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Solar panels for farms in Grantham

A Grantham 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.

886 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 443,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

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96 m phase 1
Drawing Grantham unit
Roof 96 x 62 m
Array 500 kWp
Yield 443,000 kWh/yr
Scale 1:500 / Rev A / NG31

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

Grantham / 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 Grantham generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1130 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 886 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 49.9 MW, with the largest at 49.99 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 Grantham is higher than the record shows.

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

South Kesteven 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 Grantham roof makes, month by month

What a Grantham 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: 37 kWh per kWpFebMar: 73 kWh per kWpMarApr: 104 kWh per kWpAprMay: 121 kWh per kWpMayJun: 119 kWh per kWpJunJul: 122 kWh per kWpJul122 kWh Aug: 105 kWh per kWpAugSep: 82 kWh per kWpSepOct: 50 kWh per kWpOctNov: 29 kWh per kWpNovDec: 20 kWh per kWpDec

Jul produces 6.1 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 443,000 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
Feb3718,500
Mar7336,500
Apr10452,000
May12160,500
Jun11959,500
Jul12261,000
Aug10552,500
Sep8241,000
Oct5025,000
Nov2914,500
Dec2010,000
Source: EU PVGIS v5.2
FIG. 2 Grantham against the rest of Lincolnshire
  • Boston906
  • Spalding902
  • Sleaford898
  • Stamford896
  • Skegness894
  • Grantham886
  • Lincoln882
  • Gainsborough861

Grantham ranks 6 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

Solar already consented near NG31

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
Gonerby Moor, Great Gonerby - Solar Farm Lightsource BP 49.99 MW Ground Awaiting Construction
BGB Engineering Limited - Solar Panels Scheme BGB Innovation 0.21 MW Roof Awaiting Construction
Ash Tree Solar Farm & Battery Storage Low Carbon Limited 49.9 MW Ground Awaiting Construction
Grantham Meres Leisure Centre, Trent Road - Solar PV Panels South Kesteven District Council 0.2 MW Roof Application Submitted
Grantham Meres Leisure Centre, Trent Road - Solar PV System Grantham Meres Leisure Centre 0.25 MW Roof Application Submitted
MV Fruehauf Limited, Houghton Road - Solar Panels MV Fruehauf Limited 0.48 MW Roof Application Submitted

Grid connection through National Grid Electricity Distribution

National Grid Electricity Distribution operates the distribution network across Lincolnshire, 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 Lincolnshire the planning database records 226 solar schemes totalling 7052 MW, of which 37 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 Grantham

What would a 500 kWp array produce on a farm near Grantham?
Yes, and the figure matters more than the sunshine. At 886 kWh per kWp a year, a 500 kWp array on a Grantham holding models at around 443,000 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 Grantham?
Applications go to National Grid Electricity Distribution, who run the network across Lincolnshire. 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 South Kesteven 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 South Kesteven before the design is finalised.
Has anyone near NG31 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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