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

Yes, and the figure matters more than the sunshine. At 859 kWh per kWp a year, a 500 kWp array on a Nottingham holding models at around 430,000 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 Nottingham?

Applications go to National Grid Electricity Distribution, who run the network across Nottinghamshire. 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 Nottingham 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 Nottingham before the design is finalised.

Has anyone near NG7 already done this?

The planning database records 0 ground mounted and 6 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 Nottingham

Most holdings around Nottingham already own the best generating site they will ever have, and it is the roof of the shed they built for something else. The survey starts on the covering: fibre cement or steel, its remaining life, the purlin spacing and what the frame will carry.

859 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 430,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Nottingham

Drawing Nottingham unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 430,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / NG7

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

Nottingham / Nottinghamshire

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

Solar for agricultural buildings across Nottinghamshire

What a farm roof near Nottingham generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1098 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 859 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.

6 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 Nottingham is higher than the record shows.

Surveys run across NG postcodes, NG7 outward.

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 Nottingham roof makes, month by month

Jul produces 6.3 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 430,000 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	22	11,000
Feb	37	18,500
Mar	70	35,000
Apr	100	50,000
May	118	59,000
Jun	115	57,500
Jul	119	59,500
Aug	104	52,000
Sep	78	39,000
Oct	48	24,000
Nov	28	14,000
Dec	19	9,500

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Nottingham against the rest of Nottinghamshire

Newark874
Retford869
West Bridgford864
Nottingham859
Arnold857
Mansfield852
Worksop842

Nottingham ranks 4 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

Grid connection through National Grid Electricity Distribution

Connections around Nottingham are handled by National Grid Electricity Distribution, which sets the export limit for the site. Above 3.68 kW per phase the connection runs under G99, so the export limit is agreed in advance rather than assumed. Where the local network is constrained, an export-limited connection usually still makes the scheme work, because a farm uses most of what the roof makes during the working day.

Across Nottinghamshire the planning database records 164 solar schemes totalling 3700 MW, of which 35 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

Solar already consented near NG7

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
Willow Road - Roof mounted solar panels	AC Gill Limited	0.35 MW	Roof	Operational
Games Workshop Euro Hub, Willow Road - Solar Panels	Games Workshop	0.26 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Madison Court, Derwent Way - Solar Panels	Bluesky Student Madison Gardens Limited	0.18 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Lenton Lane - Solar Panels	Big Yellow Self Storage Limited	0.16 MW	Roof	Application Submitted
JK Foods UK, Bull Close Road - Solar Panels	JK Foods UK Limited	0.31 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Redfield Road - Solar Panels	Private Developer	0.45 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 Nottingham

What would a 500 kWp array produce on a farm near Nottingham?: Yes, and the figure matters more than the sunshine. At 859 kWh per kWp a year, a 500 kWp array on a Nottingham holding models at around 430,000 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 Nottingham?: Applications go to National Grid Electricity Distribution, who run the network across Nottinghamshire. 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 Nottingham 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 Nottingham before the design is finalised.
Has anyone near NG7 already done this?: The planning database records 0 ground mounted and 6 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