farmsolarpanels Solar for farm buildings, UK wide Book a roof survey

Solar panels for farms in Arnold

A Arnold 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.

857 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 429,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Arnold
96 m phase 1
Drawing Arnold unit
Roof 96 x 62 m
Array 500 kWp
Yield 429,000 kWh/yr
Scale 1:500 / Rev A / NG5

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

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

Agricultural rooftop solar across Nottinghamshire

What a farm roof near Arnold generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1095 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 857 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is about 3 percent below the mean across the areas we cover, so the case here rests on using the output on the holding rather than exporting it.

The planning record lists 1 ground mounted solar scheme 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 4 MW. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

1 roof mounted scheme is on record nearby. Roof arrays under a megawatt frequently never reach that database at all, so the real number of farm roofs generating around Arnold is higher than the record shows.

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

Nottingham 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 Arnold roof makes, month by month

What a Arnold roof makes, month by month

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

0255075100Jan: 22 kWh per kWpJanFeb: 37 kWh per kWpFebMar: 70 kWh per kWpMarApr: 100 kWh per kWpAprMay: 118 kWh per kWpMayJun: 114 kWh per kWpJunJul: 119 kWh per kWpJul119 kWh Aug: 104 kWh per kWpAugSep: 78 kWh per kWpSepOct: 48 kWh per kWpOctNov: 28 kWh per kWpNovDec: 19 kWh per kWpDec

Jul produces 6.3 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 429,000 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
Jan2211,000
Feb3718,500
Mar7035,000
Apr10050,000
May11859,000
Jun11457,000
Jul11959,500
Aug10452,000
Sep7839,000
Oct4824,000
Nov2814,000
Dec199,500
Source: EU PVGIS v5.2
FIG. 2 Arnold against the rest of Nottinghamshire
  • Newark874
  • Retford869
  • West Bridgford864
  • Nottingham859
  • Arnold857
  • Mansfield852
  • Worksop842

Arnold ranks 5 of 7 towns we cover in Nottinghamshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 842 to 874, a spread of 32 kWh per kWp. Within Nottinghamshire that difference is small enough to ignore: where the building sits is not what decides this scheme, your consumption pattern is.

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 NG5

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
Land south of Ramsdale Park Golf Course Earthworm/ EW Capital 4 MW Ground Abandoned
Arnold Hill Spencer Academy - Solar Panels Green Nation Solar Energy 0.18 MW Roof Awaiting Construction

Grid connection through National Grid Electricity Distribution

National Grid Electricity Distribution operates the distribution network across Nottinghamshire, 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 Nottinghamshire the planning database records 164 solar schemes totalling 3700 MW, of which 35 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

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.

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

Questions about solar in Arnold

How much does a farm roof near Arnold generate?
The model gives 857 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 429,000 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 Arnold take the export?
National Grid Electricity Distribution is the distribution network operator for Nottinghamshire. 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 Arnold?
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 Nottingham before design sign-off.
Has anyone near NG5 already done this?
The planning database records 1 ground mounted and 1 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 Nottinghamshire locations