What would a 500 kWp array produce on a farm near Margate?

Yes, and the figure matters more than the sunshine. At 990 kWh per kWp a year, a 500 kWp array on a Margate holding models at around 495,000 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 Margate?

Applications go to UK Power Networks, who run the network across Kent. 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 Thanet 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 Thanet before the design is finalised.

Has anyone near CT9 already done this?

The planning database records 2 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 Margate

The case for solar on a Margate holding turns on how much of the output the farm uses itself, not on how much the roof makes. 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.

990 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 495,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Margate

Drawing Margate unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 495,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / CT9

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

Margate / Kent

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

Agricultural rooftop solar across Kent

What a farm roof near Margate generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1253 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 990 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 12 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 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 15.2 MW, with the largest at 30 MW. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

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 Margate is higher than the record shows.

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

Thanet 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 Margate roof makes, month by month

Jun produces 6.0 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 495,000 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	41	20,500
Mar	80	40,000
Apr	118	59,000
May	134	67,000
Jun	139	69,500
Jul	137	68,500
Aug	115	57,500
Sep	91	45,500
Oct	55	27,500
Nov	31	15,500
Dec	23	11,500

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Margate against the rest of Kent

Margate990
Folkestone990
Ashford983
Dover972
Canterbury961
Maidstone930
Tunbridge Wells930
Tonbridge927
Gravesend926

Margate ranks 1 of 12 towns we cover in Kent on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 915 to 990, a spread of 75 kWh per kWp. On a 500 kWp array that is about 37,500 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

UK Power Networks operates the distribution network across Kent, 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 Kent the planning database records 237 solar schemes totalling 2072 MW, of which 45 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

Solar already consented near CT9

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
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mothers Hospital	East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust	0.4 MW	Ground	Operational
Continental Approach - Solar Panels	Roe Timber Frame Limited	0.2 MW	Roof	Operational
Hengrove Farm, Shottendane Road - Solar Farm	Industria Solar Bedworth Limited	30 MW	Ground	Awaiting Construction
Hengrove Farm House, Shottendane Road - Solar Panels	Fram Farmers Limited	0.15 MW	Roof	Revised
Hengrove Farm House, Shottendane Road - Solar Panels	Fram Farmers Limited	0.15 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 Margate

What would a 500 kWp array produce on a farm near Margate?: Yes, and the figure matters more than the sunshine. At 990 kWh per kWp a year, a 500 kWp array on a Margate holding models at around 495,000 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 Margate?: Applications go to UK Power Networks, who run the network across Kent. 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 Thanet 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 Thanet before the design is finalised.
Has anyone near CT9 already done this?: The planning database records 2 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 Kent locations