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Solar panels for farms in Chelsea

The case for solar on a Chelsea holding turns on how much of the output the farm uses itself, not on how much the roof makes. The survey starts on the covering: fibre cement or steel, its remaining life, the purlin spacing and what the frame will carry.

908 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 Chelsea
96 m phase 1
Drawing Chelsea unit
Roof 96 x 62 m
Array 500 kWp
Yield 454,000 kWh/yr
Scale 1:500 / Rev A / Greater London

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

Chelsea / Greater London
A modern steel framed agricultural building with its roof covered in solar panels, tractor and trailer in the yard, fields beyond
Industrial stock of the kind we survey across Greater London.

Solar for agricultural buildings across Greater London

What a farm roof near Chelsea generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1166 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 908 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.

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

What a Chelsea 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: 38 kWh per kWpFebMar: 73 kWh per kWpMarApr: 105 kWh per kWpAprMay: 120 kWh per kWpMayJun: 124 kWh per kWpJunJul: 126 kWh per kWpJul126 kWh Aug: 106 kWh per kWpAugSep: 84 kWh per kWpSepOct: 53 kWh per kWpOctNov: 31 kWh per kWpNovDec: 22 kWh per kWpDec

Jul 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
MonthkWh per kWp500 kWp array
Jan2613,000
Feb3819,000
Mar7336,500
Apr10552,500
May12060,000
Jun12462,000
Jul12663,000
Aug10653,000
Sep8442,000
Oct5326,500
Nov3115,500
Dec2211,000
Source: EU PVGIS v5.2
FIG. 2 Chelsea against the rest of Greater London
  • Barking909
  • Ilford909
  • Battersea908
  • Bromley908
  • Chelsea908
  • Havering908
  • Wandsworth908
  • Bermondsey907
  • Brixton906

Chelsea ranks 13 of 50 towns we cover in Greater London on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 847 to 987, a spread of 140 kWh per kWp. On a 500 kWp array that is about 70,000 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

Grid connection through UK Power Networks

Connections around Chelsea are handled by UK Power 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.

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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.

We pass your details to our MCS-certified installation partner so they can quote. Read the privacy notice.

Questions about solar in Chelsea

Is there enough sun around Chelsea to make this work?
Modelled at 908 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 454,000 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 Chelsea?
Only UK Power Networks 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.