FAQs
Short answers to the questions households in the borough ask while choosing an installer and comparing quotes. Each points to the fuller evidence elsewhere on the site.
Figures checked 4 November 2026. Written and published independently by SEO-DONS LTD, not by an installer.
Several topics have full pages: the quote checker, checking an installer, what a quote should include and costs. The answers below are the short versions.
They are general. Wigan Council decides planning, GMCA decides grant eligibility, and only a survey by an MCS-certified installer can confirm what your roof can take.
MCS suggests aiming for at least three quotes for your installation and checking that each price covers everything, commissioning included. Ask each firm to quote for the same size of system on the same slope so the prices can be compared fairly.
Not on price alone. Divide each quote by its size in kW and compare it with the North West mean (£2,021 per kW up to 4 kW, £1,768 for 4 to 10 kW, DESNZ 2025/26), then compare what each includes: scaffolding, the inverter, optimisers, the warranty and who notifies the network.
Set it against PVGIS for your roof. In central Wigan a south roof at 35° makes about 927 kWh a year per kW, and an east or west roof about 737 to 743. RECC members must follow set rules for performance estimates, so ask how the figure was calculated.
About 40° facing south gives the most over a year in central Wigan, 929 kWh per kW, but most pitched roofs are close enough that the difference is small. Panels laid flat make about 777.
Neither is better by definition. What matters is the same set of checks for both: MCS certification under the name on the contract, a consumer code, a written estimate and a clear price. A nearby firm may find aftercare visits easier to arrange, so ask how each handles faults.
The Energy Saving Trust says panels can last 25 years or more, while the inverter typically needs replacing at around 12 years. A quote should say what warranty covers each part.
Many installers ask for one. Before paying, ask how the deposit is protected if the firm stops trading. RECC says its members work to requirements on deposits as well as contracts, warranties and complaints.
The installer. Electricity North West runs the local network; for a system with inverters up to 16 A per phase (3.68 kW single-phase) the installer notifies it after commissioning, and larger systems need an application first.
Usually on the roof, within the limits. The borough has 23 conservation areas; panels on a wall or balcony facing a road there need permission, and a listed building needs listed building consent.
Not on installed panels in a home until 31 March 2027: the rate is 0%, rising to 5% from 1 April 2027. A quote should show the VAT line either way.
Small plug-in kits up to 800 W became legal to sell under the 2026 regulations and connect through an ordinary socket. A roof system is different: an export tariff needs an MCS-certified installation, and the installer deals with the network.
That is when deposit protection and an insurance-backed warranty matter. Ask about both before signing, and keep the MCS certificate and the warranty documents together.
Put it to us. The answer comes by email from SEO-DONS LTD, the guide's publisher.