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Solar panels for farms in Bridport

A Bridport farm buys electricity at the worst rate of the day in exactly the hours its roof could be generating. What decides a farm scheme here is the state of the roof sheets and the incoming supply, which is why the survey looks at both before anyone sizes an array.

971 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 486,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

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96 m phase 1
Drawing Bridport unit
Roof 96 x 62 m
Array 500 kWp
Yield 486,000 kWh/yr
Scale 1:500 / Rev A / DT6

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

Bridport / Dorset
South West pasture and farm buildings carrying rooftop solar
Industrial stock of the kind we survey across South West.

Agricultural rooftop solar across Dorset

What a farm roof near Bridport generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1243 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 971 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 10 percent above the mean across the areas we cover, which is as strong as UK farm rooftop gets outside the south coast.

The planning record lists 5 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 0.3 MW, with the largest at 4.8 MW. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

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

Most of the buildings we look at here sit in the DT postcode area.

Dorset 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 Bridport roof makes, month by month

What a Bridport roof makes, month by month

Modelled output per kWp installed, for a shallow-pitched south-facing array. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2.

050100Jan: 26 kWh per kWpJanFeb: 41 kWh per kWpFebMar: 79 kWh per kWpMarApr: 113 kWh per kWpAprMay: 132 kWh per kWpMayJun: 134 kWh per kWpJunJul: 136 kWh per kWpJul136 kWh Aug: 115 kWh per kWpAugSep: 89 kWh per kWpSepOct: 53 kWh per kWpOctNov: 31 kWh per kWpNovDec: 22 kWh per kWpDec

Jul produces 6.2 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 486,000 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
MonthkWh per kWp500 kWp array
Jan2613,000
Feb4120,500
Mar7939,500
Apr11356,500
May13266,000
Jun13467,000
Jul13668,000
Aug11557,500
Sep8944,500
Oct5326,500
Nov3115,500
Dec2211,000
Source: EU PVGIS v5.2
FIG. 2 Bridport against the rest of Dorset
  • Weymouth1006
  • Dorchester985
  • Christchurch981
  • Bournemouth971
  • Bridport971
  • Poole965
  • Wimborne964
  • Sherborne924

Bridport ranks 5 of 8 towns we cover in Dorset on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 924 to 1006, a spread of 82 kWh per kWp. On a 500 kWp array that is about 41,000 kWh a year between the strongest and weakest town in the county.

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 DT6

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
Wyld Meadow Solar Farm NextEnery Solar Fund (NESF) 4.8 MW Ground Operational
Burton Bradstock Solar Panels Geoffrey Joy n/a Roof Under Construction
Highlands End, Eype - Solar Panel Photovoltaic Solar Arrays Highlands End Farm Caravan Park Limited 0.2 MW Ground Revised
Atrim Road, Dottery - Solar Panels Dorset Community Energy & Local Energy Bridport 0.25 MW Ground Awaiting Construction
Golden Cap Holiday Park, Seatown - Solar Panels West Dorset Leisure Holidays Limited 0.27 MW Ground Awaiting Construction
Highlands End Holiday Park, Highlands End -Solar PV Panels Highlands End Farm Caravan Park Limited 0.2 MW Ground Awaiting Construction

Grid connection through Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks

Connections around Bridport are handled by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, which sets the export limit for the site. Above 3.68 kW per phase the connection runs under G99, so the export limit is agreed in advance rather than assumed. Where the local network is constrained, an export-limited connection usually still makes the scheme work, because a farm uses most of what the roof makes during the working day.

Across Dorset the planning database records 149 solar schemes totalling 1078 MW, of which 47 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

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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.

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Questions about solar in Bridport

What would a 500 kWp array produce on a farm near Bridport?
Yes, and the figure matters more than the sunshine. At 971 kWh per kWp a year, a 500 kWp array on a Bridport holding models at around 486,000 kWh. What changes the answer is how much of that the farm uses itself. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Which network operator handles the connection around Bridport?
Applications go to Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, who run the network across Dorset. On a farm the incoming supply matters as much as their answer: a single phase supply caps what can be installed whatever the roof would take.
What does Dorset require for solar on an agricultural building?
Roof-mounted panels on an agricultural building often fall under permitted development, subject to limits on projection above the roof plane and to the building not being listed or in a conservation area or National Park. We confirm the position with Dorset before the design is finalised.
Has anyone near DT6 already done this?
The planning database records 5 ground mounted and 1 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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