Solar · Battery · EV — Sussex
Solar Panels Horsham
Solar panels, battery storage and EV chargers for homes in and around Horsham — designed from your actual usage, installed by an MCS-certified team, and explained in plain English before you commit to anything.
Horsham is a proper market town — the Causeway's stone-roofed cottages at one end, the Carfax and Horsham Park at the other, and a district that grew 11.8% between 2011 and 2021 to around 146,800 people. Sitting roughly 16 miles south-east of Guildford on the Sussex side of the county border, it's a town we quote for homes in and around: a mix of genuinely historic streets, large 20th-century suburbs like Roffey and Holbrook, and thousands of brand-new homes rising around the town's edges at Mowbray, Highwood Village and Kilnwood Vale.
We'll be straight with you: solar isn't right for every Horsham roof. A heavily shaded north-facing slope may never repay the outlay, and the town's historic Horsham Stone roofs shouldn't carry panels at all. But the district's housing is dominated by detached and semi-detached homes — around four in five households live in a house with its own roof — and many of those roofs are well worth assessing, especially paired with battery storage. If yours isn't a good fit, we'll tell you so and save you the money.
Solar on Horsham's housing
The Census 2021 numbers explain why a solar survey in Horsham is rarely wasted. Of the district's 62,371 households, 37.2% live in detached homes and 26.9% in semis, with terraces at 17.1% — about four in five households occupy a house with its own roof, against just 15.6% in purpose-built flats. Ownership is high too: 72.3% of households own their home, 39.3% outright and 33.0% with a mortgage, so the person reading the quote usually controls the roof. The 20th-century suburbs — Roffey, Littlehaven, Holbrook and Tower Hill — hold most of that practical, panel-friendly stock, along with villages just outside town such as Broadbridge Heath and Southwater.
Two caveats before anyone climbs on your roof. First, the historic core: the Causeway's famous roofs are laid in Horsham Stone slate, a local sandstone whose present-day sources SPAB describes as 'very scarce' — those roofs are for conserving, not drilling, and the town centre sits in one of the district's 39 conservation areas, where the council's own guidance says adding solar panels may need planning permission. Second, the opposite end of the market: Horsham's new-build belt is enormous — Mowbray's 2,750 homes north of the A264, Highwood Village (around 700 of some 1,100 homes complete as of August 2022) and Kilnwood Vale's 2,500 homes at Faygate — modern roofs where an install is usually straightforward.
What Horsham District Council is doing
Horsham District Council declared a climate and ecological emergency on 26 June 2019, with an aspiration for the council's own direct emissions to be net zero by 2030 and its indirect emissions by 2050; its Climate Action Strategy sets out a recommended pathway for the district as a whole to reach net zero by 2050. Worth being clear: that's a council pledge plus a pathway, not a legally binding target for every home — but it does mean the council is publicly committed to supporting domestic renewables.
Practically, two things matter. Horsham households have been covered by Solar Together Sussex, the group-buying scheme West Sussex County Council has led with iChoosr since 2020 — in the 2021 round, Sussex homeowners saved an average of 27% on solar panels and 37% on battery storage. The original contract expired in August 2024 and a successor pan-Sussex scheme starting in 2025 was approved in March 2025, so check the current round's status rather than assuming it's open. And if your home sits in one of the district's 39 conservation areas — or in the South Downs National Park to the south — email planning@horsham.gov.uk before committing to anything.
What solar costs on a Horsham home
The honest national anchor is the Energy Saving Trust's: a typical domestic system is around 4.5 kWp — roughly around 12 panels over 20 to 30m² of roof — and costs around £7,600 installed. On their payback table, with export payments and fuel prices as of July 2026, London homes sit at about 9 years.
Two things move that number for everyone. Residential installations carry 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, reverting to 5% from 1 April 2027. And export payments under the Smart Export Guarantee are set by each supplier and must be above zero — they change on short notice, which is why we never print one. A quote should itemise the panels, inverter, mounting, scaffolding, labour, commissioning, warranties and the DNO notification, so you can see what the total is made of — ours does, and it comes from a survey of your actual roof and usage, not from a table.
Sources: Energy Saving Trust — Solar panels: costs, savings and benefits explained (updated 27 August 2026) · HMRC — VAT on energy-saving materials and heating equipment (VAT Notice 708/6) · Ofgem — Smart Export Guarantee.
When we'd tell you not to fit solar in Horsham
A persistently shaded roof, a slope that faces mostly north, a listed building where consent will not carry the fixings, or a home whose daytime usage is so low that almost everything would be exported at a supplier-set rate — in those cases we will say so at the survey rather than sell you a system that under-delivers. Fabric-first improvements sometimes beat panels as the first spend, and we would rather tell you that than not.
Whoever you use, check the registers yourself: HCE is NAPIT member 73495 and an HIES Consumer Code member (HCE/A/1392), with MCS certification for solar PV via NAPIT — the certification an MCS-certified install needs for Smart Export Guarantee payments.
Local facts, sourced
Horsham in numbers
Every figure below comes from a named public source — the same standard we hold our savings estimates to.
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The nearest Met Office station with published long-term averages — North Heath, near Pulborough, about 10 miles south of Horsham — averaged 1,621 hours of sunshine a year over 1991–2020, peaking at around 216 hours in July.
