Commercial building solar panels in Horsham
Most commercial roofs around Horsham already carry plant, a parapet and an access hatch, and the space between them is where the array goes. Each survey records the usable area once edge strips, plant and walkways are taken out, the load the deck can take, and whether the lease lets the occupier alter the roof.
935 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 210 kWp array models at about 196,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Book a roof survey in HorshamIllustrative layout for a flat commercial roof of this size, with plant, shade and access kept clear. Your own figures come from the roof survey.
- 50,215
- people in the Horsham built-up area (ONS Census 2021)
- 880
- office properties on the rating list in Horsham (VOA, March 2025)
- 840
- retail properties, 30 of them large-format (VOA, March 2025)
- 3
- named commercial rooftop schemes on the planning record nearby (REPD, Q1 2026)
Commercial rooftop solar across Sussex
Yield on a Horsham commercial roof
Modelled irradiation here is 1,201 kWh per square metre a year on a low-tilt array, which works out at 935 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 6 percent above the mean across the towns we cover.
How many commercial buildings Horsham has
On the Valuation Office Agency's count, Horsham holds 840 retail and 880 office properties on the rating list. By office stock the district sits below the median of the 318 districts in England and Wales; by retail stock it sits below the median of the 318 districts in England and Wales.
30 of those retail properties are superstores, large food stores, large shops or retail warehouses, together about 48,000 square metres. Single storey boxes of that size are where most commercial rooftop solar actually gets built, because the roof is big, flat or shallow, and uninterrupted.
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 Horsham
The Renewable Energy Planning Database records 3 roof-mounted schemes on office and business park, public sector and supermarket and retail buildings in this postcode district. These are other organisations' projects, listed from the public record, not ours.
| Scheme | Applicant | Type | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Peters Hall | Peter Williams Locke King House | office | 1.7 MW | Operational |
| Skylark House, St Marks Lane | Skylark House Care Home Care UK | civic | 0.15 MW | Awaiting Construction |
| Sainsburys Supermarket, Worthing Road | Sainsburys Supermarkets Limited | retail | 0.65 MW | Application Submitted |
The built-up area holds about 50,215 people, so the stock here runs to high street premises, a supermarket or two and the odd hotel (ONS Census 2021 built-up areas).
Surveys run across RH postcodes, RH12 outward.
Horsham ranks 9 of 10 towns we cover in Sussex on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 915 to 1028, a spread of 113 kWh per kWp. On a 210 kWp commercial roof that is about 23,730 kWh a year between the strongest and weakest town in the county.
All solar on record near RH12
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Peters Hall | Peter Williams Locke King House | 1.7 MW | Roof | Operational |
| Broadlands Business Campus, Langhurst Wood Road - Solar Panels Phase 3 | Schroder Corporate Services Limited | 0.48 MW | Ground | Awaiting Construction |
| Broadlands Business Campus, Langhurst Wood Road - Solar Panels Phase 2 | Schroder Corporate Services Limited | n/a | Ground | Awaiting Construction |
| Skylark House, St Marks Lane - Solar Panels | Skylark House Care Home Care UK | 0.15 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
| Sainsburys Supermarket, Worthing Road - Solar Panels | Sainsburys Supermarkets Limited | 0.65 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 Horsham
- Is there enough sun in Horsham for a commercial roof array?
- Modelled at 935 kWh per kWp a year for a low-tilt array at this latitude, a 210 kWp system comes out at roughly 196,000 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.
- Is planning permission needed for panels on a Horsham office or shop?
- 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 Horsham 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.
- Will rooftop solar improve the EPC rating of a let building in Horsham?
- 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.