Is there enough sun around Bognor Regis to make this work?

Modelled at 1000 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 500,000 kWh a year before shading. That array needs about 1,485 sqm of clear roof once ridge vents and walkways are allowed for. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Do we need planning permission in Arun?

In most cases no, because panels on the roof of an agricultural building usually sit within permitted development. The exceptions are listed buildings, conservation areas, protected landscapes and arrays that stand proud of the roof. We check with Arun either way.

Solar panels for farms in Bognor Regis

The case for solar on a Bognor Regis holding turns on how much of the output the farm uses itself, not on how much the roof makes. The survey starts on the covering: fibre cement or steel, its remaining life, the purlin spacing and what the frame will carry.

1000 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 500,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Bognor Regis

Drawing Bognor Regis unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 500,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / PO21

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

Bognor Regis / Sussex

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

Solar for agricultural buildings across Sussex

What a farm roof near Bognor Regis generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1267 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 1000 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 13 percent above the mean across the areas we cover, which is as strong as UK farm rooftop gets outside the south coast.

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 Bognor Regis is higher than the record shows.

Surveys run across PO postcodes, PO21 outward.

Arun 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 Bognor Regis roof makes, month by month

Jun produces 6.2 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 500,000 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	27	13,500
Feb	42	21,000
Mar	80	40,000
Apr	117	58,500
May	134	67,000
Jun	142	71,000
Jul	142	71,000
Aug	117	58,500
Sep	90	45,000
Oct	55	27,500
Nov	32	16,000
Dec	23	11,500

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Bognor Regis against the rest of Sussex

Chichester1028
Lewes1028
Eastbourne1017
Brighton1015
Bognor Regis1000
Worthing999
Hastings989
Haywards Heath957
Horsham935

Bognor Regis ranks 5 of 10 towns we cover in Sussex on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 915 to 1028, a spread of 113 kWh per kWp. On a 500 kWp array that is about 56,500 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 PO21

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
Sefter Farm, Pagham Road - Solar Panels	Barfoots Of Botley Limited	2 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 Bognor Regis

Is there enough sun around Bognor Regis to make this work?: Modelled at 1000 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 500,000 kWh a year before shading. That array needs about 1,485 sqm of clear roof once ridge vents and walkways are allowed for. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Do we need planning permission in Arun?: In most cases no, because panels on the roof of an agricultural building usually sit within permitted development. The exceptions are listed buildings, conservation areas, protected landscapes and arrays that stand proud of the roof. We check with Arun either way.

Nearby

All Sussex locations