Solar panels for farms in Long Eaton
A Long Eaton farm buys electricity at the worst rate of the day in exactly the hours its roof could be generating. The survey starts on the covering: fibre cement or steel, its remaining life, the purlin spacing and what the frame will carry.
866 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 433,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Book a roof survey in Long EatonIllustrative layout for a unit of this size. Your own figures come from the roof survey.
Solar for agricultural buildings across Derbyshire
What a farm roof near Long Eaton generates
Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1105 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 866 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.
No solar scheme is recorded in this postcode district in the planning database. On a farm that usually means nothing has been built above the reporting threshold rather than that nothing has been built, because a roof array on a shed rarely appears in it.
Surveys run across NG postcodes, NG10 outward.
Erewash 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.
Long Eaton ranks 1 of 8 towns we cover in Derbyshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 805 to 866, a spread of 61 kWh per kWp. On a 500 kWp array that is about 30,500 kWh a year between the strongest and weakest town in the county.
Grid connection through National Grid Electricity Distribution
National Grid Electricity Distribution operates the distribution network across Derbyshire, so the export application goes to them. Anything larger than 3.68 kW per phase falls under G99, which means an application before commissioning rather than a notification afterwards. A constrained network is not the end of a scheme. Capping export costs little when the building already absorbs most of what the roof produces.
Across Derbyshire the planning database records 144 solar schemes totalling 904 MW, of which 27 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).
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 Long Eaton
- Is there enough sun around Long Eaton to make this work?
- Modelled at 866 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 433,000 kWh a year before shading. That array needs about 1,485 sqm of clear roof once ridge vents and walkways are allowed for. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
- Who do we apply to for export near Long Eaton?
- Only National Grid Electricity Distribution can answer it for your connection, and on rural feeders the answer varies farm to farm. An export-limited offer usually still works, because a holding with grain drying, cooling or ventilation uses most of what it makes.
- Do we need planning permission in Erewash?
- In most cases no, because panels on the roof of an agricultural building usually sit within permitted development. The exceptions are listed buildings, conservation areas, protected landscapes and arrays that stand proud of the roof. We check with Erewash either way.