Solar installers in B15: Edgbaston, Five Ways and Park Central

Local context

Roofs in B15

• Park Central and newer homes. Park Central replaced the old Lee Bank tower blocks with low-rise houses and flats around two parks. Their simple pitched roofs are the easiest candidates in B15, and east and west slopes work well too.
• Ordinary semis. A plain pitched or hipped roof on a semi is usually straightforward.
• The Calthorpe Estate. Much of Edgbaston sits on the historic Calthorpe Estate, which still runs a Scheme of Management. If your home is covered, alterations can need the Estate's consent as well as anything the council asks for. Check your deeds first.
• The Edgbaston Conservation Area. Solar is not banned here, but in parts of it the council has taken away some of the usual freedoms to alter a house without planning permission (an Article 4 direction). Panels on a slope you can see from the road may then need permission. See our planning permission guide.
• Listed villas and flats. A listed house needs listed building consent for panels. In a leasehold flat the roof usually belongs to the freeholder, so start with solar for flats and leaseholders.
• Mature trees. A big tree to the south can cut output noticeably, so get a shade reading at survey.

What a roof here can generate

Across the Birmingham postcode area, real metered systems made around 700–815 kWh in 2024 for each kWp installed (a kWp is roughly two and a half panels), right on the national middle. In plain terms, a 4 kWp system, about ten panels, on a reasonable B15 roof makes around 3,000–3,600 kWh a year.

The Birmingham solar output page has the metered figures; the roof check estimates your own roof.

What it costs in B15, and the payback

A 4 kWp system typically runs around £5,600–£8,600 before a battery, and brings roughly £350–£690 a year back in lower bills and the power you sell; a battery adds around £3,000–£6,000. Taller Victorian houses need more scaffolding, so ask for it to be itemised: that is where a quote becomes a price. Payback is typically 11–16 years, depending on how much power you use at home in the day, what you are paid for the rest and whether you add storage. The savings calculator gives a payback range for your own address.

The installers covering B15

Seventeen installers are listed as covering B15. All seventeen are MCS-certified, the standard your installer needs so you can be paid for the power you send to the grid (see the Smart Export Guarantee explained). None is registered in B15 itself. Eight are registered in Birmingham and the rest in nearby towns. Twelve also fit batteries and five heat pumps.

Request quotes from your Solarable Report, or contact installers directly, on your terms. Either way, book a survey before you commit: it confirms roof condition, consents and the real shade picture. See also the Birmingham page and Birmingham and the Black Country.

What could go wrong

Panels are fixed with brackets that go under the tiles into the rafters. A competent installer makes that watertight, so ask what the workmanship warranty covers and for how long. Panels usually carry 20–25 year warranties and lose output slowly; the inverter is often replaced once in that time. If the firm folds, the panel and inverter warranties stay with the manufacturer, so get them in writing. On a Calthorpe Estate home, ask the Estate before work starts. And when you sell, panels generally help or make no difference (solar and house value).