Solar panels in Market Harborough, from the Georgian High Street to the estates on the edge
- RECC member
- 6-year workmanship warranty
- Insurance-Backed Guarantee
Solar in the old heart of the town
The middle of Market Harborough, around St Dionysius and the old High Street, sits in a conservation area. It's the one part of town where what you can put on the roof is genuinely restricted.
The period houses here have steep slate slopes, chimneys close in, and many face straight onto the street. That's what makes the centre different: a street-facing roof and a listed building are treated differently from an ordinary back slope. We won't restate the small print here, we've set out whether you need planning permission in full. In practice the rear slope, hidden from the street, is usually the answer, and we handle the paperwork the council or the network company needs.
The Victorian terraces off Coventry Road are a close cousin: narrow, steep and often with older wiring behind the meter. None of that rules solar out. It changes which slope earns its keep and, sometimes, whether the fuse board wants attention first, and we'll tell you plainly if a roof can't give you a system worth having.
The newer roofs ringing the town
Market Harborough has grown a long way out from its old core, and the estates on the edge, along with the interwar streets around Welland Park, are a different proposition from the centre. Outside the conservation area, planning almost never comes into it.
On these newer roofs the real question isn't permission, it's aspect. Two houses in the same row can face very different ways, and that decides the system more than the size of the roof does. If yours doesn't face south, it's still worth a look, and we've explained why on an east or west-facing roof.
We don't start from the biggest array we can fit. We start from your roof and how you live, and match the two, which is what the right size of system really means. If the honest answer is a smaller set of panels, or no battery, that's what we'll say.
Empty by day, and the villages off the gas grid
Two local patterns shape a lot of solar decisions here: the commuter homes that sit empty through the day, and the villages past the edge of town that still run on oil.
The commuter homes
The fast Midland Main Line into St Pancras means a lot of homes here are quiet through the working day and busiest after dark. That day-versus-evening split is exactly the case where a battery earns its place, and it's worth reading whether you need a battery or looking at battery storage before you decide.
The rural villages
Harborough is one of the most rural districts in the county, and a good number of its villages have no mains gas, heating with oil instead. Those homes lean harder on electricity, so solar and a battery cut into a bill that's high to start with. The case for it is often stronger out here than in the town itself.
We cover the same ground down towards Lutterworth and north to Kibworth, taking in Great Bowden and the villages between. To see the wider patch, visit our areas we cover page. And if you're charging a car on the drive, an EV charger in Market Harborough changes the sums again.
Common questions
- We're in the conservation area near the High Street. Can we still have solar?
- Often, yes. The centre of Market Harborough, around St Dionysius and the old High Street, sits in a conservation area, so it's the part of town where the rules actually bite. What's allowed comes down to which way your roof faces and whether the building's listed, and in most cases the rear slope, out of sight of the street, is the sensible answer. We go through the options for your exact roof at the free visit.
- Do you cover Great Bowden and the villages around Market Harborough?
- Yes, right across Harborough district. It's a large, rural district, and plenty of the villages, Great Bowden among the nearer ones, have no mains gas and heat with oil instead. Where electricity is doing more of the work, solar with a battery can take a real bite out of the bill. So the case out in the villages is often stronger than in town, not weaker.
- We're both out commuting all day. Is solar still worth it for us?
- It's a common question here, because the fast train to St Pancras means a lot of Market Harborough homes are empty through the day and busy in the evening. When that's the pattern, a battery is usually the part that tips the numbers. We only suggest one when it genuinely pays for your household, and we work that out with you at the free visit.
More questions? See our common questions.