Solar panels, batteries and heat pumps in Macclesfield
MCS-certified solar, batteries, heat pumps and EV chargers across Macclesfield, Bollington, Prestbury and the Cheshire hills.
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Photo: Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0, adapted, via Wikimedia Commons
Solar panel installers for Macclesfield.
Macclesfield is a silk town with a terraced centre, ringed by bigger post-war and modern houses, and then by villages and farms where a lot of homes have never had mains gas. That gives three different answers: solar and a battery on the terraces, a larger array and an EV charger on the detached houses, and a heat pump wherever oil or bottled gas is still doing the heating. The hills to the east are in the Peak District National Park, which brings its own planning rules.
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
- SK10 for the north of the town, with Tytherington, Hurdsfield and Upton, and Bollington, Prestbury, Rainow and Pott Shrigley; SK11 for the south and west, from Weston out to Gawsworth, Henbury, Sutton, Langley, Bosley and Wincle; plus SK9 for Alderley Edge and CW12 for Congleton
- Network operator (DNO)
- Electricity North West (North West England, now trading as SP Electricity North West; most of Congleton is on National Grid Electricity Distribution's West Midlands network). 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 Macclesfield homes.
What the public data says about homes here, and what it means for yours.
883 kWh
a year from each kW of panels
A south-facing roof at 35° in central Macclesfield, 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 Macclesfield
53%
of homes in Macclesfield Central are terraced
The old silk-town streets around the centre, where one home in eight is also heated by electricity alone. Across the whole town it is 32% terraced and 24% detached, rising to 48% detached in Tytherington.
Source: Census 2021, TS044 accommodation type and TS046 central heating (ONS)
1 in 4
homes in the Gawsworth ward heat with oil
25% on oil and another 10% on bottled gas, in the villages south-west of the town, and 14% on oil in the Sutton ward to the south-east. These are the homes where a heat pump pays back fastest, and they qualify for the higher £9,000 grant.
Source: Census 2021, TS046 central heating (ONS)
37%
of Cheshire East homes are detached
Against 23% across England, and 71% in the Prestbury ward. Bigger roofs often take a bigger array than a town terrace, which is where a second battery starts to make sense.
Source: Census 2021, TS044 accommodation type (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: Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0, adapted, via Wikimedia Commons
The houses here, and what works on them
The centre, Hurdsfield and the streets off the Buxton and Hurdsfield roads are the silk-town terraces, many of them brick with slate roofs, and some three-storey weavers' houses with their long garret windows. One rear slope of panels and a battery is typical. More than one home in eight in Macclesfield Central is heated by electricity alone, and for them a battery charged on a cheap overnight tariff comes first.
Tytherington, Upton and Broken Cross are mostly post-war and modern estates, nearly half detached in Tytherington, with simple roofs and drives for an EV charger. Beyond the town, the villages to the south-west and the hill farms towards Sutton, Langley and Wincle are where oil and bottled gas are still common, and a heat pump sized from a room-by-room heat loss survey makes the biggest difference.
Planning and conservation areas
Cheshire East Council has conservation areas across Macclesfield, including the Town Centre, High Street, Christ Church, Park Green and Buxton Road, and Article 4 directions on some unlisted houses in the High Street and Christ Church areas, as well as in Bollington and Kerridge. On those houses most outside changes need planning permission. Elsewhere in a conservation area, panels on a wall facing the road need permission and a heat pump on the front can too; roof panels are usually still permitted development. We check the council's map at the survey and make any application for you.
Pott Shrigley, Macclesfield Forest, Wildboarclough and Wincle are inside the Peak District National Park, where planning is decided by the Peak District National Park Authority rather than Cheshire East. Panels and heat pumps can still go ahead there, but we check the park's rules before designing.
What Macclesfield homeowners ask us.
Who do you need permission from to connect solar in Macclesfield?
SP Electricity North West, formerly Electricity North West, runs the network across Macclesfield, Bollington, Prestbury and Alderley Edge. Congleton is the exception: most of the town is on National Grid Electricity Distribution's network. A typical home system is notified after the install under G98; a bigger inverter or a large battery needs a G99 application first. We make the application to whichever one covers you.
I live in Bollington. Is planning any different?
It can be. Bollington is a conservation area, and some unlisted houses in it have been under an Article 4 direction since 1992, which means most outside changes to them need planning permission. Many houses are not covered. We check your address against the council's list at the survey and, if consent is needed, prepare and submit the application.
Is a heat pump worth it in a village with no gas?
That is where it makes most sense. A quarter of homes in the Gawsworth ward still heat with oil, which costs more per unit of heat than a heat pump does to run, and 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 house is in the Peak District National Park. Can I still have panels?
Often, yes. In Pott Shrigley, Macclesfield Forest, Wildboarclough and Wincle the planning authority is the Peak District National Park Authority, and its policies put more weight on how panels and heat pumps sit in the landscape. We check before designing and make any application to them for you.
Do you cover the villages around Macclesfield?
Yes: the town and everywhere around it, from Poynton and Disley to Gawsworth, Bosley and Congleton. Wilmslow is on our Manchester page. We fit anywhere in the country, so if your postcode is just outside, put it in anyway.
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Near Macclesfield.
We cover Macclesfield and everywhere around it. A few of the places nearby, and what tends to matter there.
Bollington
SK10 · Cheshire East Council
A mill town on the Macclesfield Canal under Kerridge Hill and White Nancy, where a third of homes are terraced. The Bollington and Kerridge conservation areas both carry Article 4 directions on some unlisted houses, and the Peak District National Park boundary is just to the east.
Prestbury
SK10 · Cheshire East Council
A village on the River Bollin where 71% of homes are detached and more than one in nine still heats with oil or bottled gas. The village centre has been a conservation area since 1972; out on the big plots the question is usually a heat pump, a large array and a second battery together.
Congleton
CW12 · Cheshire East Council
A town on the River Dane where 37% of homes are detached, with conservation areas on West Street, Lawton Street and Moody Street, and Park Lane. Most of Congleton is on National Grid's West Midlands network rather than the one serving Macclesfield, so we check the postcode before the connection paperwork goes in.
Alderley Edge
SK9 · Cheshire East Council
A village under the wooded sandstone Edge, with a third of homes detached and nearly one in five a flat. It has four conservation areas of its own, Alderley Edge, Davey Lane, Elm Grove and Trafford Road, so the large Victorian houses near the centre get a planning check first.
Everything we install across Macclesfield.
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 Macclesfield businesses, schools and farms.
Tell us about your Macclesfield home.
We will come and look, talk you through what would actually work and give you a figure. No obligation.