Longridge and Garstang, PR4 the west towards Kirkham and Freckleton, PR5 south of the Ribble at Bamber Bridge, Walton-le-Dale and Lostock Hall), plus BB1–BB3, BB5, PR6, PR7, PR25, PR26, FY1–FY4 and FY8 for the towns around it
- Network operator (DNO)
- Electricity North West (North West England, now trading as SP Electricity North West). We make the G98 notification or G99 application for your solar or battery; you do not need to contact them.
Photo: Carroll Pierce, CC BY-SA 2.0, adapted, via Wikimedia Commons
What Preston's housing means for solar and heat pumps
Preston's Victorian terraces fill Deepdale, Plungington, Fishwick and Frenchwood: in Deepdale ward 65% of homes are terraced. Long, narrow brick roofs with a rear outrigger usually take one good slope of panels, the inverter goes in the loft and a battery fits under the stairs. Around Winckley Square and Avenham the houses are Georgian and early Victorian, often listed or in a conservation area, and we look at the rear slopes first.
Fulwood and Sharoe Green are mostly interwar and post-war semis and detached houses on wider plots, the easiest roofs in the city and usually with room for a heat pump. Cottam and the newer estates in the north-west of the city have smaller, well-insulated houses where the gain is in a battery and an EV charger. North of the M55, in Preston Rural North ward around Goosnargh and Inglewhite, 16.4% of homes run on oil and 4.7% on bottled gas, and a heat pump is the main conversation.
The city centre is different again: in the City Centre ward a quarter of homes are heated by electricity alone and over a third are purpose-built flats. Across Preston 27.7% of households have no car, against 11–15% in Ribble Valley, South Ribble and Chorley, so an EV charger comes up far more often in the suburbs and villages than in the middle of the city.
Planning and conservation areas
Preston City Council has 11 conservation areas, including Winckley Square, Avenham, Fishergate Hill, Fulwood and Inglewhite. Avenham, Fishergate Hill, Fulwood and St Ignatius Square also carry Article 4 directions that remove some permitted development rights from houses, so changes to the front of a house can need planning permission there. Fylde has Article 4 directions over the Lytham conservation area and Lytham Avenues, and Blackpool over Stanley Park.
Outside conservation areas and listed buildings, roof solar, batteries and air source heat pumps are permitted development on most houses across Preston, South Ribble, Chorley and the towns around them. Where a house is in a conservation area, roof panels are normally still permitted development, but panels on a wall facing the road or a heat pump on the front of the house need planning permission. We check the council's map at the survey and make the application for you if one is needed.
Thinking about it for your Preston home?
We come out, look at the roof, the loft and the meter, and tell you what is worth doing. No obligation.
Preston, by the numbers.
What the public data says about homes here, and what it means for yours.
889 kWh
a year from each kW of panels
A south-facing roof at 35° in central Preston, after losses. An east or west roof gives about a fifth less over the year, and a battery makes more of what it does produce by holding the daytime surplus for the evening.
Source: PVGIS (European Commission Joint Research Centre), central Preston
Nearly 1 in 10
Ribble Valley homes heated by oil or LPG
7.1% oil and 2.6% bottled or tank gas, against 1.2% and 0.6% in Preston itself. The villages around Longridge, Chipping and Ribchester are where a heat pump replaces the most expensive fuel, and they qualify for the higher £9,000 grant.
Source: Census 2021, TS046 central heating (ONS, via Nomis)
9.8%
of Fylde homes heated by electricity alone
The highest of the districts on this page, with Blackpool close behind at 9.4% and Preston at 8.1%, against about 4% in South Ribble and Chorley. Many are flats and converted houses along the coast, and a battery on a cheap overnight tariff is usually the biggest saving open to them.
Source: Census 2021, TS046 central heating (ONS, via Nomis)
50%
of Hyndburn homes are terraced
50.4% in Hyndburn and 43.4% in Blackburn with Darwen, against 16.8% in South Ribble, where 44.6% of homes are semis. A terrace usually means one good roof slope and a compact battery; a semi often has room for more panels and a heat pump at the side.
Source: Census 2021, TS044 accommodation type (ONS, via Nomis)
What we can do for your Preston home.
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 Preston businesses, schools and farms.
