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BCD Special Report on
Historic Churches
18th annual edition
27
Solar Photovoltaics
and Historic Places
of Worship
Diana Evans
M
any congregations
are keen
to explore the possibility of using
their place of worship to generate
energy from a renewable source. They are
usually driven by an ethical commitment to
carbon reduction but a financial assessment
of potential revenue from energy fed into the
national grid or an approach from a commercial
operator can also kick-start their interest.
Places of worship often have large south-
facing roof slopes, which can appear to be
ideal for generating energy via photovoltaic
(PV) cells. Such roofs, however, are often very
visible and are an important part of what makes
the building and its setting significant. To
preserve that significance, the visual impact
of any installation should be minimised.
This can sometimes be done by placing PV
panels behind parapets or on inward-facing
roof slopes. Alternative locations, such as
a church hall roof or a ground-mounted
solar collector might be more suitable.
Small PV units are also available; they
are intended to have a similar appearance to
natural Welsh slate and fit within the same
plane as the roof covering. Nevertheless,
these ‘solar slates’ also have a visual impact.
On listed buildings they may be acceptable
where the roofing material is not part of the
building’s historic entity and the whole slope
is in need of replacement. However, they have
a shorter lifespan than real slates so the cost
of more frequent maintenance, repair and
replacement must be taken into account.
Even the best designed and managed
installations are likely to cause some damage
to existing historic fabric. Fixing, maintaining
and decommissioning solar panels or slates
needs to be planned and agreed before the
installation takes place and those granting
authority for works must be completely satisfied
that the panels will not impede rainwater
disposal or obstruct crucial maintenance.
In May 2011 English Heritage (EH)
published a guidance note setting out an
approach to assessing proposals for the
installation of solar electric panels and slates
on historic places of worship. The information
Photovoltaic panels on the roof of the nave at Wing All Saints, Buckinghamshire (Photo: Martin Findlay)