Commercial building solar panels in Trowbridge
Commercial roofs in Trowbridge 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.
909 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 210 kWp array models at about 191,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Book a roof survey in TrowbridgeIllustrative layout for a flat commercial roof of this size, with plant, shade and access kept clear. Your own figures come from the roof survey.
- 43,750
- people in the Trowbridge built-up area (ONS Census 2021)
- 3,140
- office properties on the rating list in Wiltshire (VOA, March 2025)
- 3,190
- retail properties, 150 of them large-format (VOA, March 2025)
- 0
- named commercial rooftop schemes on the planning record nearby (REPD, Q1 2026)
Commercial rooftop solar across Wiltshire
Yield on a Trowbridge commercial roof
Modelled irradiation here is 1,162 kWh per square metre a year on a low-tilt array, which works out at 909 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is within a few percent of the mean across the towns we cover, so the weather is not what decides the case here. Opening hours are.
How many commercial buildings Wiltshire has
On the Valuation Office Agency's count, Wiltshire holds 3,190 retail and 3,140 office properties on the rating list. By office stock the district sits in the top tenth of the 318 districts in England and Wales; by retail stock it sits in the top tenth of the 318 districts in England and Wales.
The big roofs are in the 150 large-format retail units, superstores and retail warehouses in the district, about 321,000 square metres of floorspace under largely single storey roofs.
The same list carries 860 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 43,750 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 BA postcode area, starting from BA14.
Trowbridge ranks 4 of 8 towns we cover in Wiltshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 894 to 923, a spread of 29 kWh per kWp. Within Wiltshire that difference is small enough to ignore: where the building sits is not what decides this scheme, your consumption pattern is.
Grid connection through Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks
Connections around Trowbridge 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 Wiltshire the planning database records 159 solar schemes totalling 1585 MW, of which 56 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).
All solar on record near BA14
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cockhill Solar Farm | Next Energy Solar Fund Ltd | 20 MW | Ground | Operational |
| Marsh Farm Hilperton | Foresight | 9.1 MW | Ground | Operational |
| Trowle Common | Low Carbon | 5 MW | Ground | Operational |
| Brook Hall Farm | South West Solar Parks (Brook Hall Farm SPV) | 10 MW | Ground | Revised |
| Land at Poles Hole Farm | Sunsave 13 (Southwick) | 6.8 MW | Ground | Operational |
| Land West Side of Axe and Cleaver Lane | Wessex Solar Energy | 5 MW | Ground | Operational |
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 Trowbridge
- Is there enough sun in Trowbridge for a commercial roof array?
- Modelled at 909 kWh per kWp a year for a low-tilt array at this latitude, a 210 kWp system comes out at roughly 191,000 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 Wiltshire?
- 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 Wiltshire 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 Trowbridge 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 Trowbridge?
- 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.