Solar panels for farms — FAQs

Dairy and livestock parlour installs (30–250 kW): £32,000–£225,000. Arable rooftop installs (50–500 kW): £45,000–£500,000. Ground-mount agrivoltaic schemes (500 kW–10 MW): £350,000–£8m+. Cost per kW is typically £750–£1,000 for rooftop above 100 kW, £600–£800/kW for ground-mount above 500 kW.

5–6 years. Dairy farms have outstanding self-consumption (24/7 milk cooling, parlour pumps, lighting) — often 90%+ of generation is consumed on site. Combined with 100% AIA tax relief, dairy installs sit alongside cold-chain warehouses as the fastest-payback segment in UK commercial solar.

No — asbestos cement roofs must be replaced first. The most common solution is a combined re-roof + PV install where the PV business case partially funds the re-roof. CAR 2012 governs asbestos handling — only licensed contractors can remove asbestos cement. Most modern installs sit on profiled steel re-clads.

Agrivoltaics is emerging quickly in the UK. Sheep grazing under elevated panels is well-established. Crops (typically shade-tolerant: leafy greens, soft fruit, hops) under translucent panels is showing promising trial results. Defra and NFU are engaged. SFI 2025 is expected to add specific agrivoltaic compatibility actions.

100% AIA tax relief is universal. SFI actions support agrivoltaic schemes and biodiversity-stacked installs. Farming Investment Fund occasionally relevant. Welsh and Scottish farms have their own devolved schemes with often-higher intervention rates. SEG provides ongoing export income.

Yes — for any structural alteration to buildings or land use change. Most institutional landlords (Crown Estate, Church Commissioners, Wellcome Trust, county councils) have standard tenant-PV addenda. Private landlords vary. We provide the lease addendum template. Some landlords prefer to fund directly with a service-charge recovery from the tenant.

Yes — and the economics are often excellent. Modern free-range and broiler poultry sheds have huge clear-span roofs and high year-round ventilation loads. Pig units have high heating loads in cold months and ventilation in summer. Self-consumption typically 80%+. Biosecurity protocols (boot dips, restricted access, cleaning) apply during install.

Two routes. (1) Size for grain-drying peak — large rooftop or ground-mount, accept lower self-consumption outside drying season, lean on SEG export income. (2) Size smaller for daytime baseload only, add battery for grain-drying season. We model both — the right answer depends on your specific load profile and capital tolerance.

Rooftop installs almost never. We schedule around your busy seasons — calving, lambing, harvest. The only outage is final grid connection (4–8 hours), scheduled for a quiet period. Ground-mount installs need vehicle access for several weeks but don't interrupt main farm operations.

Yes — this is the ground-mount lease model. Typical lease £900–£1,300/acre/year (significantly above arable rental income), 25–40 year terms, third-party developer takes all capex/operational risk. Suits farms with marginal land that's underused. We can introduce you to developers actively contracting in your region.

Increasingly yes. Tesco Stronger Starts, Sainsbury's Plan for Better, M&S Plan A, Waitrose First Generation, Morrisons (committed to net-zero British farming by 2030) — all flow into supplier requirements via CDP Supply Chain disclosures, EcoVadis, and contract terms. Solar generation evidence is auditable Scope 2 reduction.

From contract to commissioning: 4–9 months for rooftop installs. Physical install: 1–8 weeks depending on size. DNO connection is the long pole — 6–18 months for G99. We submit DNO application immediately to compress timeline. Ground-mount above 1 MW typically 12–18 months total including planning.