SMALL OFFICE / WORKSHOP
30–60 kWp
~£25k–£45k
Sized for typical office HQ, light-industrial workshop, GP surgery or small retail unit. ~70 to 150 panels. Saves £8k–£18k/year on grid imports.
Enquire COMMERCIAL · SYSTEM SIZING + LOAD MATCHING
What size solar system does my business need?
Picking the right commercial solar system size is the single biggest determinant of project ROI. Too small and you under-serve daytime load. Too big and you over-export at cheap rates. The right size matches the array kWp output to your daytime consumption profile — typical 70-90% self-consumption, payback under 3 years. This page walks through the maths, the inputs we need, and worked examples by sector.
Bankable-grade PVsyst yield modelling · Half-hour electricity data analysis · Roof + structural load modelling · Custom-sized to your actual consumption · MCS/NAPIT accredited
CUSTOMER REVIEWS
4.9★ from 137+ verified customers.
Every review on this page is from a real Yorkshire customer, sourced directly from our Google Business Profile.
Read all reviews"I would definitely recommend Future Power Team, they were a really professional company, who took time to understand our green energy requirements and install a system to deliver-…"
"The team has been very helpful and professional from begin to the end. Specially Kane. Just had Solar Panels installed by future power team. Highly recommended. Thanks very much fo…"
"Faultless service and great install, aftersales were quick and efficient. Big thanks to Scarlett who helped me out post install."
"This company always has the time and knowledge customer support has been brilliant getting a professional job done these days isn’t easy they did a fantastic job and I would recomm…"
"From start to finish with dealing with the team all have taken their time with myself and my wife with all the questions toward taking the step of having Solar panels installed. Th…"
"Excellent service. Kane always helpful and knowledgeable."
"We are very happy with the pre and post sales attention we received. The installation was completed on time with a minimum of fuss, so much so we had not realised the panels had be…"
"We have nothing but praise for the guys at Future Power Team Ltd. From arriving at the time expected to the final setting up on the app after everything was installed, the guys wer…"
ABOUT COMMERCIAL SOLAR SIZING
Size to load profile, not just to roof area.
The size of your commercial solar system is the single biggest determinant of project ROI — bigger than panel choice, bigger than inverter brand, bigger than mounting type. A system sized to genuinely match your daytime load profile delivers 70-90% direct self-consumption (displacing 12-25p/kWh grid imports) and pays back in 2-4 years. A system sized wrongly — too small, too big, mismatched to load timing — can stretch payback to 6-8 years and feel disappointing for a decade.
Sizing isn't just "panels per square metre of roof." The right inputs are annual electricity consumption (kWh/year), load profile through the day and across the year (which is best derived from half-hourly meter data), roof area + orientation + shading, and your financing and tax position. With all four we run PVsyst-grade yield modelling against your actual load profile and predict self-consumption rate, export volume, year-1 cash impact and 25-year ROI to within ±5% accuracy.
At Future Power Team we deliver a sized system + bankable yield model + ROI projection within 7 working days of site survey. Half-hour meter data ideal; quarterly bills + sector load profiles workable. Most quotes also model two or three sizing alternatives (e.g. 100 kWp vs 150 kWp vs 200 kWp) so you can see the sensitivity of payback to size. Request a free site survey + sizing model.
Finance available — spread the cost over 3–10 years from 10.9% APR Representative with Phoenix Financial Consultants. See finance options →
THREE SIZE BANDS, INDICATIVE COSTS
Three size bands we install across most often.
Every quote is bespoke — these are reference points to anchor expectations. Actual size for your specific site comes from analysis of your half-hour consumption data, roof survey and operational pattern.
Most popular
MID — WAREHOUSE / RETAIL
100–250 kWp
~£70k–£175k
Sized for medium warehouse, large retail, school, packhouse, dairy parlour or mid-size manufacturing site. ~240 to 600 panels. Saves £25k–£65k/year. Most common installation size.
EnquireLARGE — FACTORY / DISTRIBUTION
500 kWp – 1 MWp+
P.O.E.
