Commercial building solar panels in Worthing
Most commercial roofs around Worthing already carry plant, a parapet and an access hatch, and the space between them is where the array goes. The survey starts with the membrane and the deck: how many years the covering has left, what the roof can carry in ballast, and where plant and its shade rule panels out.
999 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 210 kWp array models at about 210,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Book a roof survey in WorthingIllustrative layout for a flat commercial roof of this size, with plant, shade and access kept clear. Your own figures come from the roof survey.
- 111,620
- people in the Worthing built-up area (ONS Census 2021)
- 450
- office properties on the rating list in Worthing (VOA, March 2025)
- 1,260
- retail properties, 20 of them large-format (VOA, March 2025)
- 1
- named commercial rooftop scheme on the planning record nearby (REPD, Q1 2026)
Commercial rooftop solar across Sussex
Yield on a Worthing commercial roof
Modelled irradiation here is 1,273 kWh per square metre a year on a low-tilt array, which works out at 999 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 13 percent above the mean across the towns we cover.
How many commercial buildings Worthing has
On the Valuation Office Agency's count, Worthing holds 1,260 retail and 450 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 above the median of the 318 districts in England and Wales.
20 of those retail properties are superstores, large food stores, large shops or retail warehouses, together about 44,000 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 100 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 Worthing
The Renewable Energy Planning Database records one roof-mounted scheme on leisure and hospitality buildings in this postcode district. These are other organisations' projects, listed from the public record, not ours.
| Scheme | Applicant | Type | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Lloyd Leisure, Romany Road - Photovoltaics panels | David Lloyd Leisure Limited | leisure | 0.49 MW | Awaiting Construction |
The built-up area holds about 111,620 people, large enough for a retail park or two and a cluster of office buildings (ONS Census 2021 built-up areas).
Surveys run across BN postcodes, BN13 outward.
Worthing ranks 6 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.
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 Worthing
- How much would solar on a commercial building in Worthing generate?
- The model gives 999 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 210 kWp is about 210,000 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.
- Is planning permission needed for panels on a Worthing 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 Worthing 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 Worthing?
- 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.