Solar panels · Devon

Solar panels in Devon

Devon is our home county, and our own team designs and fits solar panels, with battery storage where it suits, for homes right across it. Our base is Allerford Farm in Lewdown, near Okehampton and about three miles from the border with Cornwall, and we work from Dartmoor villages to Exeter and Plymouth.

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Haytor, a granite tor on Dartmoor, at sunset, with two people standing on its summit
  • MCS certified, NICEIC Approved Contractor
  • RECC, Renewable Energy Consumer Code member
  • TrustMark registered
Solar already installed
50,199

solar installations across Devon’s eight districts by the end of 2025 (provisional)

Built before 1900
21.9%

of properties in the eight districts built before 1900 (England 14.9%)

Off the gas grid
31.6%

of domestic properties in the eight districts off the gas grid (England 15.6%)

Where we are

Solar panels for Devon homes, from a West Devon base

Allerford Farm sits in West Devon Borough Council’s area, near the A30. Devon’s planning is split between several councils and two National Park Authorities, so the first planning question is where you live.

For the two cities, see Plymouth solar installation and solar panels in Exeter; over the border, the same team covers solar panels for Cornish homes, and every town and county we cover is listed together.

Old and detached

Older houses, detached homes and traditional materials

In 2021, 35.8% of households in the county council area lived in a detached home, against 22.9% across England, and the Valuation Office Agency dates 21.9% of the area’s properties before 1900 (England 14.9%, West Devon 31.9%).

The county council’s historic environment pages describe farmhouses of cob and thatch, and 65% of Dartmoor is granite. Our survey looks at how your roof is built, which way it faces, its shading and its space.

Panels can go on a pitched roof, a flat roof or the ground; free-standing panels in a home’s grounds are capped at 9 square metres under permitted development (work that needs no planning application).

Distance from our base

Towns across Devon

Miles from Allerford Farm, Lewdown, as the crow flies.

The 23 Devon towns on our map, nearest first. Tavistock is the closest at 8 miles and Honiton the farthest at 47.

  • Tavistock8 mi
  • Okehampton12 mi
  • Holsworthy13 mi
  • Hatherleigh14 mi
  • Plymouth19 mi
  • Great Torrington22 mi
  • Ivybridge22 mi
  • Bideford26 mi
  • Crediton27 mi
  • Newton Abbot28 mi
  • Totnes28 mi
  • Barnstaple31 mi
  • Exeter31 mi
  • South Molton31 mi
  • Kingsbridge32 mi
  • Torquay34 mi
  • Dartmouth35 mi
  • Exmouth36 mi
  • Tiverton37 mi
  • Ilfracombe39 mi
  • Lynton44 mi
  • Sidmouth44 mi
  • Honiton47 mi

Planning and landscape

National Parks, National Landscapes and planning in Devon

35%

of the county lies in a National Park or a National LandscapeDevon County Council

Dartmoor and Exmoor National Parks and five National Landscapes, the new name for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, cover 35% of Devon. North Devon Coast, East Devon and South Devon lie wholly in the county, while the Tamar Valley and the Blackdown Hills cross its boundary.

Exmoor National Park Authority (a third of the Park lies in Devon) suggests rear roof slopes, matte black panels or well-screened ground arrays, and warns that a listed building will very likely need listed building consent for panels.

Across the Parks, the National Landscapes and conservation areas, national rules revised from 27 August 2026 require a prior-approval application for flat-roof panels, where the planning authority checks their appearance first. We check whether your home needs one at the survey.

Fuel and the network

Off-gas homes and Devon’s electricity network

The government’s 2024 estimates show about 31.6% of domestic properties across the eight districts with no mains gas meter, rising to 43.7% in West Devon and 48.4% in Torridge, and in 2021 one household in ten in the county council area (10.1%) relied on oil alone for heating, against 3.2% for England.

Panels produce electricity, not warmth, so the design follows your household’s electricity use. Solar battery storage holds daytime electricity for the evening, and if your home runs on oil, our article on what oil prices have to do with solar is worth a read.

