The costs of renewable technologies are so low these days that these systems’ payback time and money saving potentials are very impressive.

With solar panels for warehouses and factories, many factors affect the specific savings. For example, your current electricity costs, size and position of system, etc, are all important.

if you’re installing the system to avoid an extortionate grid connection cost, the payback time could be instant!

Solar panels require very little maintenance, other than periodic cleaning to remove dirt and debris that affects their generation.

We recommend that an Electrician inspects system components and electrical installations every five years.

Products with moving components, such as wind turbines or a generator, have regular service intervals.

Xerogrid offers maintenance and monitoring agreements for peace of mind that your system will work at its best and under its requirements for warranty coverage.

Solar panels for warehouses and factories don’t get the 0% VAT rate, so it is best if you are VAT registered to avoid this significant cost.

When you pay corporation tax, you can claim capital allowances for plants and machinery, including renewable energy systems. Click here to find out more.

If you are grid-connected, you can also earn money for any excess renewable electricity that you generate but do not use, through the SEG (Smart Export Guarantee) scheme. This means an electricity supplier will pay you per unit that you export. The rates can vary significantly: If you think you could get a better rate, Xerogrid can help you broker industry-leading rates. We can even help you to get a smart meter installed if your energy supplier isn’t offering this.

Usually, with solar panels for warehouses and factories, you won’t need planning permission.

When you install solar on a pitched roof, panels that are at least 20cm from the external edge of the roof, and do not go higher than the top of the roof, are covered under permitted development. This rule is in place to prevent dangerous uplift in windy conditions.

If you’re installing solar on a flat roof, it must be at least one metre from any external edge. Also, they must not protrude higher than one metre from the highest point of the roof.

Ground-mounted arrays (in gardens, etc), can be up to 9m squared under permitted development. In reality, this is only around 3 or 4 panels, so you’ll probably need to obtain planning permission for ground-mounts.

You can have one wind turbine per property under permitted development, but the rules can be challenging to follow. The turbine can be a maximum of 3 metres above the top of the roof (excluding chimneys) or 15 metres high in total, whichever is lower. It also cannot be less than 5 metres from any boundary.

If you need assistance, Xerogrid offer a Planning Application Service. Click here to find out more.

You won’t need to apply when your system will not be able to connect to the grid, even if the rest of the property can. However, if your system can ever connect to the grid, you will need to apply.

For systems with a total possible AC generation of 16 amps per phase or less, you can notify the network operator after the installation has taken place. This is called a G98 notification.

If it will be larger than this, you will need to apply to the network operator prior to install and await their permission. You then need to notify them after the installation. This is called a G99 notification.

Xerogrid Limited offers a grid connection service, which allows you to pass responsibility for the whole process to us.