Every guide, in one place

Where to begin

If you live in a terrace, the stacks along your ridge and the houses across the back alley are the first things to measure; the terraced houses page shows typical figures, and they are usually smaller than people fear. If your house dates from the 1960s or 1970s, the roof itself is likely to be straightforward, and the questions are about the tiles, the trusses and anything a neighbour has built since. If you are in Rainford, Rainhill, Vulcan Village or the High Street area of Newton-le-Willows, read the planning page before choosing which slope to use.

Some guides answer a narrow question in detail. Winter sun explains why long December shadows cost less than they look; trees and hedges sets out what you may do about a neighbour's; optimisers and microinverters covers the kit that limits the damage when shade cannot be avoided. Others, like the prices and grants pages, are the same questions every solar buyer asks, answered with St Helens figures.

Whatever the house, two things are worth doing before any firm visits: run each obstacle through the shade checker, and look up the regional price per kW, so that you can test the survey and the quote against something.

Shade

• Shade checker
  When one obstacle hides the sun, month by month.
• Doing a shade check
  Direction, rise, distance and width, measured from the ground.
• Chimneys and shade
  Five stacks worked out, and planning round one.
• Optimisers and microinverters
  When a shaded or split array needs them.
• Winter sun
  How low the sun gets, and why it matters less than it looks.
• Trees and hedges
  Shade that grows, and what the rules allow.

Homes and rules

• Terraced houses
  Short slopes, shared stacks, outriggers.
• 1960s and 1970s homes
  The borough's biggest building era.
• Planning and Article 4
  Eight conservation areas and four directions.
• St Helens in numbers
  Homes, ages, ratings and panels so far.

Money and choosing

• Prices
  North West costs applied to St Helens roofs.
• Worth it?
  A first year, with shade in the sum.
• Grants and loans
  The Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Warm Homes Loan, group buying, VAT.
• Batteries
  How much a small system leaves to store.
• Network connection
  G98, G99 and SP Energy Networks.
• Checking an installer
  Registers, the shade assessment, the quote.
• Looking after panels
  Monitoring, new shade, cleaning, birds.

Related pages

• FAQs
• Solar jargon
• Our sources
• About

References

1. NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory: general solar position calculations
2. PVGIS 5.3 photovoltaic estimates (EU Joint Research Centre)
3. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: solar PV cost data (2025/26)
4. St Helens Borough Council: conservation areas