Solar · Battery · EV — Surrey
Solar Panels Caterham
Solar panels, battery storage and EV chargers for homes in and around Caterham — designed from your actual usage, installed by an MCS-certified team, and explained in plain English before you commit to anything.
Caterham is really two towns wearing one name. The older settlement of Caterham-on-the-Hill sits high on the North Downs, while Caterham Valley — the shopping streets around the station — grew up as a Victorian railway town after the branch line arrived in 1856, and trains still terminate there today. The 2021 census counted 22,747 people across the built-up area, tucked into an upper valley cut into the dip slope of the Downs, some 21 miles east of Guildford at Surrey's border with Greater London. We quote for solar on homes in and around Caterham, and this page collects what is genuinely worth knowing before you ask anyone for numbers.
Geography matters more here than in most Surrey towns. Elevations run from about 110m along the railway in the Valley up to 236m at Gravelly Hill — the seventh-highest point in Surrey — so two otherwise similar houses can present quite different roof aspects depending on which side of the valley they occupy. That is precisely the sort of thing a proper survey settles: whether your slope faces the light, whether battery storage earns its keep alongside the panels, and whether solar stacks up for your house at all. If it doesn't, we'll tell you plainly — the same approach we take across our Surrey pages.
Solar on Caterham's housing
The housing mix is more varied than Caterham's commuter-town reputation suggests. Census 2021 figures for the Caterham Valley MSOA show 35.3% detached and 21.4% semi-detached houses, just 6.2% terraced — alongside a substantial 30.5% purpose-built flats, many close to the station. Put another way, over half of homes are detached or semis with their own unshared, pitched roofs: the most straightforward candidates for PV. The flats mostly sit outside what rooftop solar can serve unless a freeholder acts for the whole block. Tenure leans firmly toward ownership too — 34.5% of Valley households own outright and 37.9% own with a mortgage, roughly 72% owner-occupied — the group that can move from survey to install without anyone else's consent.
History left clear fingerprints on the stock. The Valley's streets filled in through Victorian expansion once the railway arrived; the Hill kept more of the older settlement's fabric; and the former Caterham Barracks — a Foot Guards depot from 1877 until closure in 1995 — has since been redeveloped for housing and mixed uses, and now sits within its own conservation area. On paperwork rather than bricks, homes in the CR3 postcode district average an EPC score of 67 — band D. That is the best result among Tandridge's five postcode districts, yet still short of the band C threshold, which is another way of saying most Caterham homes have documented headroom for energy improvements, solar included.
What Tandridge District Council is doing
Tandridge District Council declared a climate emergency in February 2020, and its Climate Action Plan works towards carbon neutrality by 2050. It has practised a measure of what it preaches: solar panels and LED lighting have cut emissions at its Oxted offices, and 151 council homes have received solar panels, better insulation and triple-glazed windows through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. Planning here also has an unusually active local voice — the Caterham, Chaldon and Whyteleafe Neighbourhood Plan first passed referendum in May 2021 and was adopted that year, and a revised version covering 2025–2040 was endorsed at a fresh referendum on 7 May 2026 and ratified by the council on 18 June 2026, keeping locally written design policies in play.
For households, the practical scheme is Solar Together Surrey — the county council's group-buying programme, run with iChoosr, in which approved installers compete in a reverse auction to bring down the cost of solar PV and battery storage. Tandridge District Council is one of the participating authorities, and the scheme ran a fresh round in 2025 with installations completing into 2026. Registration is free and carries no obligation, and it makes a sensible benchmark: comparing the group offer against an independent quote — including ours — is exactly how we'd suggest using it.
Local facts, sourced
Caterham in numbers
Every figure below comes from a named public source — the same standard we hold our savings estimates to.
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Tandridge district has 19 designated conservation areas, and two sit on Caterham's doorstep: the Caterham Barracks conservation area (designated 1996, 11 hectares — the former 19th-century Guards barracks, now redeveloped for mixed uses) and Chaldon's historic village centre (designated 1973, 7 hectares, centred on the church and Chaldon Court). Panel siting and visibility need checking before installing within either.
Source: Tandridge District Council — Conservation areas
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Tandridge District Council declared a climate emergency in February 2020 and its Climate Action Plan works towards carbon neutrality by 2050; the council has cut emissions at its Oxted offices with solar panels and LED lighting, and fitted solar panels, better insulation and triple-glazed windows to 151 council homes through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
Source: Tandridge District Council — Climate Change
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Caterham households can join Solar Together Surrey, the county council's group-buying scheme run with iChoosr, in which approved installers compete in a reverse auction to cut the cost of solar PV and battery storage — Tandridge District Council is one of the participating authorities, and the scheme ran a fresh round in 2025 with installations completing into 2026.
Source: Surrey County Council — Solar Together Surrey
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Homes in Caterham's CR3 postcode district average an EPC score of 67 — band D, and the best-performing of Tandridge's five postcode districts (the district averages 66 across 20,927 lodged certificates, with 3.4% of Tandridge homes rated F or G, above the 2.9% national average) — so most local roofs belong to homes with clear headroom for energy upgrades like solar.
