The rules we follow
- Primary sources only: a law, an official dataset or the body that runs a scheme. News stories and other websites are never the source for a figure.
- Every number is dated, and each page carries the date it was last reviewed.
- Where we combine figures (a city total from seven wards, a ballpark price from a £ per kW rate), we say how.
- We do not publish savings figures, because they depend on your tariff and how you use electricity; we publish output in kilowatt-hours instead.
- Where the answer depends on a decision only the council can make, we say so.
Each source and how it is used
| Source | How we use it |
|---|---|
| GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 14 (renewable energy), as amended legislation.gov.uk | The planning rules for solar on homes (Part 14, Classes A and B), read in the revised version that includes the 27 August 2026 changes. The planning checker’s rules are taken from this text and tested case by case. |
| The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) Order 2026 (SI 2026/896) legislation.gov.uk | The amending order itself: wall and balcony panels, plug-in solar, stand-alone panels and the transitional period to 26 August 2027. |
| Conservation areas and conservation area appraisals Cheshire West and Chester Council | The council’s list of 96 conservation areas, thirteen of them named Chester, and its linked documents (the Chester Rows design guide 2023 and area appraisals). |
| Conservation area dataset planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG) | Cross-check of the council’s conservation areas (95 records for Cheshire West and Chester) and a search for Article 4 records (none held for the borough on the day we checked). |
| Census 2021 tables TS044, TS054 and TS046 by 2022 ward Office for National Statistics, via Nomis | Census 2021 tables TS044 (accommodation type), TS054 (tenure) and TS046 (central heating) for the seven 2022 wards that make up the city, downloaded from Nomis. We add the ward counts for the city totals. |
| Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS 5.3) European Commission Joint Research Centre | Fifty-six runs of PVGIS 5.3 for central Chester (53.1905 N, 2.8919 W): eight directions by seven pitches, 1 kWp, 14% system losses, PVGIS-SARAH3 data 2005-2023. The output estimator multiplies these by the system size you choose. |
| Solar photovoltaic (PV) cost data, 2025/26 (published 28 May 2026) Department for Energy Security and Net Zero | The 2025/26 cost per kW from MCS records (published 28 May 2026): UK medians £1,595 (up to 4 kW) and £1,546 (4 to 10 kW); North West averages £1,800 and £1,627. Our ballpark tables multiply these by system size and round to the nearest £100. |
| Renewable electricity by local authority, 2014 to 2025 (published 29 Sep 2026) Department for Energy Security and Net Zero | Solar PV sites in Cheshire West and Chester at the end of each year, 2019 to 2025 (published 29 September 2026). |
| Connecting to the grid SP Energy Networks | The network operator for Chester and its connection process. |
| Switch Together Solar Cheshire West and Chester Council | Switch Together Solar: who runs it, how the auction works, the closing date of the latest round and installations in earlier rounds. |
| Support schemes (home energy) Cheshire West and Chester Council | Warm Homes: Local Grant eligibility and delivery in west Cheshire, and the council’s note on ECO4 (to 31 December 2026) and the Great British Insulation Scheme (ended 31 March 2026). |
| Apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant GOV.UK | Where to apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant. |
| VAT on energy-saving materials and heating equipment (VAT Notice 708/6) HM Revenue & Customs | The 0% VAT rate on installed solar and batteries until 31 March 2027 and 5% from 1 April 2027. |
| Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) Ofgem | How the Smart Export Guarantee works and who must offer it. |
| Warm Homes Loan Scheme factsheet GOV.UK | The Warm Homes Loan Scheme, explained in general terms only. |
| Case study: Chester Cathedral (Advice Note 18, adapting historic buildings for energy and carbon efficiency) Historic England | The Chester Cathedral solar installation as a heritage case study. |
| Solar panels installed at Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral | The cathedral’s own account of its panels. |
| Search the National Heritage List for England Historic England | Where readers can check whether a building is listed. |
| Find an MCS certified installer MCS | Where readers can check an installer’s certification. |
| Find and update company information Companies House | Where readers can check a firm’s trading history. |
| Find a TrustMark registered business TrustMark | A further register readers can use. |
| The climate emergency Cheshire West and Chester Council | The council’s climate emergency declaration (21 May 2019) and its 2045 carbon-neutral goal for the borough. |
Known limits
PVGIS models an unshaded roof at one point in the city; real roofs lose output to shade and differ in equipment. The DESNZ cost data covers MCS-registered installations and gives medians nationally and averages by region, not Chester prices. Census 2021 describes households, not roofs. Conservation-area boundaries and Article 4 directions are the council’s to confirm. Read the figures as a well-sourced starting point, then test them against written quotes; the guides to choosing an installer and costs show how, and the FAQs answer the common questions. Who publishes the guide is set out on about this guide; to report an error, use the contact page. What happens to what you send is in the privacy notice and the terms of use.