Solar panels on slate, tile, metal, terraced, bungalow or garage roofs

Almost every UK roof type can take solar panels, and a typical 3–5 kWp system (8–14 panels) goes onto slate, clay, concrete, metal, flat and pitched roofs every week of the year. The covering changes three things: how the panels are fixed, how long the job takes (and so what it costs), and how many panels fit. It very rarely changes whether solar works. Slate typically adds a few hundred pounds of labour, a terrace caps you at fewer panels, and a bungalow often takes more than a two-storey house.

Each section below answers the same four questions: can you, what changes, what it costs extra, and what to ask at the survey. To size up direction, shading and space yourself first, see our DIY roof walkthrough. This page is about the covering on top.

Slate roofs

Yes, you can fit solar on a slate roof, and Victorian and Edwardian homes across the UK have it. The catch is that natural slate is brittle: it cracks if you kneel on it, it cannot be drilled and re-sealed like a tile, and lifting one slate loosens its neighbours. A slate job is as much roofing as electrics.

• Fixing method. Slate hooks are stainless steel brackets that slide up under the slates and screw to the rafter, emerging at a slate joint so nothing is cut. Flashed brackets involve removing a slate, fixing a bracket to the rafter, covering it with a lead or purpose-made flashing plate and refitting a cut slate over the top. More work, but more secure on thin or uneven slates.
• What it costs extra. Typically a few hundred pounds on top of the same system on tiles, mostly labour and breakages, though quotes vary with the roof's condition. Artificial fibre-cement slate is far easier and usually carries little or no premium.
• Condition matters most here. Nail sickness (corroded fixings letting slates slip) is common on older slate roofs. A roof shedding slates should be re-roofed before panels go on.
• What to ask at survey. Which fixing system, whether the installer has fitted slate before and can show it, how many spare slates they bring, who makes good a break, and whether remedial work is needed first. An installer with roofing competence in-house is worth a little more on slate. Slate roofs are often steeper, at 35–45 degrees, which is well within the range where panels perform normally.

Concrete and clay tile roofs

This is the default UK case and what every installer's standard kit is built around. A roof hook is screwed to the rafter beneath a tile, the tile is refitted over it, and aluminium rails clip to the hooks with panels clamped on top.

• Interlocking tiles. Large single-lap concrete or clay tiles, the norm on post-war homes. The installer lifts a tile, fixes the hook and usually grinds a small notch so the tile sits flat again. Quick and standard.
• Plain tiles. Small double-lap tiles (Rosemary-style) on many pre-war homes. More tiles come off per hook, so labour is a little higher, though nowhere near slate.
• What it costs extra. Nothing, in most cases. Tile is the baseline every quote assumes: typically £5,000–£7,500 installed for 3–4 kWp and £7,000–£10,500 for 4–6 kWp in 2026, and quotes vary.
• What to ask at survey. Whether tiles are cracked or spalling (1960s and 70s concrete tiles can be near end of life), whether battens and felt are sound, and how broken tiles are made good.

Terraced houses

Terraced roofs take solar well, but they are narrow. A typical UK terrace is 4.5–6 m wide, so most fit 6–10 panels, roughly 2.5–4 kWp, across the front and back slopes combined.

• Chimneys and party walls. Stacks sit on the party wall line, so most terraces have one at each edge of the roof. They shade panels for part of the day and eat into the width, so good design keeps panels clear of the afternoon shadow.
• Front and back slopes. If neither faces south, an east-west split across both is a normal, productive layout, not a compromise.
• Access from the street. Front scaffold usually stands on the pavement, which needs a council licence. Your installer normally arranges it and the fee is a modest line in the quote. Scaffold stays within your boundary unless the neighbour agrees.
• Planning. Street-facing panels are permitted development in most places, but conservation areas and Article 4 directions change that, and a rear-only layout may be required. See our planning permission guide.
• What to ask at survey. Whether the array clears the chimney shadow, how the two slopes will be wired (optimisers or micro-inverters help), and where the inverter goes.

Bungalows

Bungalows are quietly strong solar homes. The whole footprint is roof, all at single-storey height. A three-bedroom bungalow often takes 12–16 panels, more than a two-storey semi of the same floor area, with a single-lift scaffold instead of two.

• What changes. Cheaper scaffold, faster installation, more roof, short cable runs.
• Hip roofs. Many bungalows are hipped, so every face is a triangle or trapezium. Panels are rectangles, and a fully hipped roof can lose a third of what a gable roof of the same footprint holds.
• Low pitch. Often 20–30 degrees. Output at that pitch is within a few percent of the UK ideal, though very shallow roofs collect more dirt.
• Shading from next door. Low eaves mean a neighbouring two-storey house or mature hedge can shade a bungalow roof that would be clear on a taller home, especially in winter.
• What to ask at survey. How the layout handles the hips, whether lightweight trussed rafters (common on post-war bungalows) take the load, and how a two-face array affects the string design.

Garage roofs

You can put solar on a garage, and it is a good answer in two situations: when the main roof is unsuitable (north-facing, shaded, listed), or as a small add-on alongside a battery. On a home with a decent main roof it is usually second best, because the array is small.