Sized for large factories, distribution centres, multi-building estates, large agricultural enterprises. 1,200 to 2,500+ panels. Saves £120k–£250k+/year. Usually with battery storage and active load management.
EnquireIndicative pricing based on clean industrial roof, standard pitch, no DNO upgrade required, no structural reinforcement. Ex-VAT. Capital allowances typically reduce net cost by ~20%. Actual project pricing depends on specific roof condition, mounting type, inverter platform and any optional battery storage.
HOW WE SIZE A COMMERCIAL SYSTEM
Four inputs that decide the right size.
Sizing isn't a one-number-fits-all calculation. The four inputs below get weighted against each other to produce a system size that maximises ROI for your specific site and operational reality.
01
Start with annual electricity consumption
The first input is your last 12 months of grid imports — total kWh/year and monthly breakdown. Most commercial sites have half-hour (HH) metering already and we can pull the data directly from your supplier. If not, your last 6 quarterly bills give enough. Rule of thumb: a system sized at 60-80% of annual kWh consumption usually delivers maximum self-consumption.
02
Map daytime load profile
Annual total isn't enough — the timing of consumption matters more. Manufacturing running 9am-5pm has very different solar economics from 24/7 cold storage. We pull half-hour data to build a daily/seasonal load curve, then PVsyst-model the array against that curve to predict self-consumption. Target: 70-90% direct self-consumption.
03
Survey roof area + orientation
Available roof area, orientation (south / east-west / north slopes), pitch, shading from chimneys / parapets / nearby buildings, and structural condition all constrain achievable kWp. A typical industrial roof carries ~140 Wp/m² of installable PV; a fragmented roof with shading drops to 100 Wp/m². Drone survey + 3D model establishes the achievable maximum.
04
Match financing + tax position
The "right" size depends on cash + tax constraints too. A profitable ltd-co with £500k of AIA capacity can comfortably absorb a 250 kWp install at £175k via AIA + cash; a smaller ltd-co might prefer 100 kWp via lease-purchase. We model the financing route alongside the technical sizing — both go into the final quote.
SIZING BY SECTOR
Six sectors, six typical sizing patterns.
Different sectors have different load profiles — and therefore different optimal sizing. Mapped here are the six sectors we install across most often, with typical size bands and the load drivers behind them.
OFFICE HQ — 30–80 kWp
Daytime lighting + HVAC + IT
Typical office runs heaviest 8am-6pm — lighting, HVAC, IT, kettles. Solar covers 60-80% of daytime load on a south-facing roof. Sizing 30-80 kWp depending on headcount and air-conditioning load. ~£25k-£60k typical install.
WAREHOUSE — 100–250 kWp
High-bay lighting + climate control + EVs
Warehouses run continuous high-bay LED lighting, HVAC, automated material handling, increasingly fleet EV charging. Solar typically covers 70-90% of daytime load on the large low-pitch roof. 100-250 kWp typical, ~£70k-£175k.
FACTORY — 250 kWp – 1 MWp
Heavy machinery + production lines
Factory load profile depends on shift pattern — single-shift sites with daytime production are textbook solar fits; 24/7 sites need solar + battery to time-shift overnight load. 250 kWp - 1 MWp typical, with substantial battery storage on 24/7 sites.
See factories detail → AGRICULTURAL — 50–250 kWp
Dairy parlour + grain dryer + packhouse
Agricultural load varies hugely by sector — dairy parlour ~50-80 kWp; grain dryer ~150-300 kWp (with high seasonal peak); poultry shed ~50-150 kWp continuous. We size to seasonal peaks where high-load periods drive electricity bills.
See agricultural detail → RETAIL — 30–100 kWp
Lighting + refrigeration + tills
Retail sites are dominated by lighting and refrigeration during opening hours. Supermarkets and convenience stores typically need 50-100 kWp; smaller retail 30-50 kWp. Strong fit for 7-day-a-week operations — Sunday solar generation displaces grid imports just like weekdays.
HOSPITALITY — 50–200 kWp
Hotels + restaurants + leisure
Hospitality runs continuous lighting + HVAC + kitchen + laundry + housekeeping. Solar+battery often makes sense — battery shifts daytime solar into evening peak. 50-200 kWp typical depending on guest capacity.
