Key Benefits
Why Maintenance Matters
Dirty solar panels lose 15-25% of their output. Faulty inverters can go undetected for months, costing hundreds in lost generation. With many early solar installers no longer trading, thousands of Hampshire homeowners need a trusted local company to maintain their existing systems. Regular maintenance extends system life beyond 30 years and protects your warranty.
Everything You Need to Know
1 Why Solar Panel Maintenance Matters
Dirty solar panels lose 15-25% of their output. Bird droppings, tree sap, and coastal salt deposits don't just block light — they create hotspots that can permanently damage photovoltaic cells. Regular cleaning and inspection catches problems before they become expensive. A panel producing 20% less electricity due to soiling costs you £100-150 per year in lost generation alone.
2 The Orphaned Installer Problem
Many early solar installers in Hampshire have ceased trading, leaving thousands of homeowners without warranty support or maintenance options. Companies like Solar Voltaics (est. 2010), H2O Renewable Energy (25 years experience), and Peak Renewables all offer maintenance services. Solent Solar services all makes and models — we regularly take on systems installed by companies that no longer exist, giving homeowners peace of mind and a local point of contact.
3 What a Professional Service Includes
Our comprehensive maintenance visit includes: visual inspection of panels, mounting brackets, cabling, and junction boxes; professional cleaning using purified deionised water systems; full electrical safety testing including earth continuity and insulation resistance; string-level performance measurement to identify underperforming panels; inverter health check and error log review; and a detailed report comparing actual output against expected generation. We also check for shading changes (new trees, buildings) and wildlife interference.
4 Service Plans vs One-Off Visits
Our annual service plan costs from £99/year and includes cleaning, inspection, and electrical testing. One-off visits start from £149. For systems older than 10 years, we recommend annual servicing as inverters approach end-of-life and minor faults become more likely. Coastal Hampshire properties (Portsmouth, Gosport, Hayling Island) benefit from twice-yearly cleaning due to salt air deposits.
Maintenance Costs
Typical prices including installation. 0% VAT on all domestic systems.
Prices are indicative and vary by property. Get a precise quote with a free site survey.
How It Works
Our simple 5-step process from survey to switch-on
Inspection
Visual inspection of panels, mounting, cabling, and electrical components. We check for damage, debris, shading changes, and wildlife interference.
Cleaning
Professional cleaning of panel surfaces using purified water systems. Dirty panels can lose 15-25% of their output.
Electrical Testing
Comprehensive electrical safety testing including earth continuity, insulation resistance, and string performance measurements.
Performance Report
Detailed report comparing your system's actual output against expected generation, identifying any underperformance.
Recommendations
Clear guidance on any repairs, upgrades, or optimisations that could improve your system's performance.
Why Choose Solent Solar for Maintenance
Hampshire has over 40 solar installers. Here's why our customers choose us.
All Brands Serviced
We maintain any solar, battery, or inverter system regardless of who installed it. Many Hampshire installers have closed — we pick up where they left off.
Local Response Times
Based in Whiteley, we're typically on-site within days, not weeks. For emergency issues, we prioritise same-week visits for service plan customers.
Qualified Electricians
Our maintenance team are qualified electricians who perform full electrical safety testing, not just a visual inspection and panel wipe.
Performance Reports
We compare your system's actual output against expected generation, identifying underperformance that could be costing you hundreds per year.
Recommended Brands for Maintenance
Three price points to suit every budget and requirement
Frequently Asked Questions
We recommend annual cleaning and inspection as a minimum. Properties near trees, busy roads, or the coast may benefit from more frequent cleaning due to increased soiling.
Absolutely. We service all makes and models of solar panels, inverters, and battery systems. Many customers come to us after their original installer has ceased trading.
A one-off maintenance visit starts from £149. Our annual service plan, which includes cleaning, inspection, and electrical testing, starts from £99 per year.
No. Regular professional maintenance actually helps protect your warranty by ensuring your system is properly maintained. We document all work for your records.
Maintenance Available Across Hampshire
Based in Whiteley — 54 locations covered across Hampshire and the South Coast
Our Other Services
Complete home energy solutions from a single trusted installer
Related Resources
Helpful guides and comparisons to inform your decision
Ready for Maintenance?
Get a free, no-obligation survey and quote. We'll design the perfect system for your home.
The Full Solar Panel Servicing Checklist: What Gets Inspected and Why
Plenty of firms sell solar panel servicing that amounts to a hose-down and a glance at the inverter light. Ours doesn't. Because Tom installs systems as well as servicing them, every visit works through the same checklist he'd use to sign off a brand-new install — and you get the findings in writing, with photos.
