NICEIC Approved Contractor
Solar PV & Battery Storage in Southampton & Hampshire
Solar PV is an electrical installation before it is anything else. We are an NICEIC Approved Contractor with over 25 years of domestic and commercial electrical experience, and solar PV sits on our own list of electrical services — so the array, the consumer unit work, the battery and the certification are all handled by one team, on one visit, under one warranty.
The half most solar companies subcontract
Solar PV is an electrical job. We are the electricians.
One contractor, one certificate
Consumer unit assessment, protective device selection, isolation, labelling, earthing arrangement and the Electrical Installation Certificate — all issued by us as an NICEIC Approved Contractor, not by a subcontractor you never met.
Designed alongside your heating
We install air source heat pumps, EV chargers, electric boilers and solar. That means the array is sized against what your home will actually consume, not just against the roof area — the single biggest factor in whether solar pays.
Local, and still here in year five
We are based in Southampton and Eastleigh, cover all SO postcodes, and have been trading in Hampshire for 25 years. If an inverter faults in year four you are calling a local team, not a national call centre.
Scope
What we install
- Roof-mounted solar PV arrays — in-roof or on-roof, with the mounting system chosen for your roof covering
- String and hybrid inverters — sized to the array and to any planned battery
- Battery storage — to shift surplus generation into the evening peak
- Solar electric immersion boosters — divert surplus into your hot water cylinder instead of exporting it
- EV charger integration — solar-diverting chargers as a myenergi approved installer
- Consumer unit upgrades — where the existing board cannot support the installation
- Generation metering and monitoring — so you can see what the system is actually doing
The consumer unit is where most solar installations either go well or go wrong. It is our own trade. Consumer unit upgrades.
Straight answers
Sizing solar properly: match the array to the load, not to the roof
Exported electricity earns a fraction of what self-consumed electricity saves you. So the question is not "how many panels fit" — it is "how much can this household actually use". That answer changes completely depending on what else you have.
| Your situation | What it does to self-consumption | What we normally recommend |
|---|---|---|
| Solar only, house empty in the day | Low — most generation is exported at a poor rate | Smaller array, or add a battery and a solar immersion booster |
| Solar + battery | Substantially higher — summer surplus moves to the evening peak | Hybrid inverter sized for the battery from day one |
| Solar + EV charger | Highest value per unit — you displace petrol, not a low export rate | Solar-diverting charger; we are a myenergi approved installer |
| Solar + air source heat pump | Strong across spring and autumn, limited midwinter | Design both together so the electrical work is done once |
| Solar + immersion booster | Turns surplus into stored hot water at no extra running cost | Cheapest way to lift self-consumption on an existing system |
Roof reality
Orientation matters less than shading
South-facing is best, but an east-west split is not the write-off it is often described as. An east-west array generates less in total and spreads it across morning and evening — which frequently matches a household's actual consumption better than a single midday peak.
Shading is the variable that genuinely hurts. One chimney, one dormer or one neighbouring tree across the array at the wrong time of day costs more output than a mediocre orientation ever will, and it is why we survey the roof rather than quoting from an aerial photograph.
- Roof pitch, covering and structural condition checked on site
- Shading assessed across the day, not assumed
- Panel-level optimisation specified where shading is unavoidable
- Scaffolding costed openly in the quotation rather than added later
Where we stand on certification
What we are accredited for, stated plainly
We think you should know exactly what an installer's accreditations do and do not cover, so here is ours in full.
- NICEIC Approved Contractor — covers the electrical installation, certification and Part P notification for solar PV, battery and EV charger work.
- MCS accredited, NIC601962 — our MCS accreditation covers our heat pump work, which is what makes Boiler Upgrade Scheme applications possible.
- Solar thermal — we install and maintain it, and we are not MCS certified for solar thermal installations. We say so on that page too.
If your project depends on a specific certification scheme — for an export tariff, a grant or a lender requirement — tell us at enquiry and we will confirm in writing what we can and cannot certify before you spend anything.
How we work
From roof survey to switch-on
The same team surveys, designs, installs, wires and certifies.
Site survey
Roof, shading, loft access, consumer unit condition and available capacity — all checked in person.
Design and written quotation
Array layout, inverter, battery if specified, cabling route, scaffolding and electrical work, itemised.
Electrical assessment
Consumer unit upgrade quoted up front if needed, not discovered on installation day.
Installation
Mounting, panels, inverter, isolation and metering, carried out by our own engineers.
Testing and certification
Electrical Installation Certificate issued and the work notified under Part P.
Handover and monitoring
We show you the monitoring so you can see generation and self-consumption from day one.
Questions
Solar PV FAQs
Do you do the electrical work yourselves?
Yes. BBI Heating & Electrical is an NICEIC Approved Contractor with over 25 years of domestic and commercial electrical experience, and solar PV is listed among the electrical services we carry out. The array, the consumer unit work and the certification come from the same firm.
Will I need my consumer unit upgraded?
Sometimes. It depends on the spare capacity and the protective devices in your existing board. We assess it during the survey and quote for it up front if it is needed, rather than raising it on installation day.
Should I add a battery?
It depends on your tariff and your daytime consumption. A battery shifts summer surplus into the evening peak, which raises self-consumption considerably — but it also adds capital cost. We will tell you honestly if a solar immersion booster would get you most of the benefit for a fraction of the price.
Can the solar charge my electric car?
Yes, with a solar-diverting charger. We are an approved Electric Vehicle Charging installer with myenergi.com, and this is the highest-value use of surplus generation there is — you are displacing petrol rather than earning a low export rate.
Can solar run my heat pump?
Partly. Solar output is lowest in midwinter when heat demand peaks, so treat it as a running-cost reducer across spring, summer and autumn. Because we install both, we design them together and do the electrical work once.
Is solar PV the same as solar thermal?
No. Solar PV generates electricity you can use for anything. Solar thermal heats water only, very efficiently. We install both — and we are transparent that we are not MCS certified for solar thermal installations.
Do I get 0% VAT?
Qualifying energy-saving installations currently carry 0% VAT. We confirm the VAT treatment on your written quotation.
Do you cover my area?
We are based in Southampton and Eastleigh and cover all SO postcodes, including Southampton, Totton, Hythe, Lyndhurst, West Wellow, Romsey, Stockbridge, Kings Worthy, Winchester, Fair Oak, Bishops Waltham, Hedge End, Whiteley, Fareham.
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Get a solar quotation that includes the electrical work
Roof survey, shading assessment, consumer unit check and an itemised written quotation — from the NICEIC contractor who will actually do the job.