Source: EPC.Report — Tandridge council area
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Caterham's electricity network is operated by UK Power Networks, whose South Eastern Power Networks licence area takes in east Surrey including Caterham — this is the DNO that handles the G98/G99 grid-connection notifications and approvals for new solar and battery installations in CR3.
Source: UK Power Networks — operating areas
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Caterham occupies an upper valley cut into the dip slope of the North Downs, with elevations ranging from about 110m along the railway in Caterham Valley up to 236m at Gravelly Hill — the seventh-highest point in Surrey — so roof orientation and slope aspect vary noticeably between the Hill and the Valley sides of town.
Source: Wikipedia — Caterham
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Caterham's housing stock is unusually varied for a Surrey commuter town: 2021 census data for the Caterham Valley MSOA shows 35.3% detached, 21.4% semi-detached and 6.2% terraced houses alongside a substantial 30.5% purpose-built flats — the detached and semi-detached majority giving plenty of unshared, pitched roof space for PV.
Source: censusdata.uk — Caterham Valley MSOA, TS044 accommodation type (Census 2021)
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The Caterham, Chaldon and Whyteleafe Neighbourhood Plan first passed referendum in May 2021 and was adopted by Tandridge District Council that year; a revised plan covering 2025–2040 was endorsed at a fresh referendum on 7 May 2026 and ratified by the council on 18 June 2026, keeping locally-written design and development policies in play for the town.
Source: Tandridge District Council — Neighbourhood Plan Referendum / CCWNP (ccwnp.org.uk)
Data last reviewed: July 2026
Where we work around Caterham
We quote for homes in and around Caterham, including Caterham-on-the-Hill, Caterham Valley, Chaldon, Whyteleafe, Woldingham, Kenley, Old Coulsdon and Hamsey Green, across the CR3 postcode district. Every quote starts with a free survey of your actual roof and usage — if solar wouldn't pay its way on your home, we'll say so plainly. Try the numbers first on our savings calculator, or read how we approach installations across Surrey.
Caterham solar questions
Do I need planning permission for solar panels in Caterham's conservation areas?
Usually not for a roof install — roof-mounted solar on a house is normally permitted development in England, and in conservation areas the specific restriction is on panels fixed to a wall fronting a highway, not the roof. Caterham has two conservation areas on its doorstep among Tandridge's 19: Caterham Barracks (designated 1996, 11 hectares, the redeveloped former Guards barracks) and Chaldon's historic village centre (designated 1973, 7 hectares, centred on the church and Chaldon Court). Within either, panel siting and visibility deserve a check before anything is fixed, and listed buildings always need listed building consent. We look at the specific address before we quote, not after.
Which electricity network handles solar connections in Caterham?
Caterham sits with UK Power Networks — its South Eastern Power Networks licence area takes in east Surrey, including CR3. That's a different operator from west Surrey towns like Woking or Farnham, which fall under SSEN, so don't be surprised if a friend across the county names a different company. The practical point: UKPN is the network your installer notifies about a new solar or battery system — a G98 notification for smaller installs, or a G99 application approved before installation for larger ones. It's paperwork the installer handles; you just benefit from knowing which network your paperwork is going to.
Is there a council-backed solar scheme for Caterham homes?
Yes — Solar Together Surrey, the county council's group-buying scheme run with iChoosr. Approved installers compete in a reverse auction to cut the cost of solar PV and battery storage, Tandridge District Council is one of the participating authorities, and the scheme ran a fresh round in 2025 with installations completing into 2026. Registration is free with no obligation, though rounds open and close, so check what is currently live before counting on it. Our honest suggestion: register, then compare the group offer against an independent quote — a fair price should stand that comparison, and we're happy to be one of the numbers you weigh.
Does it matter whether my house is on the Hill or in the Valley?
It can. Caterham climbs from about 110m by the railway in the Valley to 236m at Gravelly Hill — the seventh-highest point in Surrey — and because the town is folded into a North Downs valley, roof orientation and slope aspect genuinely vary between the two sides. Altitude itself makes no meaningful difference to generation; which way your roof faces and what shades it make all of it. A south-, east- or west-facing slope clear of trees and neighbouring ridgelines performs well on either side of town. That's why we survey the actual roof rather than quoting from a postcode — the valley makes averages less useful here than in flatter towns.
My Caterham home is EPC band D — is solar still worth it?
You're in the majority. Homes in CR3 average an EPC score of 67 — band D, and actually the best of Tandridge's five postcode districts, against a district average of 66 across 20,927 lodged certificates. Some 3.4% of Tandridge homes sit at F or G, above the 2.9% national average, so the local stock has real room to improve. Solar can absolutely be part of a band D home's answer, though for older Hill-side properties we'd usually discuss insulation and draught-proofing in the same breath — cutting waste first makes any array work harder. We won't promise savings figures; honest numbers depend on your roof, your usage and your tariff, and we set those out per house.
Nearby
We also cover solar panels in Redhill, solar installation Reigate and Croydon solar and battery installers.