Commercial building solar panels in Gravesend
Commercial roofs in Gravesend tend to be flat, membrane covered and cluttered with plant, which shapes the layout more than the size does. 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.
926 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 210 kWp array models at about 194,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Book a roof survey in GravesendIllustrative layout for a flat commercial roof of this size, with plant, shade and access kept clear. Your own figures come from the roof survey.
- 58,105
- people in the Gravesend built-up area (ONS Census 2021)
- 310
- office properties on the rating list in Gravesham (VOA, March 2025)
- 770
- retail properties, 30 of them large-format (VOA, March 2025)
- 0
- named commercial rooftop schemes on the planning record nearby (REPD, Q1 2026)
Commercial rooftop solar across Kent
Yield on a Gravesend commercial roof
Modelled irradiation here is 1,189 kWh per square metre a year on a low-tilt array, which works out at 926 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 5 percent above the mean across the towns we cover.
How many commercial buildings Gravesham has
On the Valuation Office Agency's count, Gravesham holds 770 retail and 310 office properties on the rating list. By office stock the district sits in the bottom quarter 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 30 large-format retail units, superstores and retail warehouses in the district, about 46,000 square metres of floorspace under largely single storey roofs.
The same list carries 120 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.
The built-up area holds about 58,105 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 DA postcode area, starting from DA12.
Gravesend ranks 9 of 12 towns we cover in Kent on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 915 to 990, a spread of 75 kWh per kWp. On a 210 kWp commercial roof that is about 15,750 kWh a year between the strongest and weakest town in the county.
Grid connection through UK Power Networks
UK Power Networks operates the distribution network across Kent, 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 Kent the planning database records 237 solar schemes totalling 2072 MW, of which 45 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).
All solar on record near DA12
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lion Business Park, Dering Way - Solar panels | Industrials Propco 1 Limited | 0.17 MW | Roof | Application Submitted |
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 Gravesend
- Is there enough sun in Gravesend for a commercial roof array?
- Modelled at 926 kWh per kWp a year for a low-tilt array at this latitude, a 210 kWp system comes out at roughly 194,000 kWh a year before shading. It needs about 1,390 m² of flat roof once the edge strip, plant and walkways are kept clear. 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 Gravesham?
- 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 Gravesham 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 Gravesend 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 Gravesend?
- Capacity varies street by street and only UK Power 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.