Solar Panel Installers in Cumbria and the Lake District
Solar panels, batteries and EV chargers for homes, farms and businesses from Carlisle down to Kirkby Lonsdale. We're MCS certified, we know the planning rules inside the National Parks, and we size every system for Cumbrian weather.
Solar That Works in Cumbrian Weather
Parts of Cumbria are the wettest in England, so it's fair to ask whether solar is worth it here.
It is. Panels run on daylight, and a 4kW system on a typical South Lakeland home produces around 3,200 to 3,600 kWh a year. That's a little under the national average and still enough to take a real bite out of an electricity bill. The cooler climate helps too. Panels lose efficiency as they heat up, so the cold, bright days of a Cumbrian spring are some of their best.
We cover the county from our Lancashire base. Our work here ranges from terraced houses in Kendal to rural farmhouses across South Lakeland, and the University of Cumbria is among the organisations we've worked with.
0% VAT ends on 31 March 2027. Home solar and batteries go up to 5% VAT after that. Here's what the deadline means for you.
What We Install
Solar, Batteries and EV Charging Across Cumbria
Most of our Cumbrian customers start with solar and add a battery. More of them are fitting a car charger at the same time.
Solar Panels
Panels for houses, bungalows, barns and business roofs, sized to the way you use electricity. A home system takes one to two days to fit.
Home solarBattery Storage
Winter evenings are long up here. A battery stores what your panels make in the day for use after dark, and some models keep essential circuits running in a power cut.
Battery storageEV Charging
Out in the villages, public chargers can be few and far between. With a charger on the drive you leave every morning with a full car, charged overnight on a cheap tariff.
EV charging
Planning Inside the National Parks
Plenty of our customers live inside the Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales National Park, where some of the rules change.
Roof panels on a house are still permitted development in most cases. Flat-roof systems need prior approval from the park authority first. Most of the Lake District is also a World Heritage Site, so panels on a wall facing the road need planning permission there.
Listed buildings are the big exception. They get no permitted development rights at all, which means a planning application and listed building consent whatever the size of the system. A lot of Cumbrian farmhouses and barns are listed, so we look up every address before we quote.
We deal with the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales park authorities, Westmorland and Furness Council and Cumberland Council for you. Our planning guide goes through the rules in detail.
Where We Work
Areas We Cover in Cumbria
We survey and install right across the county. Kendal has its own local page, and every other town below is on our regular patch.
Kendal and the South Lakes
- Kendallocal page
- Windermere
- Ambleside
- Grange-over-Sands
- Kirkby Lonsdale
- Sedbergh
- Milnthorpe
Eden Valley
- Penrith
- Appleby-in-Westmorland
- Kirkby Stephen
- Shap
Furness
- Ulverston
- Barrow-in-Furness
- Dalton-in-Furness
Carlisle and West Cumbria
- Carlisle
- Keswick
- Cockermouth
- Workington
- Whitehaven
Somewhere more remote? Call us on 015242 33735 and we'll tell you straight away whether we can help.
From the Blog
Solar Advice From Our Blog
Got Questions?
Solar in Cumbria: Your Questions Answered
The questions Cumbrian homeowners ask us most.
Yes. Panels generate from daylight, and a 4kW system in South Lakeland produces around 3,200 to 3,600 kWh a year. Output drops in December and January and climbs quickly from March. The cooler air helps as well, because panels lose efficiency when they get hot. We base every quote on your roof's direction, pitch and shading, so the yearly figure we give you is one we expect you to hit.
For roof panels on a house, usually not. They're permitted development in the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks as long as they sit within 0.2 metres of the roof slope and stay below the ridge. Flat-roof systems need prior approval first. Most of the Lake District is also a World Heritage Site, which rules out panels on a wall facing the road without permission. Listed buildings always need consent. We check your address before we quote.
Yes. Slate is the standard roof across most of Cumbria, and we fit to it with fixings made for slate so the roof stays watertight. Older stone houses sometimes need a closer look at the roof timbers first. If anything needs attention, we'll tell you at the survey and explain why.
For most rural homes, yes. You use the most power in the evenings, and a battery lets you run them on what the panels made during the day. Batteries with a backup function can also keep chosen circuits going in a power cut. That feature depends on the system, so mention it at the survey if it matters to you.
The same as the rest of our area. A 4kW home system costs around £5,000 to £6,500 installed, and a battery adds £2,500 to £6,500 depending on size. Home installations are zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027. Rural properties with bigger roofs often go for 6 to 8kW, and we'll show you the payback in writing before you commit.
We work across the county, from Carlisle and West Cumbria down through the Eden Valley and Furness to Kendal and the South Lakes. If you're somewhere remote, ring us on 015242 33735 and we'll tell you straight away whether we can help.
Get a Free Survey Anywhere in Cumbria
Tell us where you are and what you want to power. We'll come out, look at the roof and give you figures you can hold us to.
Book Your Survey