Blandford Forum is one of the best-preserved Georgian towns in England, rebuilt in warm red brick and stone after the Great Fire of 1731 tore through the old timber-framed centre. That history shapes the town you see today: the Market Place, the parish church of St Peter and St Paul, and the streets running down to the River Stour are largely 18th-century, with newer estates spreading out from that core and villages such as Pimperne, Stourpaine, Durweston and Spetisbury sitting close by. DES Renewable Energy covers the whole DT11 area from our base in Wimborne, a short run south down the A350, and we’ve fitted solar, battery and EV charging systems on everything from listed-adjacent terraces to the newest houses on Badbury Park.
Why solar makes sense around Blandford
Dorset gets more sunshine hours across the year than most of the country, and Blandford Forum’s setting in the broad, low Stour valley means the town isn’t hemmed in by hills or heavy tree cover the way some inland towns are. Solar panels work from daylight, not direct sunshine, so a well-placed system keeps generating through the grey days that are just as common here as anywhere else in the south west. What actually determines your output is the pitch, orientation and any shading on your specific roof — not a postcode-level average — which is why every DES quote starts with a proper survey of your own property rather than a generic estimate.
What the town’s roofs mean for an installation
Blandford Forum has a genuinely mixed housing stock, and the right approach differs across it.
- Georgian and Victorian terraces and townhouses around the Market Place, Salisbury Street and East Street. Many of these sit in the town’s conservation area, so front-facing arrays need a careful, discreet approach; a rear slope or outbuilding roof is usually the simplest route to a system that performs well without drawing planning objections.
- Post-war and 1980s–90s estates around Blandford St Mary, Milldown and the Tabernacle area. Straightforward pitched roofs, often with a clear south or west aspect and a garage that can take extra panels.
- Newer developments at Badbury Park and other recent builds on the town’s eastern edge. Some already carry a small array fitted to meet building regulations; there is almost always room to expand that system or add a battery, which is one of the most common jobs we do on newer housing.
Out in the surrounding villages — Pimperne, Stourpaine, Durweston, Spetisbury, Charlton Marshall and Winterborne Whitechurch — bigger plots and outbuildings often mean more roof space and, in properties still on oil heating, a stronger case for generating your own electricity.
Solar, battery storage and EV charging
- Solar PV installation — a system sized to your roof and your household’s actual usage, with generation figures that hold up once it’s fitted, not just on paper.
- Battery storage — store what your panels generate during the day and use it in the evening, or top up overnight on a cheap-rate tariff. Especially worthwhile if the house is empty for most of the working day.
- EV charger installation — with the A350 and the Blandford bypass carrying a lot of commuter traffic towards Poole and Bournemouth, a home charger backed by your own solar changes the economics of daily driving considerably.
- Maintenance and repairs — inverter faults, panel cleaning and checks, and health-checks on systems originally fitted by installers who are no longer trading.
What it means for your bills
Every kilowatt-hour your panels generate and your household uses is one you don’t have to buy from your supplier, so the saving lands on your very next bill. A home without a battery typically uses somewhere between a third and a half of what it generates during the day; add a battery and that share climbs sharply, because the surplus is held back for the evening instead of being exported straight away. Whatever you don’t use can still earn money under the Smart Export Guarantee — and because DES is MCS-certified, your installation qualifies for SEG payments from day one. We give you property-specific numbers at the survey stage, not a national average dressed up as a quote.
MCS-certified, and installed by our own teams
DES Renewable Energy is MCS-certified, NAPIT-registered and a member of RECC, the industry code that governs how renewable energy installers are expected to quote, contract and stand behind their work. Just as importantly, our surveyors, electricians and roofing teams are directly employed by us rather than subcontracted out, so the people who design your system are the same people who answer for it afterwards. We also handle the DNO notification and the MCS registration for you as part of the job. Blandford Forum sits within our wider Dorset coverage — see the solar panels in Dorset hub for the other towns we work in across the county. Heading north up the A350 we also cover Shaftesbury and Gillingham.
Get a free solar quote in Blandford Forum
If you’re weighing up solar, a battery, or an EV charger for a home in Blandford Forum or one of the surrounding villages, start with a free, no-obligation quote. Tell us about your roof and roughly what you spend on electricity, and we’ll come back with a proper design, a realistic generation estimate and honest answers on payback. Request your free quote here, or call the team to talk it through with someone who knows the town.