• Flat garage roofs. Felt, EPDM or GRP on timber joists. Panels sit on tilt frames, ballasted or fixed through the deck. Mounting detail is on our flat roof page; the garage-specific point is weight. Light timber joists may not take ballast safely, so a structural check is not optional.
• Pitched garage roofs. Fixed exactly as the house roof would be.
• How much fits. A single garage roof is roughly 15–18 m² and holds 3–5 panels, so 1–2 kWp. A double garage doubles that. Modest alone; paired with a battery or a main-roof array it earns its place.
• The cable run. A detached garage needs an armoured cable back to the consumer unit, usually buried or ducted, with isolation at both ends. Long runs add cost and a little loss. The upside is that a garage is often the ideal home for the inverter and battery.
• What to ask at survey. Whether the roof will last 25 years, why ballast or fixings are proposed, and whether the cable run makes sense.

Metal roofs

Metal roofs are increasingly common on new builds, extensions and garden rooms, and they are among the easiest roofs to fit solar to. If you are buying new, our new build solar guide covers what the developer should already have done.

• Standing seam. Clamps grip the raised seam and rails fix to the clamps. No penetrations, roof warranty untouched, fast job.
• Profiled or trapezoidal sheet. Short brackets fix through the crest of the profile into the purlin with sealed fixings. Sheet gauge and purlin spacing set the load it can take.
• What it costs extra. Usually nothing, and sometimes less than tile because there is no lifting or cutting. Very thin sheet or an unusual profile may need a specialist bracket.
• What to ask at survey. Which clamp or bracket suits the profile, how thermal movement of the sheet is handled, and whether the installer has fitted that roof type before.

Flat roofs

Flat roofs are a strength: you choose the orientation and the tilt, and many flat-roof homes and extensions out-produce a pitched roof facing the wrong way. Mounting, ballast weight, drainage, parapet shading and cost are covered in full on our flat roof page.

Side by side:

Roof type	Fixing method	Extra cost or labour	Typical panel count	Watch out for
Natural slate	Slate hooks or flashed brackets	A few hundred pounds; roofing competence	8–12 on a semi	Nail sickness, breakages, re-roof first
Concrete or clay tile	Hooks under tiles, rails on top	Baseline, no premium	8–14 on a semi	Cracked tiles, tired battens
Terraced house	As tile or slate	Pavement scaffold licence	6–10 across both slopes	Chimney shadow, front-slope planning
Bungalow	As tile or slate	Cheaper single-lift scaffold	12–16	Hips cutting usable area, low-eaves shade
Garage	Tilt frames (flat) or hooks (pitched)	Cable run to consumer unit	3–5 single, 6–10 double	Light timber roof, ballast weight
Metal	Seam clamps or crest brackets	Usually none	8–14 on a semi	Sheet gauge, thermal movement
Flat	Ballasted or fixed tilt frames	Often no scaffold	Depends on area and row spacing	Load, drainage, parapet shade

What matters more than the covering

Once you know the roof type is workable, and it almost always is, the things that decide how much a system makes are the same for every covering:

• Direction. South is ideal, east and west are good, north alone is the one to avoid. Our roof direction guide puts numbers on each.
• Pitch. Anything from about 20 to 45 degrees performs within a few percent of the UK ideal.
• Shading. Chimneys, trees and neighbouring buildings cost more than any covering does, and shade on one panel can pull down a whole string. How much sun does my roof get? explains how we model it.
• Condition and age. Panels stay up for 25 years or more. A roof with ten years left needs re-roofing first, and doing both together is usually the cheapest sequence.
• Whether a re-roof is due anyway. If so, tell the installer. Integrated (in-roof) panels replace the tiles rather than sitting on top, and only make sense when the covering is coming off regardless.

So the order of questions is direction and shading first, condition second, covering last. The covering decides the fixing kit and a line or two of labour on the quote; the rest decides whether the system is worth having.

Our roof check detects whether your roof is flat or pitched, which way each face points and how much sun it collects, straight from your address, and gives you a Solarable Report. The savings calculator turns that into an annual benefit range, and our installer directory lists MCS-certified installers covering your postcode. What the check cannot see is the covering itself, so slate versus tile, the state of the battens and the fixing method are confirmed at the installer survey, which is where they belong.

Frequently asked questions

Can you put solar panels on a slate roof?

Yes. Natural slate is brittle and cannot be drilled, so installers use slate hooks that slide under the slates and screw to the rafter, or flashed brackets fitted under a lifted slate and sealed with a flashing plate. The job takes longer and some slates break, so expect a few hundred pounds more than the same system on tiles. Choose an installer who has fitted slate before.

How many solar panels fit on a terraced house?

Typically 6–10 panels, roughly 2.5–4 kWp, across the front and back slopes. Terraces are narrow, usually 4.5–6 m, and chimney stacks on the party walls take width and cast shade. An east-west layout across both slopes is normal and productive. Panels on the street-facing slope are usually permitted development, but conservation areas and Article 4 directions may restrict them to the rear.

Are bungalows good for solar panels?

Often very good. The whole footprint is roof at single-storey height, so a three-bedroom bungalow frequently takes 12–16 panels, more than a two-storey house of the same floor area, with cheaper scaffold. What reduces that is a hipped roof, which leaves less rectangular area for panels, and shading from taller neighbouring houses or hedges because the eaves sit low.

Is it worth putting solar panels on a garage roof?

Usually in two cases: when the main roof is unsuitable, or as a small add-on alongside a battery or a main-roof array. A single garage holds roughly 3–5 panels, about 1–2 kWp, which is modest alone. A detached garage needs an armoured cable back to the consumer unit, and light timber flat roofs need a structural check before ballasted frames go on.

Related

• How to check your roof for solar yourself
• Do I need planning permission for solar panels?
• Solar panels on new build homes (UK)
• How many solar panels do I need?
• Solar panels on a flat roof
• Which roof direction works for solar panels?
• Is my roof suitable for solar?
• Find listed installers covering your postcode