Commercial building solar panels in Andover
An office or store in Andover buys most of its electricity between eight in the morning and six at night, which is when a roof array generates. What decides a scheme is the roof covering, the parapet height and the plant layout, which is why the survey happens on the roof rather than from a satellite image.
915 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 210 kWp array models at about 192,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Book a roof survey in AndoverIllustrative layout for a flat commercial roof of this size, with plant, shade and access kept clear. Your own figures come from the roof survey.
- 48,480
- people in the Andover built-up area (ONS Census 2021)
- 850
- office properties on the rating list in Test Valley (VOA, March 2025)
- 690
- retail properties, 40 of them large-format (VOA, March 2025)
- 1
- named commercial rooftop scheme on the planning record nearby (REPD, Q1 2026)
Solar for offices and retail across Hampshire
How much sun a Andover roof gets
Modelled irradiation here is 1,172 kWh per square metre a year on a low-tilt array, which works out at 915 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 towns we cover.
The rating list for Test Valley
The Valuation Office Agency's rating list puts 850 office and 690 retail properties in Test Valley, covering about 150,000 and 147,000 square metres of floorspace respectively. By office stock the district sits below the median of the 318 districts in England and Wales; by retail stock it sits in the bottom quarter of the 318 districts in England and Wales.
The big roofs are in the 40 large-format retail units, superstores and retail warehouses in the district, about 68,000 square metres of floorspace under largely single storey roofs.
The same list carries 220 hotel, leisure and assembly properties in the district. Leisure centres and hotels run seven days a week, which puts weekend generation to use that an office would export.
Source: Valuation Office Agency, Non-domestic rating: business floorspace, 31 March 2025 (published December 2025), counts and floorspace by special category code and local authority district, England and Wales.
Commercial rooftop solar already planned near Andover
The Renewable Energy Planning Database records one roof-mounted scheme on office and business park buildings in this postcode district. These are other organisations' projects, listed from the public record, not ours.
| Scheme | Applicant | Type | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walworth Business Park | Cactus Energy / Sealock Limited | office | 0.25 MW | Awaiting Construction |
The built-up area holds about 48,480 people, so the stock here runs to high street premises, a supermarket or two and the odd hotel (ONS Census 2021 built-up areas).
We arrange surveys across the SP postcode area, starting from SP10.
Andover ranks 6 of 10 towns we cover in Hampshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 903 to 987, a spread of 84 kWh per kWp. On a 210 kWp commercial roof that is about 17,640 kWh a year between the strongest and weakest town in the county.
Grid connection through Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks
Connections around Andover are handled by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, which sets the export limit for the site. Above 3.68 kW per phase the connection runs under G99, so the export limit is agreed in advance rather than assumed. Where the local network is constrained, an export-limited connection usually still makes the scheme work, because a commercial building uses most of what the roof makes during the working day.
Across Hampshire the planning database records 237 solar schemes totalling 1634 MW, of which 51 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).
All solar on record near SP10
Every scheme in this postcode district in the government's Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026, ground and roof mounted, commercial or not. None of them is ours. Together they are a fair guide to how the local network has been treating export applications.
| Scheme | Operator | Capacity | Mounting | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Tenens, Assent 100, Stephenson Close, - Solar Panels | Hoaward Tenens Limited | 0.94 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
| Howard Tenens Limited, Plot 4, Portway Business Park - Solar Panels | Howard Tenens Limited | 0.7 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
| Howard Tenens, Plot 5, West Portway - Solar Panels | Howard Tenens Limited | 0.59 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
| Howard Tenens, Plot 2, West Portway - Solar Panels | Howard Tenens Limited | 0.3 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
| Units 1 And 2, Assent 40, Plot 12, Portway Business Park - Solar Panels | Hoaward Tenens Limited | 0.36 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
| Walworth Business Park - Solar Photovoltaics panel | Cactus Energy / Sealock Limited | 0.25 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
Send us the postcode
Tell us where the building is, roughly how big the roof is, and whether you own it or lease it. 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 Andover
- How much would solar on a commercial building in Andover generate?
- The model gives 915 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 210 kWp is about 192,000 kWh a year before shading losses. Allow roughly 1,390 m² of roof for it. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
- Do we need planning permission for solar on a commercial building in Test Valley?
- Usually not a full application. In England, panels on the roof of a non-domestic building are permitted development under Class J of Part 14 of the General Permitted Development Order, with no capacity cap since December 2023. Above 50 kW, which covers most commercial arrays, you must first apply to Test Valley for a determination on prior approval of the design and appearance, in particular glare on neighbouring land. On a flat roof panels may stand no more than 1 metre above the roof and must sit at least 1 metre from its edge, and listed buildings and scheduled monuments are excluded. See our planning permission guide for the detail.
- Does solar help a Andover landlord meet MEES?
- It can. A non-domestic EPC is an asset rating, and on-site generation counts in the calculation, so an array usually lifts the score. Let property in England and Wales must be EPC E or better today. The government's interim response of 18 June 2026 proposes EPC B, where cost effective, from 2031 for let buildings over 1,000 m², and drops the EPC C step once planned for 2027. How far solar moves a particular building depends on its fabric and services, which is why the EPC assessor models it before anything is fitted.
- Which network operator handles the connection in Andover?
- Capacity varies street by street and only Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks can answer it for your connection. We ask early, because an export-limited offer changes the design rather than ending the scheme, and most commercial buildings use most of what they generate anyway.