How much does a farm roof near Bicester generate?

The model gives 895 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 448,000 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 Bicester take the export?

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks is the distribution network operator for Oxfordshire. 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 Bicester?

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 Cherwell before design sign-off.

Has anyone near OX26 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 Bicester

A Bicester farm buys electricity at the worst rate of the day in exactly the hours its roof could be generating. The survey starts on the covering: fibre cement or steel, its remaining life, the purlin spacing and what the frame will carry.

895 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 448,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Bicester

Drawing Bicester unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 448,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / OX26

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

Bicester / Oxfordshire

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

Solar for agricultural buildings across Oxfordshire

What a farm roof near Bicester generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1149 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 895 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.

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 Bicester is higher than the record shows.

Surveys run across OX postcodes, OX26 outward.

Cherwell 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 Bicester roof makes, month by month

Jun produces 5.9 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 448,000 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	25	12,500
Feb	39	19,500
Mar	72	36,000
Apr	103	51,500
May	119	59,500
Jun	124	62,000
Jul	124	62,000
Aug	104	52,000
Sep	82	41,000
Oct	51	25,500
Nov	30	15,000
Dec	21	10,500

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Bicester against the rest of Oxfordshire

Didcot913
Abingdon904
Witney902
Henley-on-Thames899
Oxford895
Bicester895
Banbury891
Thame891

Bicester ranks 6 of 8 towns we cover in Oxfordshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 891 to 913, a spread of 22 kWh per kWp. Within Oxfordshire 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 Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks

Connections around Bicester are handled by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, 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 Oxfordshire the planning database records 149 solar schemes totalling 2544 MW, of which 31 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

Solar already consented near OX26

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
Tesco Superstore Bicester	Batchelor Electrical	0.6 MW	Roof	Under Construction
British Bakels, Granville Way - Solar Panels	Cactus Energy	0.83 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Bicester Park, Charbridge Lane - Solar Panels	Greencore Construction Limited	0.32 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Brita Water Filter Systems Limited, Granville Way - Solar panels	Cactus Energy	0.33 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Units 4, 5, 6, 8 & 9, Longlands Road - Solar Panels	Barings	0.73 MW	Roof	Application Submitted
Bicester Hotel Golf And Spa, Akeman Street - Solar Panels	Bicester Golf and Country Club	0.4 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 Bicester

How much does a farm roof near Bicester generate?: The model gives 895 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 448,000 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 Bicester take the export?: Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks is the distribution network operator for Oxfordshire. 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 Bicester?: 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 Cherwell before design sign-off.
Has anyone near OX26 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.

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