Quick answer
Check the firm on the MCS list for solar, confirm it belongs to a consumer code such as RECC or HIES, and look up its record at Companies House. Get several written quotes with MCS performance estimates. In a rented home, the owner’s written consent must come before any survey. Never sign on the doorstep.
First: are you the one who can agree?
Before contacting any firm, settle whose decision it is. An owner-occupier can go ahead. A private tenant needs the landlord’s written agreement before anyone surveys the roof, because the survey is the first step towards altering the landlord’s building. A housing association or council tenant cannot appoint a firm at all; the landlord does that. A leaseholder in a flat needs the building owner’s consent under the lease. In every rented or leased case, get the owner’s written consent before booking any visit, so that nobody climbs a ladder on a building whose owner has not agreed. Who decides about solar sets out each case.
Check 1: the MCS list
MCS certifies firms and products for small-scale renewable systems. Search the MCS installer list for the firm and confirm three things: that it is listed for solar PV specifically, that the business name and address match the quote, and that its certification is current. Registration with MCS matters in practice as well as in principle. It is what lets the system be registered with an MCS certificate, which an export tariff under the SEG scheme requires, and grant-funded work normally expects it.
If a quote comes from a business whose name does not appear, ask which registered firm will issue the certificate and hold responsibility for the work. A firm that hesitates to give its certification number is worth leaving aside.
Check 2: a consumer code
Consumer codes are schemes, approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, that set rules for firms selling to households. In solar, RECC and HIES are the two most often met. Membership commits a firm to rules on sales practices, contracts, cancellation rights and deposit protection, and gives customers access to an independent dispute process if something goes wrong. Check the code’s own website to confirm the firm is listed. Where a grant scheme asks for TrustMark as well, check that too.
Check 3: Companies House
For a limited company, the public register at Companies House shows when it was set up, whether it is active, who its directors are, its registered address and whether its accounts and confirmation statements are filed on time. Look for warning signs: overdue filings, a very recent incorporation behind a long claimed history, frequent changes of name, or directors linked to a string of dissolved companies. A sole trader or partnership will not appear there, so check its registrations and insurance in other ways.
Check 4: insurance and warranties
Ask for evidence of public liability insurance before anyone works on the roof. Then look at the warranties the quote offers, which come in three kinds: the manufacturer’s warranties on panels and inverter, which cover the equipment; the firm’s workmanship warranty, which covers the installation itself; and insurance-backed protection for that workmanship warranty, which keeps it valid if the firm stops trading. A consumer code usually requires the last of these. Get each in writing, with the length and what it covers.
Getting quotes worth comparing
Ask at least three firms to quote, in writing, after looking at the roof. A desk quote from satellite images can be a useful start, but the final price should follow a survey. Each quote should state:
- the system size in kWp and the number and type of panels;
- the inverter, any battery and any panel-level electronics for shade;
- a drawing or photo showing which faces the panels go on;
- an MCS performance estimate of yearly output, with any shade allowance explained;
- scaffolding, electrical work and any consumer unit upgrade as separate items;
- whether the grid notification or application is included;
- the deposit, payment stages, warranties and how long the price holds.
Compare the output estimates with the PVGIS model for Winsford, which puts an unshaded south roof at 35° at about 954 kWh per kWp a year (PVGIS; the full table is on what panels make in Winsford). A little below that with shade noted is normal; well above needs an explanation. Price figures to set beside the quotes are on solar costs in Winsford.
What to ask at the survey
The survey visit is the best chance to judge a firm, because you see how it works. A careful surveyor goes into the loft, looks at the rafters and the underside of the roof covering, checks the consumer unit and the meter position, asks how the household uses electricity through the day and notes where shade falls. Use the visit to ask a few direct questions. Which face would you use, and why not the other? How will the cables reach the inverter? Where will the inverter, isolators and any battery go? What would you need to repair before fitting? Who exactly will be on the roof, and on which days? A surveyor who answers clearly, and puts the answers in the quote, is a good sign.
Red flags
- Pressure to sign on the day, or a discount that expires tonight.
- A demand that most of the money be paid up front, before a panel is on the roof.
- Vague descriptions of equipment, or a refusal to put the specification in writing.
- Claims that a national scheme will pay for everything, without the scheme’s name and rules.
- No survey before a firm price, or a survey that never looks in the loft.
- Output estimates far above the model with no explanation.
- Offers to start work on a rented home before the owner has agreed.
Firms that knock or ring
Some approaches arrive unasked, at the door or by phone, often mentioning a scheme or a deadline. There is nothing wrong with listening, but nothing should be signed at that point. Take a name, a company number and a written quote, then run the same checks as for any other firm. A business that is properly registered will expect that and will not object to waiting.
The contract
Read the whole contract before signing. It should match the quote, list the equipment, give the price and payment stages, set a timetable, explain the cancellation rights and say what happens if the survey or the work turns up a problem with the roof. Confirm who is checking the planning position, especially for a listed building or a house in a conservation area (the planning rules; planning rules in Winsford), and who will deal with the network operator under G98 or G99. The ENA postcode search shows which operator that is; grid connection explains the two routes.
The council’s group-buy
Switch Together Solar, run by the council with Cheshire East and Warrington, takes some of the checking off households: installers in its reverse auction are vetted and certified under MCS (council page). Its latest registration closed on 25 September 2026. An offer through the scheme still deserves the same reading as any quote, to make sure the layout and size suit your own roof.
If something goes wrong later
Raise any fault or complaint with the firm in writing first, with photographs and the dates, and keep copies. If the firm does not put it right, the consumer code it belongs to has a dispute process that can be used without going to court. If the firm has stopped trading, the insurance-backed protection behind its workmanship warranty is the route to follow, so keep that document with the others. Equipment faults, such as a failed inverter, may be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, usually claimed through the firm that fitted it.
At handover
When the work is finished, the firm should test the system with you, show you how to isolate it, and hand over the MCS certificate, the electrical installation certificate, confirmation of the grid notification or approval, all warranties and the manuals. Keep them together; you will need them for the export tariff and, if you sell, for the buyer. Buying a Winsford home with solar lists what a buyer will ask for, owner-occupiers sets the whole route in order, and the question form takes anything this page has not covered.