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Solar panels for farms in Rugby

A Rugby 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.

882 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 441,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

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96 m phase 1
Drawing Rugby unit
Roof 96 x 62 m
Array 500 kWp
Yield 441,000 kWh/yr
Scale 1:500 / Rev A / CV21

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

Rugby / Warwickshire
Midlands arable farmland with solar on farm building roofs
Industrial stock of the kind we survey across West Midlands.

Solar for agricultural buildings across Warwickshire

What a farm roof near Rugby generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1126 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 882 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 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 13 MW. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

2 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 Rugby is higher than the record shows.

Surveys run across CV postcodes, CV21 outward.

Rugby 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 Rugby roof makes, month by month

What a Rugby 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: 38 kWh per kWpFebMar: 72 kWh per kWpMarApr: 102 kWh per kWpAprMay: 119 kWh per kWpMayJun: 121 kWh per kWpJunJul: 123 kWh per kWpJul123 kWh Aug: 104 kWh per kWpAugSep: 81 kWh per kWpSepOct: 50 kWh per kWpOctNov: 29 kWh per kWpNovDec: 20 kWh per kWpDec

Jul produces 6.2 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 441,000 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
Feb3819,000
Mar7236,000
Apr10251,000
May11959,500
Jun12160,500
Jul12361,500
Aug10452,000
Sep8140,500
Oct5025,000
Nov2914,500
Dec2010,000
Source: EU PVGIS v5.2
FIG. 2 Rugby against the rest of Warwickshire
  • Stratford-upon-Avon893
  • Rugby882
  • Warwick880
  • Leamington Spa880
  • Kenilworth877
  • Nuneaton866
  • Bedworth866

Rugby ranks 2 of 7 towns we cover in Warwickshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 866 to 893, a spread of 27 kWh per kWp. Within Warwickshire 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

National Grid Electricity Distribution is the network operator here, and their answer on export capacity shapes the design. Any commercial array above 3.68 kW per phase connects under G99 rather than G98, and the application fixes what you are allowed to push back onto the network. If the local network is tight, limiting export rarely breaks the case here: most of the generation is consumed on site while the building is working.

Across Warwickshire the planning database records 94 solar schemes totalling 1201 MW, of which 18 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

Solar already consented near CV21

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
Cosford Lane - Solar Panels Standard Life Investments Property Holdings 0.24 MW Roof Awaiting Construction
Rugby Road, Kilsby - Rainsbrook Solar Farm Voltalia Limited 13 MW Ground Awaiting Construction
Hi Speed Services, Haynes Way - Solar Panels Picton UK Listed Real Estate Nominee Limited 0.2 MW Roof Awaiting Construction
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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.

Lenzie Consulting Ltd arranges the survey and passes your details to our MCS-certified installation partner so they can quote.

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Questions about solar in Rugby

How much does a farm roof near Rugby generate?
The model gives 882 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 441,000 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 Rugby take the export?
National Grid Electricity Distribution is the distribution network operator for Warwickshire. 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 Rugby?
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 Rugby before design sign-off.
Has anyone near CV21 already done this?
The planning database records 1 ground mounted and 2 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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All Warwickshire locations