Solar panels for warehouses in Lichfield
Most of the industrial stock around Lichfield carries a large, shallow-pitched roof that was never asked to do anything. The survey measures the roof, not the postcode: cladding profile, purlin centres, remaining sheet life and the load the frame can take.
857 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 429,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Book a roof survey in LichfieldIllustrative layout for a unit of this size. Your own figures come from the roof survey.
Distribution centre solar across Staffordshire
What a roof in Lichfield actually generates
Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1097 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 857 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is about 3 percent below the mean across the towns we cover, so the case here leans harder on how much you use on site rather than on raw generation.
Distribution stock around Lichfield clusters on M6 Toll T5, A38 and A5, which is where the large single-let roofs are.
We survey across the WS postcode area, starting from WS13.
Lichfield is the planning authority for most sites here, and the built-up area holds a population of about 32,580, so the stock here runs to trade counters, light industrial terraces and the occasional larger shed (ONS Census 2021 built-up areas).
Lichfield ranks 2 of 7 towns we cover in Staffordshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 826 to 857, a spread of 31 kWh per kWp. Within Staffordshire that difference is small enough to ignore: where the building sits is not what decides this scheme, your consumption pattern is.
Solar already consented near WS13
From the government's Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026. These are the schemes on record in this postcode district, which is a fair guide to how the local network has been treating export applications.
| Scheme | Operator | Capacity | Mounting | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huddlesford Farm | NESF (formerly Green Energy Networks) | 1 MW | Ground | Operational |
| Park Lane | NESF (formerly Green Energy Networks) | 1 MW | Ground | Operational |
| Newell Rubbermaid, Halifax Avenue - Solar Panels | Newell Rubbermaid UK Services Limited | 0.64 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
| The Food Warehouse by Iceland - Solar Panels | Ashcroft Electrical Services Limited | 0.15 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
Grid connection through National Grid Electricity Distribution
National Grid Electricity Distribution is the network operator here, and their answer on export capacity shapes the design. Any commercial array above 3.68 kW per phase connects under G99 rather than G98, and the application fixes what you are allowed to push back onto the network. If the local network is tight, limiting export rarely breaks the case here: most of the generation is consumed on site while the building is working.
Across Staffordshire the planning database records 118 solar schemes totalling 1054 MW, of which 17 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).
Send us the postcode
Tell us where the unit is and roughly how big the roof is. 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 Lichfield
- Is there enough sun in Lichfield to make this work?
- Modelled at 857 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 429,000 kWh a year before shading. That array needs about 1,485 sqm of clear roof once walkways and setbacks are allowed for. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
- Who do we apply to for export in Lichfield?
- Capacity varies street by street, and only National Grid Electricity Distribution can answer it for your connection. We ask the question early, because an export-limited offer changes the design rather than killing the scheme.
- Do we need planning permission in Lichfield?
- In most cases no, because roof-mounted panels on commercial buildings sit within permitted development. The exceptions are listed buildings, conservation areas and arrays that stand proud of the roof plane. We check with Lichfield first either way.
- Has anyone near WS13 already done this?
- The planning database records 4 solar schemes in this postcode district, 2 of them roof mounted. That matters less as proof that it works and more as evidence of how the local network has been treating export applications. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.