| Check | What it involves | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Panel condition | Visual inspection of every panel for glass cracks, hot-spot discolouration, delamination and frame corrosion | Coastal salt air across the Solent accelerates corrosion; hot spots quietly kill output and can worsen over time |
| Mounting & roof fixings | Rails, roof hooks and fixings checked, plus the tiles or slates around each penetration | A loose fixing is a leak or a storm failure waiting to happen — far cheaper to catch now |
| Cabling & connectors | DC cabling checked for UV damage and chafing; connectors inspected for water ingress | Degraded DC connectors are a known arcing risk on older systems |
| Connection torque | Terminations checked for tightness at the inverter, isolators and consumer unit | Connections loosen with years of thermal cycling; a loose DC terminal is the classic overheating point |
| DC & AC isolators | Switch action, weather seals and any heat marking or discolouration | Rooftop isolators are one of the most common failure points on UK systems |
| Earth continuity & insulation resistance | Full electrical safety tests to current wiring-regulation standards | Confirms the system is safe as well as productive — you get the results, not just a tick |
| Inverter health | Error-log review, ventilation and fan check, firmware where applicable | The inverter is the hardest-working component; string inverters typically last 10 to 15 years, and the logs give warning first |
| Generation vs expected | Your actual annual kWh compared against what a system of your size and orientation should produce here — well-oriented south-coast systems typically yield around 950–1,050 kWh per kWp per year | The single best test of system health; a shortfall tells us where to look |
| String performance | String-level measurements to isolate any single underperforming panel | One weak panel can drag down a whole string without any visible fault |
| Bird-proofing | Existing mesh checked for gaps and fixings; evidence of nesting noted | Pigeons are the most common cause of physical damage we find under Hampshire arrays |
| Battery state of health (if fitted) | Capacity retention, charge/discharge behaviour, and settings sense-checked against your tariff | A battery on the wrong settings can cost you money every single day without ever showing a fault |
| Panel cleaning | Optional purified-water clean during the same visit, or as a standalone service | Soiled panels can lose 15–25% of their output; purified water avoids streaking and voided-warranty risks from detergents |
Every visit ends with a plain-English report: what's healthy, what needs watching, and what — if anything — needs fixing. Most visits end with "all fine, see you next year." When something does need work, you get a written price, not pressure on the doorstep.
Common Faults on Hampshire Solar Systems: Symptom, Cause, Fix
After years of solar panel maintenance across Hampshire — coastal, urban and rural — the same handful of faults come up again and again. Here's what they look like from the ground, what's usually behind them, and what fixing them honestly involves.
| Symptom | Likely cause | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Inverter showing a fault code or red light | Grid-voltage trips, a DC insulation fault, or internal component failure. Every brand uses different codes — SolarEdge, Solis, Growatt, Fox ESS and GivEnergy all speak a different language | We read the error log and diagnose properly. Many "faults" are settings or connection issues fixed on the day; a genuinely failed inverter means replacement, typically £800–£2,000 fitted, any brand |
| Generation noticeably down on previous summers | String underperformance: soiling, a failing panel or bypass diode, or new shading — trees grow, extensions get built | String-level testing pinpoints the culprit rather than guessing. The remedy might be a clean, a single panel or diode swap, or re-stringing — not a new system |
| Scratching, cooing or debris under the panels | Pigeon nesting — the warm, sheltered gap under an array is prime real estate. Droppings corrode frames and fouling cuts output; pecked cables are the expensive part | Nest clearance, a proper clean, then proofing mesh fitted around the array — typically £500–£900 for a standard UK home, more if scaffolding is needed |
| Rooftop DC isolator stiff, discoloured or weathered | Isolator wear — UV, water ingress and thermal cycling. These switches fail more often than any other component on the roof | Isolator replacement is a small, inexpensive job caught early; left alone, heat damage can spread to cabling |
| System trips the fuse board on damp mornings | An insulation fault — moisture getting into a connector or cable run and leaking current to earth | Insulation-resistance testing isolates the affected string; we re-terminate or replace the damaged section |
| Monitoring app stopped updating | Usually the Wi-Fi dongle dropped off after a router change — or, for GivEnergy owners, app changes following the manufacturer's administration | We reconnect monitoring and set generation alerts, so a future fault shows up in days rather than on your annual bill |
| Zero output on a sunny day | Failed inverter, a tripped breaker, or a DC-side fault | Don't leave it — every sunny week costs you money. Plan holders get same-week call-outs, from £95 |
None of these faults means your investment was a mistake. Almost all of them are cheap to fix when caught early and expensive when ignored — which is the whole argument for an annual service.
Orphaned Solar Systems: When Your Installer — or Your Manufacturer — Disappears
An orphaned system used to mean one thing: the company that fitted your panels stopped trading. In 2026 there's a second version of the problem, and it's bigger. GivEnergy Ltd — one of the UK's most-installed battery brands — entered administration on 9 April 2026 and ceased trading, and new hardware warranty claims are no longer being honoured by the company. The monitoring app continues to run for now because it sits with a separate company, GivEnergy Software Ltd, which is not in administration. If that's your battery on the wall, we've written a full plain-English explainer: what the GivEnergy administration means for your system.
Here's the honest bit: nobody can reinstate a dead company's warranty — not us, not anyone, and be wary of any firm that implies otherwise. What a proper service visit does give an orphaned system is three things that matter more in practice. First, an independent written record of its condition — invaluable if you ever pursue an insurance-backed warranty claim or sell the house. Second, faults caught while they're still small, repairable jobs rather than replacements. Third, a real local contact for the day something does fail: we install and service SigEnergy, Fox ESS and GoodWe alongside maintaining virtually every brand out there, so if a battery or inverter does eventually give up outside warranty, you'll get straight advice on repair versus replacement — including whether it's worth adding capacity while the work is being done, and how the current options compare in our SigEnergy vs GivEnergy guide.
Before a first visit on an inherited or orphaned system, dig out whatever paperwork you have: the MCS certificate, the handover pack, the DNO notification (G98 or G99), and any warranty documents. Two things are worth checking in particular. If your original installer's workmanship warranty was insurance-backed — through HIES or a similar scheme — it may still be valid even though the installer is gone; as HIES members ourselves, we can help you make sense of the paperwork. And panel manufacturers' warranties usually remain intact as long as the panel maker is still trading — performance warranties typically run 25 years, and product warranties commonly 12–25 years depending on the brand — often the most durable protection you have.
If you've bought a house with panels and no paperwork at all, don't worry — that's most of the orphaned systems we take on. Book a service visit and we'll establish exactly what's on your roof, what condition it's in, and what it should be earning you — or see what other Hampshire owners say about handing their system over to us.