YORKSHIRE-WIDE SIZING + MODELLING
Local solar yields, modelled to your specific roof.
Yorkshire's commercial estate covers the full sizing range we work with — small workshops and offices on city-centre estates that take 20-50 kWp; mid-range warehouses and packhouses across the M62 corridor that take 100-250 kWp; large factories and distribution centres around Wakefield, Bradford and Doncaster that take 500 kWp-1 MWp; and a long tail of agricultural sites from 30 kWp dairy parlours through to 300 kWp grain-handling operations.
The Yorkshire weather profile is favourable for sizing decisions — at our latitude, a south-facing low-pitch roof generates ~950 kWh per kWp per year (within 5% of the UK's best yields, and 15-25% above Scotland). East-west split roofs (common on industrial buildings) generate ~85-90% of south-facing yield. North-facing roofs we generally don't recommend covering with PV. This data feeds straight into the sizing model — we know what your specific roof orientation will generate before we leave site after survey.
Common sizing pitfalls we help avoid: (a) sizing to annual kWh without checking load timing — a 200 kWp array on a 24/7 site with overnight load is wrong without battery; (b) ignoring known future load growth (EV fleet, heat pump, expanded production); (c) under-sizing to "stay within AIA cap" when a larger project would still clear AIA + Full Expensing; (d) over-sizing to maximise SEG export — export rates rarely pay back the marginal panel cost. See our factories sizing guide for the largest scale, our farms page for the agricultural-specific sizing patterns, and our commercial hub for the broader picture.
YOUR LOCAL COMMERCIAL SOLAR INSTALLER
Commercial solar across Yorkshire.
Leeds
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
Sheffield
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
York
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
Harrogate
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
Wakefield
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
Barnsley
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
Doncaster
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
Bradford
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
Hull
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
Wetherby
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
Stockton-on-Tees
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
Middlesbrough
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
Manchester
COMMERCIAL SOLAR →
INDUSTRY-LEADING BRANDS
We work with the brands you can trust.
We work across a full range of leading brand partners — picking what fits your home, your tariff and your roof. Same install standard whichever you choose.
See all 19 brand pages
SIZING FAQS
The questions we get most on sizing.
Honest answers about commercial solar sizing — how to work it out, how many panels for warehouses / factories / offices, undersizing vs oversizing trade-offs, future expansion, battery storage impact, and yield prediction accuracy.
Request a sizing modelHow do I work out what size solar system my business needs?
Three inputs decide it: (1) your annual electricity consumption (kWh/year), pulled from 12 months of grid bills or half-hour data; (2) your load profile — when do you actually use electricity (continuously, daytime, evening peak)? Solar covers daytime load directly; battery storage can shift solar into evening; (3) your roof area, orientation and structural capacity. We model all three in every quote. Rule of thumb: a system sized at 60-80% of annual kWh consumption usually delivers the best balance of self-consumption and export income.
How many solar panels do I need for a typical UK warehouse?
Typical warehouse load profile (continuous lighting, HVAC, automation) at typical electricity prices gives a sweet-spot system size of 100-250 kWp. That's roughly 240-600 panels depending on panel wattage (modern 405-460 Wp panels). Fits comfortably on most steel-portal warehouse roofs of 1,500m² or more. Most warehouse installs we deliver are in this size range — saves £25k-£65k/year on electricity at 2026 grid prices.
How many panels for a typical UK factory?
Factory sizing depends heavily on shift pattern: single-shift daytime manufacturing typically takes 250-500 kWp (600-1,200 panels); 24/7 continuous production takes 500 kWp - 1 MWp + battery (1,200-2,400 panels + 200-500 kWh storage). For factories with heavy daytime motor load (CNC, conveyors, compressed air), self-consumption can hit 90%+ without battery; for 24/7 sites with significant evening shift, battery storage is essential to capture full solar value.
What's the right size system for my office or HQ?
