Solar panels in Melton Mowbray and the villages around it
- RECC member
- 6-year workmanship warranty
- Insurance-Backed Guarantee
Why the heating matters more than the pork pies
The thing that most sets Melton apart for solar isn't what it's famous for. It's how the homes are heated. Across this rural borough, a lot of houses have never been on mains gas.
In the town, and far more so out in the villages, plenty of homes run on heating oil or LPG rather than mains gas. Both cost noticeably more than gas, and they leave a house leaning harder on electricity for the rest of its energy. That is exactly where solar earns its keep, because it cuts straight into the power you would otherwise buy. Out towards the Vale of Belvoir and the Wolds the homes tend to be older and detached, with plenty of roof to work with, which suits a larger array.
Pairing panels with a battery can push those savings further on an off-gas home, though whether a battery is worth it depends on how and when you use power. Our answer on whether you need a battery with solar and our battery storage page walk through when it stacks up.
Solar and the Melton conservation area
In the old market centre, the rules around a historic town shape the job as much as the roof does. The Melton Mowbray Conservation Area takes in Sherrard Street and Thorpe End.
That area holds many listed buildings. If your home sits inside it, or is listed in its own right, that shapes where panels are allowed and whether you need consent before anything goes up. We check where your home stands and see to the paperwork as part of the quote. If you want the detail first, our guide on whether you need planning permission for solar sets out how conservation areas and listed status work.
The roofs in the centre are handsome but tight: steep Georgian and early-Victorian slate, with little spare run for a full array. The same care carries out to the villages, too, because the borough has dozens of smaller conservation areas of its own.
The roofs outside the old centre
Most of Melton sits well beyond the conservation area, and those roofs are more straightforward.
Ringing the centre are Victorian and Edwardian red-brick terraces, mostly slate, with narrow shared roofs where the back doesn't always face the sun. Further out, the 1930s semis and the newer estates such as Melton Manor and Sysonby Lodge tend to have larger, simpler pitches that are the easiest to design for. Which roof gives you the best return, and how shade from a chimney or a neighbour's tree plays into it, is something we work out roof by roof. Our answers on what size system you need and on panels on a north-facing roof explain how we weigh it.
We size every system to how you actually live, not to a brochure figure. We work right across the county, back towards Syston and Loughborough, about fifteen miles west of here, where we're based. An EV charger in Melton Mowbray changes the sums again. You can see everywhere we cover on our areas we cover page.
Common questions
- Is solar worth more if my home's off the mains gas?
- Often, yes. A lot of homes in and around Melton heat with oil or LPG rather than mains gas, and both cost more than gas to start with. That leaves the house leaning harder on electricity for the rest of its energy, so the power solar saves you is worth more here than in a town on the gas grid.
- My home's in the Melton conservation area. Can I still have panels?
- Usually yes, but the roof matters more here. The town centre is a conservation area with many listed buildings, and both listed status and a conservation area can affect where panels are allowed and whether you need consent first. We check where your home stands and see to any paperwork as part of the quote. Our planning permission guide on the website explains how the rules work in full.
- Do you cover the villages out towards the Vale of Belvoir?
- Yes. Melton is the only town in the borough; the rest is villages, dozens of them, out across the Vale of Belvoir and the Wolds. A lot of those homes are older, detached and off the gas grid, which is often where solar and a battery make the biggest difference to a bill. We come out to them the same as we do the town.
More questions? See our common questions.