Solar panel installers in Wimborne

Wimborne is where we’re based. DES Renewable Energy’s head office is here, which means that when we say we’re a local installer, we mean our vans start their day in this town — not that we’ve bought a Dorset phone number and a page on a website.

We install solar PV, battery storage and EV chargers across Wimborne, Colehill, Pamphill, Merley and the surrounding villages.

What’s different about solar in Wimborne

Wimborne isn’t a straightforward solar town, and any installer who tells you otherwise hasn’t looked properly.

The conservation area is large. Wimborne Minster’s town centre conservation area covers a great deal of the older housing. Panels generally can’t go on a roof slope forming the principal elevation if it fronts a highway — but a rear or side roof is very often fine. This is the single most common thing we have to work around here, and it’s usually solvable rather than fatal.

There are a lot of listed buildings. If your property is listed, you need listed building consent, and that’s a separate process from planning permission. We’ll tell you early rather than after you’ve got your hopes up.

The housing stock is mixed and often old. Plenty of Victorian and Edwardian roofs, some with original timbers. They’re frequently perfectly suitable, but they need a proper structural assessment rather than an assumption. We survey before we quote.

Newer estates are simpler. Merley, Colehill and the more recent developments tend to have modern trussed roofs with good orientation — usually a straightforward install.

Does solar actually work in Wimborne?

Still deciding? Our guide to the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy covers both sides honestly, including the drawbacks.

Yes. Dorset gets some of the better solar irradiance figures in the UK, and Wimborne is far enough inland to avoid the worst of the salt-air corrosion that coastal properties have to think about, while still getting good south-coast daylight totals.

Panels run on daylight, not direct sunshine. They generate on overcast days too, just at a lower rate. What matters is the annual total, not any single grey afternoon in February.

Why use us

We’re actually here. Head office in Wimborne. If something needs attention after the install, we’re not dispatching someone from three counties away.

MCS certified and NAPIT registered. The MCS certification matters practically — you need it to claim the Smart Export Guarantee and get paid for the electricity you export back to the grid.

No subcontractors. Every install is done by our own team. The people on your roof are our people.

An insurance-backed guarantee that protects your workmanship warranty even if we were to cease trading. Worth more than it sounds, given how many solar firms have appeared and vanished in the last few years.

Octopus Energy Trusted Partner. Octopus vet the installers they work with, and it opens up time-of-use tariffs that pair well with a battery.

A straight answer. If your roof is too shaded, faces the wrong way, or needs work first, we’ll say so. We’d rather lose a job than fit a system that won’t perform.

Next steps

Get a free, no-obligation quote, or arrange a call and we’ll talk through your roof, your electricity use and whether it stacks up.

Still weighing it up? Our solar FAQs answer the questions we get asked most. You can also see the rest of our Dorset coverage, or read about how our solar PV installation works.