Solar Planning and Funding in the Lothians

A solar enquiry for a home in Edinburgh, Midlothian, East Lothian, or West Lothian starts with the roof, the planning rule that applies to that building, and a check of current funding on the Home Energy Scotland page. The price is the quote after the survey. This note leaves grant amounts on that page.

You can usually put solar panels on your house without a planning application when they stick out by 1 metre or less from the wall or roof. You need to apply if the house is listed, in the grounds of a listed building, or in a World Heritage Site. In a conservation area, the panels go on the back of the house, or on a side that faces away from the road.

Scottish Government Circular 1/2024 (28 May 2024) · correct as of 3 October 2026

The same national rules cover flats. Solar on a flat follows the solar rules, and a heat pump follows the heat pump rules. In a conservation area, or in the grounds of a listed building, other changes to the outside of a flat need a planning application.

Circular 1/2024, flats · correct as of 3 October 2026

Panels on a smaller building in the grounds stick out by 500 millimetres or less, and that building sits behind the front of the house. You need to apply if that building is listed, in the grounds of a listed building, or in a World Heritage Site. Equipment that is no longer used for generation comes down as soon as is practical.

Scottish Government Circular 1/2024 (28 May 2024) · correct as of 3 October 2026

On a listed Edinburgh building, or in a conservation area, the council looks for panels away from elevations the public can see. The alternatives it describes are a secondary roof slope, a spot hidden from the main views, and a smaller building in the grounds. Where listed building consent is required, it stays in place. Parts of central Edinburgh are a World Heritage Site, which is one of the cases that needs a planning application.

Edinburgh listed building and conservation area guidance · Scottish Government Circular 1/2024 (28 May 2024) · correct as of 3 October 2026

Read solar on listed Edinburgh homes and the Edinburgh page. Midlothian, East Lothian, West Lothian, and Penicuik use the same national circular. If the building might be listed or in a conservation area, the survey records that before the layout is fixed.

The Home Energy Scotland table covers heat pumps, heat network connections, solar thermal, solar PV-T, biomass, wind, and hydro. Standalone solar PV and a home battery sit outside that list. The PV-T line is limited to solar PV-T systems. Check the page for the home before you rely on funding.

Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan · correct as of 3 October 2026

Home Energy Scotland is the free advice service funded by the Scottish Government. The scheme page lists the measures and the current grant and loan rules. Read that page for the amounts. Where the funding pays for a renewable system, check that the installer and the product are MCS certified. Micro-hydro is the published exception. That check belongs to the application.

Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan · correct as of 3 October 2026

The survey and the quote are the documents an application is likely to ask for: the proposed layout and an itemised price. On the Home Energy Scotland process, installation waits for a written funding offer where that scheme is paying for the work. The grants guide collects the scheme.

Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan · correct as of 3 October 2026

The survey records orientation, pitch, shading from trees, chimneys, neighbouring buildings, and dormers, the condition of the covering, and the clear area between obstructions. A south-facing pitch and an east or west pitch are both usable. The layout and the inverter follow the shading on that roof. If the covering needs work soon, that work comes before the panels. Panel counts are set in the quote for the roof that was seen.

The form asks for the postcode and the work you want priced. The survey looks at the roof, the electrics, and a place for the inverter and any battery. The quote names the layout, the equipment, the electrical work, and the labour, including scaffold where the roof needs it. Planning questions for that building are settled before the install. The distribution network operator is notified where the connection rules require it, and the quote names that step.

Installation is the scaffold, the panels, the inverter, the connection, and the tests. At handover you get the paperwork for the job and an explanation of how to monitor the system. Ask which certificates the job includes, including any certificate a funding scheme or an export tariff asks you to show.

Your electricity supplier has to pay you for solar electricity you send back to the grid. This is the Smart Export Guarantee. It covers solar in Great Britain up to 5MW. The rate stays above zero. The supplier chooses the pence rate, how long the contract lasts, and how you apply. You can compare suppliers.

Smart Export Guarantee · correct as of 3 October 2026

For a home solar system up to 50kW, the supplier asks you to show the kit and the installer are certified. An MCS certificate is the usual example. Other schemes that meet EN 45011 or EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012 also count. For systems above 50kW and up to 5MW, the guidance asks for a certificate for the installation.

Ofgem generator guidance · correct as of 3 October 2026

The installation page is solar panels. Storage is battery storage. Export payments are on the Smart Export Guarantee post. The workshop is Unit 2b Eastfield Industrial Estate, Penicuik, EH26 8HA. Get my quote starts the visit.