Source: Met Office, location-specific long-term averages, North Heath station
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Census 2021: of Horsham district's 62,371 households, 37.2% live in detached homes, 26.9% in semis and 17.1% in terraces — roughly four in five households occupy a house with its own roof.
Source: ONS Census 2021, table TS044 (Accommodation type), via Nomis
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72.3% of Horsham district households own their home — 39.3% outright and 33.0% with a mortgage or loan — among the housing conditions that make solar practical here.
Source: ONS Census 2021, table TS054 (Tenure), via Nomis
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Horsham District Council declared a climate and ecological emergency on 26 June 2019, aspiring to net zero for its direct emissions by 2030 and indirect emissions by 2050, with a recommended pathway for the whole district to reach net zero by 2050.
Source: mySociety CAPE; HDC Climate Action Strategy
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Horsham residents were covered by Solar Together Sussex, the WSCC-led group-buying scheme run with iChoosr since 2020; in the 2021 round Sussex homeowners saved on average 27% on solar panels and 37% on battery storage. The contract expired in August 2024 and a successor scheme starting 2025 was approved in March 2025 — check the current round's status.
Source: WSCC decision ECC11 (24/25); Rother District Council Solar Together news
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There are 39 conservation areas in Horsham district, 17 with adopted character statements including Horsham Town Centre; the council's guidance lists 'add solar panels' among alterations that may require planning permission in a conservation area.
Source: Horsham District Council, conservation areas and planning permission guidance
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The district's population grew 11.8% between 2011 and 2021 to about 146,800, with major new neighbourhoods under construction around the town: Mowbray (2,750 homes north of the A264), Highwood Village (around 700 of some 1,100 homes complete as of August 2022) and Kilnwood Vale at Faygate (2,500 homes).
Source: ONS Census 2021; Sussex Express; Crest Nicholson
Data last reviewed: July 2026
Where we work around Horsham
We quote for homes in and around Horsham, including Roffey, Holbrook, Littlehaven, Tower Hill, Broadbridge Heath and Southwater, across the RH12, RH13 postcode districts. 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 Sussex.
Horsham solar questions
Do I need planning permission for solar panels in Horsham?
Most Horsham homes can fit panels under permitted development rights, but there are real exceptions. The district has 39 conservation areas — 17 with adopted character statements, including Horsham Town Centre and The Causeway — and the council's own guidance lists 'add solar panels' among alterations that may need permission there. Listed buildings always need consent, and homes in the district's south fall under the South Downs National Park Authority for planning. If in doubt, email planning@horsham.gov.uk before ordering anything — a quick check that avoids expensive mistakes.
Which electricity network handles solar connections in Horsham?
Horsham's RH12 and RH13 postcodes sit in UK Power Networks' South Eastern licence area — the former SEEBOARD patch covering Kent, Sussex, south London and parts of Surrey — so the G98 or G99 notification for your solar panels or battery goes to UKPN, not SSEN, whose Southern Electric area lies further west, including around Guildford. Your installer handles that paperwork, but if you want to confirm your own address, the Energy Networks Association's find-my-network-operator lookup gives the definitive answer.
Is there a council-backed solar scheme for Horsham residents?
There has been. Solar Together Sussex is a group-buying scheme West Sussex County Council has led with delivery partner iChoosr since 2020; in the 2021 round, homeowners across Sussex saved an average of 27% on solar panels and 37% on battery storage. The original four-year contract expired in August 2024, and in March 2025 WSCC approved procurement of a successor pan-Sussex scheme starting in 2025. Check the current round's status directly — and compare any group-buy quote against independent ones, since the cheapest headline isn't always the best install.
Does Horsham get enough sunshine for solar to be worthwhile?
Solar panels work everywhere in the UK — Horsham is neither unusually sunny nor unusually dull. For the actual local numbers: the nearest Met Office station with published long-term averages, at North Heath near Pulborough about 10 miles south of the town, averaged 1,621 hours of sunshine a year over 1991–2020, with around 200 or more hours in each of May, June and July. What matters far more than the town you live in is your roof — its orientation, pitch and shading — which is exactly what a proper survey establishes.
Can I put solar panels on an older Horsham roof?
It depends what it's made of. Horsham's historic town-centre roofs — most famously along The Causeway — are laid in Horsham Stone slate, which SPAB describes as 'very scarce' today, with availability of new stone declining. Those roofs are a conservation priority, not solar territory, and we'd say so plainly rather than quote for them. The practical candidates are the 20th-century suburbs — Roffey, Littlehaven, Holbrook, Tower Hill — plus villages in and around Horsham like Broadbridge Heath and Southwater, where standard tile and slate roofs take panels without drama.
Nearby
We also cover solar panels in Crawley, solar installation Cranleigh and Horley solar and battery installers.
Also for Horsham homes
Solar is usually the first step, not the last. If you are wondering whether a battery would pay its way, we can talk you through solar battery installation; if you are charging a car at home, we can talk you through home EV charger installation; if you are comparing battery brands, we can talk you through Sigenergy batteries; and if you are set on a particular battery, we can talk you through Powerwall storage. Every one of them starts the same way — a free survey of your actual roof, usage and property, and a straight answer about whether it is worth doing.