Is there enough sun around Walsall to make this work?

Modelled at 851 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 426,000 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.

Who do we apply to for export near Walsall?

Only National Grid Electricity Distribution can answer it for your connection, and on rural feeders the answer varies farm to farm. An export-limited offer usually still works, because a holding with grain drying, cooling or ventilation uses most of what it makes.

Do we need planning permission in Walsall?

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 Walsall either way.

Has anyone near WS1 already done this?

The planning database records 0 ground mounted and 4 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 Walsall

A Walsall 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.

851 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 426,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Walsall

Drawing Walsall unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 426,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / WS1

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

Walsall / West Midlands

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

Solar for agricultural buildings across West Midlands

What a farm roof near Walsall generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1090 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 851 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is about 4 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.

4 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 Walsall is higher than the record shows.

Surveys run across WS postcodes, WS1 outward.

Walsall 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 Walsall roof makes, month by month

Jul produces 5.9 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 426,000 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	23	11,500
Feb	37	18,500
Mar	70	35,000
Apr	99	49,500
May	116	58,000
Jun	116	58,000
Jul	118	59,000
Aug	100	50,000
Sep	78	39,000
Oct	48	24,000
Nov	27	13,500
Dec	20	10,000

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Walsall against the rest of West Midlands

Coventry868
Solihull860
Birmingham854
West Bromwich852
Sutton Coldfield852
Walsall851
Dudley845
Wolverhampton839

Walsall ranks 6 of 8 towns we cover in West Midlands on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 839 to 868, a spread of 29 kWh per kWp. Within West Midlands 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 WS1

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
Morrison Supermarkets, Lichfield Street - Solar Photovoltaic System	Morrisons	0.21 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Jerome Retail Park, Midland Road - Solar Panels	Buzz Group Limited	0.2 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
The Performance Hub, Gorway Road - Solar Panels	future Energy Llanwern Limited	0.72 MW	Roof	Revised
The Performance Hub, Gorway Road - Solar Panels	future Energy Llanwern Limited	0.72 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction

Grid connection through National Grid Electricity Distribution

National Grid Electricity Distribution operates the distribution network across West Midlands, 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 West Midlands the planning database records 195 solar schemes totalling 533 MW, of which 3 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.

Questions about solar in Walsall

Is there enough sun around Walsall to make this work?: Modelled at 851 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 426,000 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.
Who do we apply to for export near Walsall?: Only National Grid Electricity Distribution can answer it for your connection, and on rural feeders the answer varies farm to farm. An export-limited offer usually still works, because a holding with grain drying, cooling or ventilation uses most of what it makes.
Do we need planning permission in Walsall?: 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 Walsall either way.
Has anyone near WS1 already done this?: The planning database records 0 ground mounted and 4 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 West Midlands locations