How much does a farm roof near Reading generate?

The model gives 907 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 454,000 kWh a year before shading losses. A building of roughly 1,485 sqm of clear roof carries it. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Will the rural network around Reading take the export?

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks is the distribution network operator for Berkshire. Anything above 3.68 kW per phase connects under G99, and the application sets the export limit. Rural supplies are often the binding constraint, so we ask the question before an array is sized.

Is planning permission needed for panels on a farm building near Reading?

Usually permitted development covers a roof array. Ground mounted arrays are a different question and are far more likely to need a full application. We put both to Reading before design sign-off.

Has anyone near RG2 already done this?

The planning database records 2 ground mounted and 4 roof mounted solar schemes in this postcode district. That matters less as proof it works and more as evidence of how the local network has treated export applications. Roof arrays under a megawatt often never appear in the database, so the real figure is higher. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

Solar panels for farms in Reading

Farm buildings around Reading carry broad, shallow roofs that were put up for storage and stock, not for generation. The survey starts on the covering: fibre cement or steel, its remaining life, the purlin spacing and what the frame will carry.

907 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 454,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Reading

Drawing Reading unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 454,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / RG2

Illustrative layout for a unit of this size. Your own figures come from the roof survey.

Reading / Berkshire

South East farmland with solar arrays on farm buildings — Industrial stock of the kind we survey across South East.

Solar for agricultural buildings across Berkshire

What a farm roof near Reading generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1163 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 907 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That sits within a few percent of the mean across the areas we cover, so what decides the scheme is your own demand pattern rather than the latitude.

The planning record lists 2 ground mounted solar schemes in this postcode district, which is a fair guide to how the local network has treated field arrays. The typical consented scheme in this district is about 14 MW. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

4 roof mounted schemes are on record nearby. Roof arrays under a megawatt frequently never reach that database at all, so the real number of farm roofs generating around Reading is higher than the record shows.

Surveys run across RG postcodes, RG2 outward.

Reading is the planning authority for most holdings here, and it is the authority that decides whether an array on an agricultural building falls inside permitted development.

FIG. 1 What a Reading roof makes, month by month

Jun produces 5.7 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 454,000 kWh across the year, but it arrives unevenly, which is why we size against your summer daytime load and then look at whether storage is worth adding for the shoulder months.

Monthly figures as a table

Month	kWh per kWp	500 kWp array
Jan	26	13,000
Feb	39	19,500
Mar	74	37,000
Apr	105	52,500
May	121	60,500
Jun	125	62,500
Jul	125	62,500
Aug	106	53,000
Sep	83	41,500
Oct	51	25,500
Nov	31	15,500
Dec	22	11,000

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Reading against the rest of Berkshire

Thatcham910
Reading907
Maidenhead905
Newbury904
Slough903
Windsor901
Wokingham898
Bracknell891

Reading ranks 2 of 8 towns we cover in Berkshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 891 to 910, a spread of 19 kWh per kWp. Within Berkshire that difference is small enough to ignore: where the building sits is not what decides this scheme, your consumption pattern is.

Bars are zero based, so length is proportional to the figure. Where a county is flat, that is the finding: location is not the lever, consumption is. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, modelled per town

Solar already consented near RG2

From the government's Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026. These are the schemes on record in this postcode district, which is a fair guide to how the local network has been treating export applications.

Scheme	Operator	Capacity	Mounting	Status
Aborfield Solar Park	Wessex Solar Energy	14 MW	Ground	Under Construction
Reading International Business Park - Roof Mounted Solar Panels	Tristan Capital Partners	0.26 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Relief Road - Solar Photovoltaic Panels	Tristan Capital Partners	0.6 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Arena Business Park, Acre Road- Photovoltaics Solar Panels	South Yorkshire Pensions Authority	0.32 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Reading International Business Park, Relief Road - Solar Panels	Tristan Capital Partners	0.19 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Reading International Business Park - Car Port & Solar Panels	Tristan Capital Partners	n/a	Ground	Awaiting Construction

Grid connection through Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks is the network operator here, and their answer on export capacity shapes the design. Any commercial array above 3.68 kW per phase connects under G99 rather than G98, and the application fixes what you are allowed to push back onto the network. If the local network is tight, limiting export rarely breaks the case here: most of the generation is consumed on site while the building is working.

Across Berkshire the planning database records 83 solar schemes totalling 317 MW, of which 8 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

Book the survey

Send us the postcode

Tell us where the unit is and roughly how big the roof is. We come back with what it can carry, what it would generate against your consumption, and the three ways to pay for it.

Lenzie Consulting Ltd arranges the survey and passes your details to our MCS-certified installation partner so they can quote.

Questions about solar in Reading

How much does a farm roof near Reading generate?: The model gives 907 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 454,000 kWh a year before shading losses. A building of roughly 1,485 sqm of clear roof carries it. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Will the rural network around Reading take the export?: Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks is the distribution network operator for Berkshire. Anything above 3.68 kW per phase connects under G99, and the application sets the export limit. Rural supplies are often the binding constraint, so we ask the question before an array is sized.
Is planning permission needed for panels on a farm building near Reading?: Usually permitted development covers a roof array. Ground mounted arrays are a different question and are far more likely to need a full application. We put both to Reading before design sign-off.
Has anyone near RG2 already done this?: The planning database records 2 ground mounted and 4 roof mounted solar schemes in this postcode district. That matters less as proof it works and more as evidence of how the local network has treated export applications. Roof arrays under a megawatt often never appear in the database, so the real figure is higher. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

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