Solar panels, batteries and heat pumps in Manchester
MCS-certified solar, batteries, heat pumps and EV chargers across Manchester and the boroughs around it.
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Photo: Anthony Parkes, CC BY-SA 2.0, adapted, via Wikimedia Commons
Solar panel installers for Manchester.
Manchester is two cities for energy. The centre and the inner wards are flats, many of them heated by electricity alone, where a battery on a cheap overnight tariff does more than anything on the roof. Beyond them are streets of Victorian terraces and interwar semis on mains gas, from Levenshulme to Burnage and Chorlton, which suit solar, a battery and, when the boiler goes, a heat pump. Out in the boroughs and over the Cheshire edge the houses get bigger, and so do the roofs. This page gives the figures for each rather than one number for the whole conurbation.
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
- M1–M4 for the city centre, Ancoats and the Northern Quarter, M8, M9 and M40 for the north from Cheetham Hill and Blackley to Moston and Newton Heath, M11–M13 and M18–M19 for the east and south-east from Openshaw and Gorton to Longsight, Levenshulme and Burnage, M14–M16 and M20–M21 for the south from Fallowfield, Moss Side and Whalley Range to Withington, Didsbury and Chorlton, and M22–M23 for Northenden and Wythenshawe; plus the SK, BL, OL, WN and WA districts for the boroughs around the city
- 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.
Solar, batteries, heat pumps and more in Manchester.
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 Manchester businesses, schools and farms.
See what fits your house
We come out, look at the roof, the loft and the meter, and tell you what is worth doing. No obligation.
Around Manchester.
We cover Manchester and everywhere around it. A few of the places nearby, and what tends to matter there.
Stockport
SK1–SK8 · Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Two in five Stockport homes are semis, and the borough uses Article 4 directions more than most: 29 of its conservation areas have one, which can bring changes to the roof facing the road under planning control. We check whether your street is covered before designing a front-slope array.
Bolton
BL1–BL7 · Bolton Council
A third of Bolton homes are terraces, the mill-town rows close to the centre, while the Chorley New Road conservation area is lined with big Victorian and Edwardian houses. The terraces suit one good slope of panels and a battery; the villas often need the shading modelled first.
Rochdale
OL11, OL12, OL16 · Rochdale Borough Council
Toad Lane, where the Rochdale Pioneers opened their co-operative shop in 1844, is one of the borough's conservation areas. More than a third of Rochdale homes are terraced and four in five are on mains gas, so solar and a battery now and a heat pump at the next boiler change is the usual plan.
Salford
M5–M7, M27, M28, M30, M50 · Salford City Council
Like Manchester, Salford is a city of flats as well as houses: 28% of homes are in purpose-built blocks and 18% are heated by electricity alone, many around the Quays. Worsley Village and Ellesmere Park are conservation areas, with larger houses and roofs to match.
Leigh
WN7 · Wigan Council
Wigan borough has the highest share of semis in Greater Manchester, 46%, and the Leigh wards are close behind. The town centre and Leigh Bridge, where the Bridgewater Canal meets the Leeds and Liverpool's Leigh branch, are conservation areas; the estates around them are straightforward solar roofs.
Altrincham
WA14, WA15 · Trafford Council
The Altrincham ward has more flats than people expect, nearly a quarter of homes, and one in eight is heated by electricity alone. The Old Market Place and The Downs are conservation areas, and up the hill in Bowdon the big Victorian houses mean hipped slate roofs and mature trees to design around.
Wilmslow
SK9 · Cheshire East Council
Over half the homes in the Dean Row and Wilmslow East wards are detached, often with roofs large enough for a bigger array and a second battery. Styal, the mill village by Quarry Bank, and Hawthorn Lane are among Cheshire East's conservation areas here.
Ramsbottom
BL0 · Bury Council
A stone-built mill town under Holcombe Hill and the Peel Monument, with its centre a conservation area. Nearly two in five homes in the Ramsbottom ward are terraces and a quarter are detached, so one street can be a single rear slope and the next a roof with room for a full array.
Nearby towns with their own page: Oldham, Macclesfield.
The local data, and what it means for you.
What the public data says about homes here, and what it means for yours.
886 kWh
a year from each kW of panels
A south-facing roof at 35° in central Manchester, 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 Manchester
18%
of city homes heated by electricity alone
More than double the 8.7% across England, and around four in five homes in the Deansgate and Piccadilly wards. In Stockport, Bolton, Rochdale and Wigan it is 5–7%. Electrically heated homes gain the most from a battery charged in the cheap overnight hours.
