Solar panels for farms in the South West

This guide covers Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol and Bath. The South West has more installed solar than any other UK region, and its dairy and livestock farms pair well with it: parlours, milk cooling and water heating run every day.

A south-facing 30° roof near Truro generates about 1,059 kWh per kWp a year on PVGIS, and DESNZ's 2025/26 data put the mean installed price of a 10–50 kW system in the South West region at £1,369 per kW. By the end of July 2026 DESNZ counted 4,579 MW of solar in the South West — 20% of the UK's 22,992 MW.

Farming and electricity use across the South West

Dairy farming defines much of Devon, Somerset and Cornwall, with beef and sheep on the moors and uplands. Somerset and Gloucestershire also have orchards and horticulture, and Wiltshire and Dorset are more arable. Coastal holdings face salt-laden air, which is worth raising when choosing panels and mounting hardware.

What a farm roof generates here

These figures come from PVGIS, the European Commission's photovoltaic model (version 5.3, SARAH3 satellite data), for 1 kWp of crystalline panels facing due south with 14% system losses. Steep, pitched roofs suit a 30° row; many modern sheds are closer to 10°.

On a 30° roof near Exeter, PVGIS gives about 128 kWh per kWp in June and 33 in December. Set against your own meter data, those monthly figures show how much of the output your farm would use itself — and self-use, not export, is where most of the value comes from.

What farm solar costs in the South West

DESNZ publishes installed prices for systems registered with MCS. For 2025/26 the mean for 10–50 kW systems in the South West region was £1,369 per kW across 1,138 installations. That is above the Great Britain-wide median of £1,262 per kW for the same size band. The figures include VAT where it was charged and exclude batteries.

For the national picture by system size, see what agricultural solar panels cost.

Planning: rooftop solar is usually permitted development

In England, solar panels on a farm building's roof are normally permitted development under Class J of Part 14 of the General Permitted Development Order, with no capacity limit since December 2023. Panels must stay within 0.2 m of a pitched roof's surface and at least 1 m from the roof edge; systems above 50 kW need the council's prior approval on design and glare before work starts. Listed buildings and scheduled monuments are excluded. Dartmoor and Exmoor National Parks, National Landscapes such as Cornwall, the Mendip Hills, the Quantock Hills, Dorset and the Cotswolds, and World Heritage Sites including the Jurassic Coast and the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape are protected land under article 2(3) of the order, where Class J does not allow panels on a wall that fronts a highway. A small free-standing array of up to 9 m² may fall under Class K; anything bigger on the ground needs a planning application. The detail is in our guide to planning permission for farm solar.

Grid connection

National Grid Electricity Distribution runs most of the South West's network, but other operators serve parts of the region's eastern counties and boundaries do not follow county lines. Check which operator serves your holding by postcode before budgeting for a connection. A system rated above 16 A per phase (3.68 kW on a single-phase supply) falls outside the simple G98 notification route and needs the operator's G99 approval before it is connected, and a large array on a rural line may be offered an export limit.

Grants and tax relief in the South West

No England grant for farm solar is open as of September 2026. Round 2 of the Improving Farm Productivity grant — £15,000 to £100,000 for solar on farm-building roofs or irrigation reservoirs, never for ground-mounted arrays — has closed, and Defra has not announced another round. The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund has closed too. What still works is tax relief: see how capital allowances work for farm solar, and the full, dated picture of farm solar funding across all four UK nations.

Farm types common here

• Dairy farms
• Livestock farms
• Fruit farms
• Mixed farms
• Sheep farms

County guides

Questions about farm solar in the South West