In brief
Semi-detached houses dominate Crewe North and make up about half the homes in Crewe East, Crewe West and Crewe St Barnabas. A gable roof gives two clean rectangles for panels, while a hip trims the corners. East and west slopes each give about 80% of a south roof’s output, and splitting an array between them spreads generation across the day.
Where Crewe’s semis are
In Crewe North, 73.7% of households live in a semi-detached house, more than double the 32.5% recorded across Cheshire East as a whole. Crewe East (53.1%), Crewe West (50.9%) and Crewe St Barnabas (50.5%) each have around half their households in semis (Census 2021, ONS via Nomis).
| Ward | Households | Semi-detached | Detached | Owner-occupied |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crewe North | 2,090 | 73.7% | 10.6% | 67.4% |
| Crewe East | 6,726 | 53.1% | 15.9% | 64.8% |
| Crewe West | 4,524 | 50.9% | 11.0% | 60.5% |
| Crewe St Barnabas | 2,197 | 50.5% | 7.3% | 42.5% |
| Crewe South | 5,188 | 25.5% | 13.7% | 43.7% |
| Crewe Central | 3,255 | 19.8% | 3.8% | 26.9% |
| Cheshire East (borough) | 174,854 | 32.5% | 36.6% | 71.9% |
Shares can mislead on their own. Crewe East is the largest of the six wards, so in raw numbers it holds the most semi-detached households, roughly 3,570 of them. Crewe North, Crewe East and Crewe West, the three wards with the most semis, also have the highest rates of owner-occupation, which matters because an owner can decide about panels without asking a landlord. Crewe St Barnabas is the odd one out: 50.5% of its households are in semis, yet only 42.5% own their home and 32.0% rent from a social landlord. The full ward picture is on Crewe homes by ward.
Gable or hip: the shape sets the space
Semi-detached roofs come in two broad shapes. A gable roof has two rectangular slopes, finished at the outer end by a triangle of wall. A hipped roof slopes down at the outer end as well, which turns each main slope into a trapezium that narrows towards the ridge and adds a small triangular slope over the end wall.
Panels are rectangles, so they sit most easily on rectangles. On a gable slope, rows line up from the party wall to the verge with only edge margins lost. On a hipped slope the rows get shorter towards the top and the corners go unused, so the same house with a hip may take fewer panels. The small hip end faces a third direction and is often left bare, though some layouts put a short row there.
Changes to the house alter the picture. A loft conversion that has turned a hip into a gable adds usable area; a dormer on the back slope removes some. The layout drawing in each quote should reflect the roof as it is now, so check it matches what you can see from the garden.
Which way the roof faces
A semi’s two main slopes face opposite ways, and that decides more than any other single factor. The figures below come from PVGIS 5.3, run for central Crewe with every direction at a 35° pitch.
| Roof faces | kWh per kWp a year | Share of south |
|---|---|---|
| south | 951 | 100% |
| south-east | 900 | 95% |
| south-west | 892 | 94% |
| east | 761 | 80% |
| west | 751 | 79% |
| north-east | 597 | 63% |
| north-west | 591 | 62% |
| north | 519 | 55% |
The pattern is gentle near the south. A slope facing south-east or south-west gives up only a few per cent, while east and west lose about a fifth. North-facing slopes fall away sharply, which is why a semi whose slopes face north and south will normally use only the southern one. Pitch moves the figures too; the full set of runs is on output on a Crewe roof.
Splitting an array between east and west
When a semi’s ridge runs north to south, its slopes face east and west, and the usual approach is panels on both. Near Crewe the two are almost a match: 761 kWh per kWp a year for east against 751 for west. The east panels start working early in the morning, the west ones carry on into the evening, and the household sees a broader, flatter daily curve than a single south slope would give.
The seasonal gap is worth knowing. In June an east slope at 35° makes 111.1 kWh per kWp against 117.0 for due south, so the two are close. In December the east slope manages 12.6 against 30.3, well under half. East and west roofs do most of their work from spring to early autumn.
Each slope should be wired to its own inverter input, so the panels in sunshine are not held back by the ones in shade. Because the two slopes never peak at the same moment, a firm may propose an inverter rated below the combined panel capacity. That can be sensible, but ask for the reasoning, and ask whether the rating keeps the system inside the G98 limit; grid connection explains what happens if it does not.
Inside the loft
Whatever the roof shape, a proper survey includes a look in the loft. The surveyor should check the size, spacing and condition of the rafters or trusses, look for signs of past leaks, and note anything that has been cut or altered, for example to fit a hatch or a roof window. Panels and their rails add weight, and wind pushes and pulls on them, so the fixings need sound timber to bite into. If the loft has been converted and the timbers are hidden, the quote should explain how the structure was assessed instead.
The other half of the roof is next door’s
A semi shares its roof with the neighbour, and the party wall line runs up the middle. Panels go on your half only, with a gap from that line. The scaffold, though, may need to stand on a shared drive or reach past the boundary, so tell the neighbours before the survey rather than on the morning the scaffolders arrive.
Side extensions and garages often have flat or lean-to roofs. A flat roof can take panels on frames, but under the amended Class A rules they must not stand more than 0.6 m above it, and a flat roof in a conservation area needs the council’s prior approval decision. The wider rules are on planning rules for Crewe.
What to compare between two quotes
- The layout. Panels per slope, total kWp and a drawing with edge margins marked.
- The output estimate. How it was worked out, and whether shading from stacks, trees or the neighbouring house was measured.
- The inverter. Its rating, how many inputs it has, which panels go on each, and whether any panel-level electronics are included.
- The fixings. How the panels are attached to your type of tile or slate, and who makes good any broken tiles.
- Access and electrics. Scaffold position, consumer-unit work, the cable route and where the isolators will sit.
- The grid step. Whether the system goes in under G98 or needs a G99 application first, and who handles it.
- Warranties and paperwork. Separate terms for panels, inverter and workmanship, and what protects the workmanship warranty if the firm closes.
Firms should be on the MCS register for solar PV; the full set of checks is on choosing an installer. For typical prices by size see solar costs in Crewe, and for how much of the output a household tends to use itself see export and self-use. If storage is on the list, read batteries in Crewe before choosing an inverter. To ask about a particular roof, use the question form.