Devon’s local electricity network belongs to National Grid Electricity Distribution (South West). Your system may need approval from National Grid before we can connect it. This is called a G99 application. We handle the application for you and keep you updated while we wait for their response.

Checked facts

8 verifiable local data points on this page.

  1. Protected landscapeDartmoor and Exmoor National Parks and Devon’s five National Landscapes together cover 35% of the county.Devon County Council
  2. Park planning authorityInside Dartmoor National Park, the National Park Authority is the only local planning authority.Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 4A
  3. Detached homes35.8% of households in the Devon County Council area lived in a detached home at the 2021 Census, against 22.9% across England.Census 2021 (ONS)
  4. Built before 190021.9% of properties in the Devon County Council area were built before 1900, against 14.9% across England.Valuation Office Agency
  5. Off the gas gridAn estimated 31.6% of domestic properties across Devon’s eight districts had no mains gas meter in 2024, against 15.6% across England.Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
  6. Solar already installedGovernment figures counted 50,199 solar installations across Devon’s eight districts at the end of 2025 (provisional).Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
  7. Network operatorDevon is served by National Grid Electricity Distribution’s South West network.Energy Networks Association
  8. Mining World Heritage SiteThe Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site includes the Tavistock and Tamar Valley areas.Devon County Council

Data last reviewed:

Solar so far

Devon’s solar so far, and how we work here

By the end of 2025 the eight districts had 50,199 solar installations of every size between them, with 831.61 megawatts (MW) of capacity, in provisional government figures. Homes that already have panels can talk to us about adding a battery to existing panels.

For a new system, the free site survey and a no-obligation quote come first. We design in Easy PV Pro, deciding how many panels you need and which battery, if any, suits you, and our own installers usually finish a home in one to three days. No pushy sales pitches, ever.

Your installation is covered by our 10-year workmanship warranty, which stands apart from each manufacturer’s product warranty, and comes with a year of The Solar Owners Club, whose members get an annual system health check and a dedicated support line. Here is how our solar panel installation works, step by step.

Reviews

From Devon.

From members of The Solar Owners Club in Devon. You’ll find more reviews from across Devon and Cornwall, on Google, Trustpilot and Facebook, on our reviews page.

  • Chuffed to bits with our upgraded system - working better than ever! Thanks guys.
    P&M, DevonOwners Club member

Questions

Solar panels in Devon: your questions.

It depends on your address. Householder applications go to the district, borough or city council, such as West Devon Borough Council or Exeter City Council, or to Plymouth City Council or Torbay Council. Inside Dartmoor or Exmoor National Park, the National Park Authority is the only planning authority.

Often without a planning application. Dartmoor National Park Authority says roof panels on houses usually don’t need permission unless they project more than 20 cm, sit above the ridge, or go on a listed building or a flat roof. Permitted development rights can also be removed by a planning condition or an Article 4 Direction, so we check for both.

Partly. With the two National Parks they cover 35% of Devon, and the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape takes in the Tavistock and Tamar Valley areas. Within the usual limits, roof panels on an unlisted house there need no planning application, but a flat-roof array needs prior approval, and inside the World Heritage Site, walls, balconies and roof enclosures facing a road are off limits.

Government estimates for 2024 put 31.6% of Devon’s domestic properties, across its eight districts, without a mains gas meter: roughly double England’s 15.6%. That’s why the survey looks at how your home is heated as well as how you use electricity.

Age alone doesn’t rule it out: 21.9% of properties in the county council area were built before 1900. What matters is the roof’s structure and condition, which way it faces and what shades it, and whether the house is listed, because a listed house sits outside permitted development. The survey covers all of it.

Nearby

Solar panels nearby.

Also in Devon

Next steps

Ready to talk about solar panels in Devon?

Tell us where you live and how you use electricity at home. We’ll survey your roof, check the planning picture for your address and quote clearly, with no obligation, for solar panels designed around your Devon home. If solar isn’t the right fit, we’ll tell you. Book a site survey online to get started.

Call us07441 369 505

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Allerford Farm, Lewdown, Okehampton, Devon EX20 4PU
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