Planning Permission Help For Solar Energy Demand In Yorkshire

A Planning Support Division has been launched by Clean Energy Yorkshire. The aim of the project is to help people owning listed buildings, or living in a conservation area, to get planning permission to have solar panels installed.

As we have remarked before, there is often an issue for buildings that are considered to be of high historical value, or that are situated in an area which wishes to preserve a certain look, with getting solar panels installed. The people living there may very much wish to get involved with solar energy, but because of restrictions on additions to their building they are unable to get planning permission. Even worse, some people do not even try because they know they are living in such an area or in a listed building and don’t think they have any chance of getting the planning permission. It is for these people that the new division has been set up.

Solar tiles are an excellent solution to the majority of visual problems with solar panels

This Planning Support Division has experts in planning laws and have experience working with those in charge of granting or denying planning permission. They hope to be able to offer solutions in the majority of cases. For example in a recent case, the occupant of a building wished to have PV panels installed but it was considered that the visual impact would be too great to allow. Therefore, instead of trying to get the solar panels installed, they were advised to apply to have solar tiles installed instead. The solar tiles blended in much better with the roof, and this was allowed.

Therefore, if you do live in an area where planning permission is rarely granted for modern devices but would like to take advantage of solar energy, there may be some way for you to make it work. Solar tiles will work in many cases, but there may be other solutions to the problem. For example there might be a largely unseen portion of the roof which the solar cells can be attached to, or any number of other solutions.

Perhaps the problem is not with getting planning permission from the council, but that either you or your partner is worried about the unsightliness of solar panels. Again, the same solutions are probably available. If you contact a company which installs solar panels they will be able to take you through the various options which are available.

In the vast majority of cases there will be something which can be done to help you satisfy your solar energy needs without it being a problem, visually. As we reported recently, Prince Charles is getting solar panels installed on a royal house, and the President of the US is getting solar panes installed on the White House.

Now is an excellent time to get into solar energy, as the feed-in tariffs offered by the government are staying at current rates, for now. So whatever your concerns about getting solar panels installed, call the experts and they will most likely be able to help.