Solar installers in EN9: Waltham Abbey, Nazeing and Roydon

Local context

Roofs in EN9

• Ninefields, Roundhills and the town's estates. Ninefields went up in the sixties and seventies; Roundhills is mostly terraces and semis. These are the simplest roofs here: unbroken slopes, open sky. Plenty face east and west, which still works well.
• Newer homes in Nazeing and Roydon. Detached houses and bungalows here tend to have generous, uncluttered roofs.
• The old town and the village centres. Waltham Abbey's historic core and parts of Nazeing and Roydon are conservation areas. Panels on an ordinary house there are usually allowed without planning permission, but a listed building needs consent, and a street-facing slope is worth a word with your installer first. See the planning permission guide.
• Upshire, Sewardstone and the forest edge. Homes near Epping Forest can sit under tall trees, so a survey that measures shade matters most here.
• Flats. The roof usually belongs to the freeholder: see solar for flats and leaseholders.

What a roof here can generate

EN9 gets a little more sun than the UK average: around 1,021 kWh a year for each kWp of panels, against around 950 across the UK. In plain terms, a 4 kWp system, about ten panels, on a reasonable roof generates around 3,100–3,800 kWh a year, more than many households use. June makes roughly three times what December does, so a battery or electric car that soaks up summer surplus changes the sums.

Run the roof check for your own roof's estimate.

What it costs in EN9, and the payback

A 4 kWp system typically costs around £5,600–£8,600 before a battery, and brings roughly £360–£720 a year back in lower bills and the power you sell. A battery adds around £3,000–£6,000. Payback is typically 10–16 years. What moves it is how much power you use while the sun is up, what you are paid for the power you send to the grid (the Smart Export Guarantee), and whether you add storage. The savings calculator gives a payback range for your own roof.

The installers covering EN9

Eleven installers are listed covering EN9, all MCS-certified, the standard an installer needs before you can be paid for the power you export. One is based in Waltham Abbey itself: Green Eco Group Ltd, which fits solar and battery storage. The rest work out of Potters Bar, Cuffley, Cheshunt, Enfield, Hertfordshire and London. Nine of the eleven cover only this corner of the map, usually the sign of a local firm. Five also list batteries and two heat pumps.

Request quotes from your Solarable Report and at most three installers see the request. Or contact installers directly, on your terms. Either way, get a survey before you sign: it confirms the roof, the fixings and the shade, and it is where a quote becomes a price. See also the Enfield page and the Essex county page.

What could go wrong

Brackets hook under the tiles and screw into the rafters. A competent installer keeps that watertight; ask what the workmanship warranty covers and for how long. Panels usually carry 20–25 year warranties and lose output slowly; the inverter, the box that converts their power, is often replaced once in that time. If the firm folds, manufacturer warranties still stand, so get them in writing. On a Ninefields or Roundhills terrace the scaffold may touch next door's wall, so have a word with your neighbour first. And when you sell, panels generally help or make no difference: see solar and house value.