Most UK offices run 8am-6pm with lighting + HVAC + IT load. Rule of thumb: 0.1-0.2 kWp per m² of office floor area. So a 500m² office HQ needs ~50-100 kWp; a 1,500m² office building ~150-300 kWp. Approximately 75-90% of typical office load occurs during solar generation hours, giving strong self-consumption economics. Most office systems we deliver are in the 30-100 kWp range.
Should I undersize or oversize my solar system?
Slightly undersize relative to consumption. The cheapest kWh is the one you generate AND use directly (avoids grid import price 12-25p/kWh). Export earns 5-15p/kWh on SEG — less than half the value of self-consumed solar. So sizing to 60-80% of consumption maximises self-consumption rate at the expense of some absolute generation; sizing to 100%+ of consumption forces more export at lower rates. Exception: if you're planning to add an EV fleet, heat pumps or expanded production, size for future load not current.
Will solar size affect planning permission?
Sometimes. Rooftop arrays of any size typically fall under Class J permitted development as long as the install meets the Class J criteria (panels below ridge, not projecting more than 200mm, building not listed, building not in conservation area). Very large arrays (1 MWp+) on roofs that visibly transform the building may attract planning attention even under Class J. Ground-mount sizing has a much bigger planning impact — sub-50 kWp ground-mount often falls under permitted development for agricultural use; larger ground-mount needs full planning. See our planning page.
How does battery storage affect system sizing?
Battery storage decouples the timing of generation from consumption — solar generated at noon can be discharged at 8pm. For 24/7 operations (hospitals, data centres, 24/7 factories, cold storage), battery is essential to capture full solar value because the array would otherwise export overnight load at SEG export rates. Typical commercial battery sizing: 1 kWh battery per 2-4 kWp of solar (so a 200 kWp solar array might pair with a 50-100 kWh battery). Battery adds 30-60% to total project cost but typically improves payback by accessing peak-rate avoided imports.
Can I expand my solar system later?
Yes — we always design with future expansion in mind. Hybrid inverters (FoxESS H3, Sigenergy SigenStor, SolarEdge Energy Hub) accept additional DC strings up to their rated maximum. If you start at 50 kWp and grow to 100 kWp two years later, the original inverter typically accepts the new panels without replacement. For larger expansions (doubling system size), we may need to add a second inverter — typically a 1-day technician visit at low marginal cost vs a new install.
How accurate is the yield prediction?
Bankable-grade yield modelling using PVsyst or Aurora industry-standard software typically predicts annual yield within ±5% of actual. We use local Met Office weather data, validated PV models for the specific panels installed, and (for larger projects) shading models built from drone-modelled 3D roof geometry. Our installed systems typically generate within 3-5% of the predicted yield — variation driven mostly by weather year vs long-term average. We provide first-year comparison reports as part of any O&M contract.
What if my business expands? Will the solar size still be right?
Solar self-consumption simply increases — you'll import less and export less. The system continues to generate the same kWh/year (driven by sunshine, not load) but more of that generation gets used internally. If your load grows beyond what the array can supply, you'll start drawing more grid imports — but you're no worse off than if you hadn't installed solar. For known future expansion, we recommend sizing to your projected 5-year load rather than current — modest oversizing is rarely bad given UK panel prices in 2026.
What inputs do you need to size my system?
Three inputs ideally: (1) Last 12 months of electricity bills or half-hour HH data; (2) your roof drawings or address (we drone-survey the actual roof either way); (3) your operational pattern — opening hours, shift patterns, any known seasonal variation. With those three, we deliver a sized system + PVsyst yield projection + 25-year ROI model within 7 working days of site survey. For sites without HH data, we can estimate from quarterly bills + typical sector load profiles but accuracy improves significantly with HH data.
What's the smallest commercial solar system worth installing?
Below ~10 kWp, commercial economics get tighter — the fixed costs of scaffold, DNO application, MCS certification and commissioning amortise less well. We typically don't quote commercial below 20 kWp; below that scale, the residential template (single-phase, smaller inverter, simpler DNO process) is usually a better fit. For very small commercial sites (a corner shop, a small workshop), our residential team can often handle it via the residential pathway — same hardware, same install quality, simpler paperwork.
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