solar panels - Planning permission required?

[Chardie]

We have a holiday home which is prone to condensation. I want to set up a solar panel to run a dehumidifier from batteries whilst  we are away from the house. (We always switch the electricity off at the mains.) Does anyone know if planning permission would be needed for this? 

[Nick Trollope]

I suspect that this depends on any number of factors; What part of the country are you in? How large is it? Can it be seen where you propose mounting it? Are you within 500M of a church? etc etc. Best bet is to ask in your Mairie, or just put in a Declaration de Travaux & see what they say.

I doubt if you would need "planning permission" per se (permis de construire), a D de T may be required (we would need one as we are overlooked by the church).

My experience is that it always pays to ask; regardless of what you want to do...... I makes the Mairie feel needed (or at least it does with ours!)

 

[Val_2]

Yes, agree with Nick. Basically anything that affects the exterior of a building whatever it may be is subject to authorisation by the local mairie and even more so if a monument historique is affected.

[JohnM]

Out of interest, how do you address a letter to the Mairie asking this sort of question? Should it be to the mayor by name (I've never met him) or a more generic, "The Planning Officer" (whatever that may be in france).

I bet it's another of those things that change by department but I appreciate your views.

 

[Nick Trollope]

We always wander into the office and speak to the young lady behind the reception desk, who seems to know everyone/thing and always says "If he says otherwise, tell him to talk to me".

Other than that, you should write to the Mayor as, I believe, this is the accepted thing. Most Mairies only seem to have a few staff, anyway.

[Hindhaugh]

It appears many people have this condensation problem especially overwintering the house. We have a dehumidifier running via a timer to come on during the off peak times and with the pipe running to the sink. I appreciate that this needs the electric leaving on and the machine is running when we are not there but so far its been fine and our French neighbours keep an eye on things. This costs circa 2p an hour when its operating which is about 9 hours a day, well worth the 18p and the air coming out is about 3 degrees warmer than the air going in so that helps warm the house etc.

In the longer term I will look at alternative energy for a number of applications.

 

J&H