Talk it through with us
Tell us your postcode and what you are thinking about. We will come straight back to you to arrange a visit.
Around Preston.
We cover Preston and everywhere around it. A few of the places nearby, and what tends to matter there.
Blackburn
BB1, BB2 · Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
A cathedral town of long brick terraces climbing the hills either side of the centre, with Corporation Park and Richmond Terrace among its conservation areas. Most terraces take eight to ten panels on the rear slope; the larger houses around Billinge and Beardwood have the roof space for a bigger array and a second battery.
Chorley
PR6, PR7 · Chorley Council
An old market town with Astley Hall and its park on the north side, and Buckshaw Village growing on the former Royal Ordnance Factory site. In Buckshaw & Whittle ward electric-only heating runs at nearly double the Chorley average (8.4% against 4.5%), so a battery and the right tariff often matter more than extra panels.
Leyland
PR25, PR26 · South Ribble Borough Council
The truck-building town, in a district where 84% of homes are on mains gas and nearly half are semis, the highest share of semis anywhere on this page. Simple gable roofs and side gardens make it straightforward solar and battery country, with a heat pump as the next step when the boiler goes.
Accrington
BB5 · Hyndburn Borough Council
The town that made the NORI brick, and it shows: half of Hyndburn's homes are terraced, rising above 80% in Accrington's Peel ward. The Accrington Town Centre conservation area covers the Victorian core, so road-facing slopes there are checked against the council's map first.
Darwen
BB3 · Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
Under Darwen Tower and the moor, with the India Mill chimney over the town centre. Darwen East ward is 62% terraced. Where a terrace's best slope faces east or west rather than south, a battery earns its place by saving the morning or afternoon output for the evening.
Longridge
PR3 · Ribble Valley Borough Council
A stone-built town at the foot of Longridge Fell, with three conservation areas of its own (Longridge, Newtown and St Lawrence's Church). The town is mostly on gas, but the farms and villages around it are not: across Ribble Valley 7.1% of homes still run on oil.
Blackpool
FY1–FY4 · Blackpool Council
A third of Blackpool households have no car, the highest share on this page, and nearly one home in ten is heated by electricity alone. The Stanley Park conservation area carries an Article 4 direction that brings roof and window changes under planning control. Close to the sea we choose outdoor units and fixings suited to salt air.
Lytham St Annes
FY8 · Fylde Council
Two seaside towns with the windmill on Lytham Green and five conservation areas between them, and Article 4 directions over the Lytham conservation area and the Avenues. Large detached houses and seafront flats sit side by side, so the answer here ranges from a full array and battery to a battery alone on an electric-heated flat.
Nearby towns with their own page: Burnley.
Your questions, answered for Preston.
Who do you need permission from to connect solar in Preston?
Electricity North West, now trading as SP Electricity North West, runs the local network across Preston, Lancashire and the Fylde. 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, so you do not need to contact them yourself.
I live in the Fulwood or Avenham conservation area. Can I still have solar panels?
Usually yes. Both are conservation areas with Article 4 directions, so work on the front of the house, including panels on a slope you can see from the road, may need planning permission. Rear and side slopes are often fine. We check your house against Preston City Council's map at the survey and, if consent is needed, prepare and submit the application.
Is a heat pump worth it in a Ribble Valley village with no gas?
That is where it makes most sense. Oil and LPG cost more per unit of heat than a heat pump does to run, and nearly one home in ten across Ribble Valley still uses one or the other. A home coming off oil or LPG gets the higher £9,000 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant, taken off the price up front, and we size the heat pump from a room-by-room heat loss survey rather than from your old boiler.
I have a flat in Blackpool or St Annes with electric heating. What helps most?
Usually a battery charged on a cheap overnight tariff, then used through the day and evening. Around one home in ten in Blackpool and Fylde is heated by electricity alone, and moving that use into the cheap hours is the biggest saving available. If the building has a roof you own or share, panels can top the battery up as well.
Do you cover the whole of central Lancashire?
Yes: Preston and South Ribble, Chorley, Blackburn and Darwen, Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Blackpool and Fylde, as well as Burnley and Pendle. We fit anywhere in the country, so if your postcode is just outside, put it in anyway.
Rated 4.7 on Trustpilot
Tell us about your Preston home.
We will come and look, talk you through what would actually work and give you a figure. No obligation.