Is there enough sun around Portsmouth to make this work?

Modelled at 987 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 494,000 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 Portsmouth?

Only Scottish and Southern Electricity 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.

Do we need planning permission in Portsmouth?

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 Portsmouth either way.

Has anyone near PO2 already done this?

The planning database records 0 ground mounted and 3 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 Portsmouth

Most holdings around Portsmouth already own the best generating site they will ever have, and it is the roof of the shed they built for something else. Each survey records the sheet type and condition, the usable area once rooflights and vents come out, and whether the supply is single or three phase.

987 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 494,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Portsmouth

Drawing Portsmouth unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 494,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / PO2

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

Portsmouth / Hampshire

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

Farm building solar PV across Hampshire

What a farm roof near Portsmouth generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1265 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 987 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 11 percent above the mean across the areas we cover, which is as strong as UK farm rooftop gets outside the south coast.

3 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 Portsmouth is higher than the record shows.

We survey holdings across the PO postcode area, starting from PO2.

Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth roof makes, month by month

Jun produces 6.1 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 494,000 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	42	21,000
Mar	80	40,000
Apr	115	57,500
May	132	66,000
Jun	140	70,000
Jul	139	69,500
Aug	114	57,000
Sep	88	44,000
Oct	54	27,000
Nov	32	16,000
Dec	23	11,500

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Portsmouth against the rest of Hampshire

Portsmouth987
Fareham980
Southampton950
Eastleigh942
Winchester917
Andover915
Basingstoke906
Fleet904
Farnborough903

Portsmouth ranks 1 of 10 towns we cover in Hampshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 903 to 987, a spread of 84 kWh per kWp. On a 500 kWp array that is about 42,000 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 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 Hampshire the planning database records 237 solar schemes totalling 1634 MW, of which 51 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

Solar already consented near PO2

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
MMD Shipping Services	EvoEnergy	1.2 MW	Roof	Operational
Portsmouth International Port - Solar Panels	Portsmouth City Council	1.2 MW	Roof	Under Construction
Mountbatten Centre, Twyford Avenue - Solar Panels	Portsmouth City Council	0.27 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction

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 Portsmouth

Is there enough sun around Portsmouth to make this work?: Modelled at 987 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 494,000 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 Portsmouth?: Only Scottish and Southern Electricity 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.
Do we need planning permission in Portsmouth?: 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 Portsmouth either way.
Has anyone near PO2 already done this?: The planning database records 0 ground mounted and 3 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.

Nearby

All Hampshire locations