Solar Panels in Lincolnshire

Three South Lincolnshire Towns, One Planning Authority

Our Lincolnshire pages cover Stamford, Grantham and Market Deeping — all in South Kesteven, so one district council decides planning for all three. For an address elsewhere in Lincolnshire, ring us to check that we cover it before you book a survey.

Stamford is the one to know about. Its historic core was designated in 1967, just after the Civic Amenities Act created conservation areas, and is credited as the first in England (Stamford Civic Society). Many of its stone buildings are roofed in Collyweston stone slate — a limestone rather than a true slate, found in a small area of the East Midlands around Stamford and one of only ten localised areas of England where local stone roofing survives on historic houses (Collyweston Stone Slaters’ Trust); the town’s urban survey also records red pantiles. A stone-slate roof is the covering where a survey matters most, because panels have to fix to the structure beneath rather than to the stone, and the right fixing depends on what you have.

South Kesteven District Council made a formal declaration of climate emergency on 26 September 2019, with a political ambition to cut the council’s own carbon footprint by at least 30% by 2030 and to reach net zero as soon as viable before 2050 (SKDC, November 2023).

What a Roof Makes in South Lincolnshire

PVGIS, the European Commission’s solar model, was run for each town with satellite data for 2005–2023 and 14% system losses, for 1kWp of panels on a south-facing roof pitched at 35°. These are the highest figures in our patch — Leicester is 981 kWh per kWp by the same method and Telford 971:

For comparison, Ofgem’s typical household electricity figures are 1,600, 2,500 and 3,800 kWh a year (low, medium and high, from 1 July 2026). A roof pitched at 10° makes about 10% less (929 kWh per kWp at Stamford). Most of the output arrives in summer daytime — Stamford makes about 122 kWh per kWp in June and 36 in December — so a battery matters more than a bigger array; our battery sizing guide shows how to size one.

Planning, Stone Roofs and Listed Buildings

Most South Lincolnshire houses need no planning application for solar. Roof panels on a house are permitted development in England (Class A of Part 14, Schedule 2 of the General Permitted Development Order), and a conservation area does not by itself change that for roof slopes — nationally, only panels on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure that fronts a highway are excluded. Three things can change the answer: an Article 4 Direction on your street, a flat-roof array in a conservation area (which needs the council’s prior approval before work starts), and a listed building — from 27 August 2026 a listed dwelling is outside the permitted-development rule altogether and needs planning permission as well as listed building consent. Ask South Kesteven District Council whether an Article 4 Direction covers your address; we check it at survey.

Stamford’s conservation area, and the many listed buildings inside it, are why the survey comes first: it records the roof covering, its condition and the structure beneath before any design is priced.

Two Network Operators in One County

Lincolnshire is split between distribution network operators. National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED, formerly Western Power Distribution) serves Stamford, Grantham and Lincoln; Gainsborough, Louth and Scunthorpe fall in Northern Powergrid’s area, and addresses near the Cambridgeshire border can be on UK Power Networks. Do not assume: the first two digits of the MPAN on your bill confirm it — 11 is NGED East Midlands, 23 is Northern Powergrid and 10 is UK Power Networks. We handle the notification before installation: G98 for systems up to 3.68kW per phase, G99 for anything larger.

Your Town’s Page

Dedicated local pages for each of the three towns, with local pricing, planning guidance and FAQs:

Funding and Export Income

There is no general solar grant to apply for. The support that reaches every household is zero-rated VAT on domestic solar and batteries until 31 March 2027, interest-free finance over 12 months, and the Smart Export Guarantee, which pays for what you send back to the grid — the SEG rates guide tracks the current table. Lower-income households in privately owned homes rated EPC D–G may qualify for the Warm Homes: Local Grant, which is delivered through local councils.

Solar in Lincolnshire: FAQs