Source: Census 2021, TS046 central heating (ONS)
60%
of city homes are semis or terraces
32% semi-detached and 28% terraced, with another 28% in purpose-built flats and only 5% detached. Detached houses rise to 22% in Stockport and 37% in Cheshire East, where the roofs are bigger and a second battery starts to make sense.
Source: Census 2021, TS044 accommodation type (ONS)
39%
of city households have no car
Against 20% in Stockport and Trafford and 15% in Cheshire East. In the city a battery and the right tariff usually come first; in the outer boroughs, where most homes have one car or more, an EV charger is often part of the same job.
Source: Census 2021, TS045 car or van availability (ONS)
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Photo: WythenshaweMike, CC BY 3.0, adapted, via Wikimedia Commons
Roofs, walls and gardens in Manchester
The city centre, Ancoats, Hulme and the blocks along the Irwell are mostly flats: in the Deansgate ward 86% of homes are flats and 83% are heated by electricity alone. Panels there depend on the building, but a battery charged overnight on a cheap tariff works in almost any flat with a cupboard to put it in. Further out, the Victorian terraces of Levenshulme, Moss Side and Gorton have long, narrow roofs, often split by a rear outrigger: one good slope of eight to ten panels is typical, with the inverter in the loft.
Burnage, Didsbury East and Chorlton Park are interwar semi country, more than half the homes in Burnage and Didsbury East. Simple gables, concrete tiles and a garden with room for a heat pump make these the city's easiest roofs. Wythenshawe, planned by the city as a garden suburb in the interwar years, has many of the same kind of houses. Victoria Park and the big Didsbury and Whalley Range villas are a different job: slate roofs, chimneys and trees mean we model the shading rather than guess.
Four in five homes in Stockport, Bolton, Rochdale, Bury and Wigan are on mains gas, so most of the boroughs are solar-and-battery now, heat pump later. The south side, Trafford and the Cheshire edge around Wilmslow have more detached houses and more households with two cars, which is where a larger array, a second battery and an EV charger tend to go in together.
Planning and conservation areas
Manchester City Council has conservation areas from St Ann's Square and Castlefield in the centre to Didsbury St James, Victoria Park, Whalley Range and Chorltonville, the garden village opened in 1911. In a conservation area the rules are tighter for the front of the house: panels on a wall facing the road need planning permission, and a heat pump on the front can too. Roof panels are usually still permitted development, but we check the council's map at the survey and make the application for you if one is needed.
Each borough keeps its own list. Stockport has Article 4 directions on 29 of its conservation areas, Bury's include Ramsbottom, Holcombe and Summerseat, and Cheshire East's include Styal and Hawthorn Lane in Wilmslow. Outside conservation areas and listed buildings, roof solar, batteries and air source heat pumps are permitted development on most houses across Greater Manchester.
Before you book: Manchester questions.
Who do you need permission from to connect solar in Manchester?
SP Electricity North West, formerly Electricity North West, runs the network across Greater Manchester. 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 in Chorltonville. Can I still have solar panels?
Usually yes. Chorltonville is a conservation area, so the rules are tighter for anything on the front of the house, and the council asks owners to keep the original character of the estate. Panels on the rear slope are often the simplest answer. We check your house against the council's map at the survey and, if consent is needed, prepare and submit the application.
Does a heat pump work in a Manchester terrace?
Often, yes. Two thirds of city homes are on mains gas, and a terrace loses less heat than a detached house because it shares walls with its neighbours. The £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant comes off the price up front. We size it from a room-by-room heat loss survey, not from the size of your current boiler, and find a spot for the outdoor unit in the yard or garden.
My flat has electric heating. What helps most?
Usually a battery charged on a cheap overnight tariff, and panels too if you own the roof or the freeholder agrees. Nearly one Manchester home in five is heated by electricity alone, and moving that use into the cheap hours is the biggest saving open to them.
Do you cover the whole of Greater Manchester?
Yes: the city and all ten boroughs, from Wigan and Leigh to Stockport, Rochdale and Tameside, plus the Cheshire edge around Wilmslow. Oldham and Macclesfield have pages of their own. We fit anywhere in the country, so if your postcode is just outside, put it in anyway.
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Tell us about your Manchester home.
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