Is there enough sun around Melksham to make this work?

Modelled at 912 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 456,000 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 Melksham?

Only Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks 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 Wiltshire?

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 Wiltshire either way.

Has anyone near SN12 already done this?

The planning database records 4 ground mounted and 1 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 Melksham

Farm buildings around Melksham carry broad, shallow roofs that were put up for storage and stock, not for generation. The survey starts on the covering: fibre cement or steel, its remaining life, the purlin spacing and what the frame will carry.

912 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 456,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Melksham

Drawing Melksham unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 456,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / SN12

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

Melksham / Wiltshire

South West pasture and farm buildings carrying rooftop solar — Industrial stock of the kind we survey across South West.

Solar for agricultural buildings across Wiltshire

What a farm roof near Melksham generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1166 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 912 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 3 percent above the mean across the areas we cover, which is as strong as UK farm rooftop gets outside the south coast.

The planning record lists 4 ground mounted solar schemes 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 49.6 MW, with the largest at 49.9 MW. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

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 Melksham is higher than the record shows.

Surveys run across SN postcodes, SN12 outward.

Wiltshire 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 Melksham roof makes, month by month

Jul produces 6.0 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 456,000 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	75	37,500
Apr	106	53,000
May	123	61,500
Jun	125	62,500
Jul	126	63,000
Aug	106	53,000
Sep	83	41,500
Oct	51	25,500
Nov	30	15,000
Dec	21	10,500

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Melksham against the rest of Wiltshire

Salisbury923
Melksham912
Warminster912
Trowbridge909
Devizes906
Marlborough900
Swindon899
Chippenham894

Melksham ranks 2 of 8 towns we cover in Wiltshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 894 to 923, a spread of 29 kWh per kWp. Within Wiltshire 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 SN12

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
Snarlton Farm (Melksham solar farm)	Foresight	49.6 MW	Ground	Operational
CRAYSMARSH SOLAR FARM	Lightsource BP	1.8 MW	Ground	Operational
Studley Farm - Solar Farm & Battery Storage	Melksham Calne Green Limited	49.9 MW	Ground	Awaiting Construction
Whistle Mead Solar Farm, Little Chalfield - Solar Farm	Private Developer	n/a	Ground	Application Submitted
Herman Miller, Portal Road - Solar Panels	Cactus Energy	0.58 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction

Grid connection through Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks operates the distribution network across Wiltshire, 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 Wiltshire the planning database records 159 solar schemes totalling 1585 MW, of which 56 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 Melksham

Is there enough sun around Melksham to make this work?: Modelled at 912 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 456,000 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 Melksham?: Only Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks 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 Wiltshire?: 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 Wiltshire either way.
Has anyone near SN12 already done this?: The planning database records 4 ground mounted and 1 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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