Going Solar in Doncaster: What Happens Between the Survey and Switch-On

Why Doncaster suits solar, in three numbers

Three figures say most of what needs saying about solar in Doncaster. The EU's PVGIS model puts a south-facing roof in the town centre at 980 kWh a year for every kilowatt-peak of panels, and an east/west roof at about 775. The Met Office's long-term averages for the area, from its Finningley station, give 1,517 hours of sunshine a year (1991–2020, with the later years filled from nearby stations because Finningley's own records stopped in 1995). And at the 2021 Census 45.5% of the borough's households lived in a semi-detached house, which usually means one usable roof slope and a decision about which way it faces.

Flat country keeps hills out of the picture, but it does nothing about chimneys, dormers, the neighbour's gable or a tree, and those decide more about output than the postcode. Which is why the process below starts on the roof rather than on a satellite photo. If you already want a price rather than a walk-through, the figures for your own roof are on our solar panels Doncaster page.

The solar installation process in Doncaster, stage by stage

The survey. Someone stands under the roof and, where it is safe, on it. They look at the covering (slate, plain clay or concrete tile each take a different fixing), at its condition, at the timbers from inside the loft, at where the inverter and any battery can go and how the cable gets from roof to consumer unit, and at what shades the slope through the day. We check the address against the council's conservation-area boundaries, because Doncaster has 46 of them and some, such as Bessacarr, are ordinary residential streets. There is no charge for the survey.

The quote. It names the hardware, gives the modelled annual generation for your roof and direction, applies the zero rate of VAT that runs on home installations until 31 March 2027, and says which grid route applies. Northern Powergrid runs the network in Doncaster: a system whose inverters total no more than 16 A per phase (3.68 kW on a single-phase supply) is notified under G98 after it is installed; anything larger needs a G99 application approved before it can be switched on, which can add weeks, so it is settled before the scaffold is booked.

Install day. Scaffolding goes up first, usually the day before. The roofers fix the mounting rails to the rafters and lay the panels; the electricians fit the inverter, the battery if there is one, the isolators and the generation meter, and connect to the consumer unit. Panel and inverter installation takes one to three days. The electrical work is notified to building control through our NAPIT registration.

Commissioning and handover. The system is tested and switched on, the G98 notification goes to Northern Powergrid, and you get the MCS certificate, the handover pack and the monitoring app. The MCS certificate is what your electricity supplier will ask for when you sign up to a Smart Export Guarantee tariff for the electricity you export, so keep it.

The first winter. Expect the app to look quiet. PVGIS models a south-facing kilowatt-peak in Doncaster at about 34 kWh in December against 120 in July, so a 4.85 kWp system that makes roughly 580 kWh in a July month makes roughly 165 kWh in December. That is normal, not a fault. A fault shows up as output that drops and stays down relative to the days around it, and that is the thing to ring us with.

Aftercare, warranties and what to watch

Our workmanship warranty runs for 15 years and the panels carry a product warranty of up to 30 years. A warranty is defect cover, not a cleaning or servicing subscription: on a pitched roof in this climate the rain does most of the cleaning, and what protects your return is noticing a sustained drop in the generation figures early rather than a year later on a bill. The monitoring app makes that a two-minute monthly check.

Questions about going solar in Doncaster