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Solar panels for farms in Boston

The case for solar on a Boston 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.

906 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 453,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

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96 m phase 1
Drawing Boston unit
Roof 96 x 62 m
Array 500 kWp
Yield 453,000 kWh/yr
Scale 1:500 / Rev A / PE21

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

Boston / Lincolnshire
Midlands arable farmland with solar on farm building roofs
Industrial stock of the kind we survey across East Midlands.

Agricultural rooftop solar across Lincolnshire

What a farm roof near Boston generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1158 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 906 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.

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 5.5 MW, with the largest at 9.7 MW. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

4 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 Boston is higher than the record shows.

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

Boston 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 Boston roof makes, month by month

What a Boston roof makes, month by month

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

050100Jan: 23 kWh per kWpJanFeb: 38 kWh per kWpFebMar: 75 kWh per kWpMarApr: 105 kWh per kWpAprMay: 123 kWh per kWpMayJun: 123 kWh per kWpJunJul: 125 kWh per kWpJul125 kWh Aug: 107 kWh per kWpAugSep: 84 kWh per kWpSepOct: 53 kWh per kWpOctNov: 30 kWh per kWpNovDec: 20 kWh per kWpDec

Jul produces 6.3 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 453,000 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
Jan2311,500
Feb3819,000
Mar7537,500
Apr10552,500
May12361,500
Jun12361,500
Jul12562,500
Aug10753,500
Sep8442,000
Oct5326,500
Nov3015,000
Dec2010,000
Source: EU PVGIS v5.2
FIG. 2 Boston against the rest of Lincolnshire
  • Boston906
  • Spalding902
  • Sleaford898
  • Stamford896
  • Skegness894
  • Grantham886
  • Lincoln882
  • Gainsborough861

Boston ranks 1 of 8 towns we cover in Lincolnshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 861 to 906, a spread of 45 kWh per kWp. On a 500 kWp array that is about 22,500 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 National Grid Electricity Distribution

National Grid Electricity Distribution 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 Lincolnshire the planning database records 226 solar schemes totalling 7052 MW, of which 37 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

Solar already consented near PE21

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
Fen Road Lark Energy 1.4 MW Ground Operational
Pinguin Foods Pinguin Foods Ltd 1.5 MW Roof Operational
Boston Landfill, Wyberton - Solar PV Array Infinis Solar Developments Limited 9.7 MW Ground Under Construction
Riverside Industrial Estate - Solar PV Panels Howard Tenens Associates Limited 0.89 MW Roof Awaiting Construction
Marsh Lane - Solar PV Panels Howard Tenens Limited 0.89 MW Roof Under Construction
Greenyard Frozen, Marsh Lane - Solar Panels Mistral Renewable Energy Limited 0.45 MW Roof Awaiting Construction
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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.

Lenzie Consulting Ltd arranges the survey and passes your details to our MCS-certified installation partner so they can quote.

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Questions about solar in Boston

How much does a farm roof near Boston generate?
The model gives 906 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 453,000 kWh a year before shading losses. A building of roughly 1,485 sqm of clear roof carries it. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Will the rural network around Boston take the export?
National Grid Electricity Distribution is the distribution network operator for Lincolnshire. Anything above 3.68 kW per phase connects under G99, and the application sets the export limit. Rural supplies are often the binding constraint, so we ask the question before an array is sized.
Is planning permission needed for panels on a farm building near Boston?
Usually permitted development covers a roof array. Ground mounted arrays are a different question and are far more likely to need a full application. We put both to Boston before design sign-off.
Has anyone near PE21 already done this?
The planning database records 2 ground mounted and 4 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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