Commercial and agricultural rooftop and ground-mount solar systems designed to cut energy costs, reduce carbon emissions, and deliver reliable performance year after year. As experienced commercial solar panel installers, we design, supply and install tailored solar PV systems for businesses and farms across the UK, helping organisations reduce grid reliance and strengthen long-term energy resilience.
Over
systems installed since 2010
Over
m
assets managed across the UK
BeBa Energy UK are experts at developing, installing and maintaining solar PV systems – since 2010 we have installed over 750 systems across the UK.
With this in mind we know that every site in the UK is unique and so the first step on the journey towards realising a solar PV project is to call or email our office. Solar is not right for every business so we need to understand how your business operates in order to advise you on the correct solution – not just on the physical solar panel installation but also on how you might wish to fund it. Once it is confirmed your site is broadly appropriate for our commercial solar panel installers we will carry out an intensive site survey to ensure that the solar asset can perform at the highest levels for at least 25 years. As soon as the commercial solar panels is installed we will handle the operation and maintenance of the system – including cleaning – so that you you can get on with running your business.
(typically PD-eligible <1MW, 200 mm off roof plane)
subject to planning and ground conditions
We don’t just install and leave. We design for 25-year performance, then monitor, maintain, clean and repair so your system keeps earning. Robotic cleaning, proactive fault response, and comparative performance benchmarking come as part of our top-tier packages.
How an installation is implemented with timelines you can plan around
Typical duration: 8–12 months end-to-end (DNO timelines & site decisions are the big variables).
Once the system is commissioned the installation team handover to O&M enabling the monitoring portal, reporting set and scheduled annual reviews.
You share 12-month data; we size, cost and model savings.
Apply early; outcome can affect design.
Structural/roof (or ground), electrical, access/H&S.
Delivery plan agreed.
Rooftop PD or planning; ground-mounts usually planning.
Planned short shutdowns; live-site RAMS.
Planned in, not brushed aside
Buy outright, use asset finance, or install with no upfront cost via a PPA. We’re funding-route agnostic – the engineering quality doesn’t change.
1
Zero upfront cost. Zero hassle.
Cheaper electricity from day one.
2
Spread the cost. Own the asset.
Stay cash-flow friendly.
3
Simple, direct, and often the fastest payback route.
Most commercial roofs qualify. As a rule of thumb:
Not sure?
Solar Power is one of the world’s most popular renewable energy technologies
Why? It’s relatively easy to access, straightforward to maintain and because of the abundance of energy. Did you know that in a single hour the amount of power from the sun that strikes the Earth is more than enough to power the entire world for over a year?
That being said, as popular as it is for the reasons mentioned above, there are lots of things to think about when you are considering a commercial solar power project
For the most part, commercial solar panel installers can complete a solar PV system installation with minimal disruption to your operations—there’s no need to shut down your site. However, you will be aware of our presence. Commercial solar panel installers typically require a designated area within your parking or storage facilities to set up a temporary compound and working zone for the duration of the project.
Subject to the size of the project, our compound will contain –
If we are installing solar panels to your roof, our commercial solar panel installers will need safe, rapid, access as well as somewhere to load our materials on to. Subject to the size and scale of your project, we may need multiple loading towers which – subject to the height of your building – may be as large as 49m2. The scaffolding is the first and last parts of the project so careful consideration is needed as to where the scaffolding is placed. If the optimum location for the access towers happens to be near an access door, we have methods for ensuring these remain fully operational during our work.
Subject to the size of the solar installation and the on-site electrical configuration, it is highly likely that several short electrical shutdowns may be required.
These can be carried out during quiet periods – such as at night or at weekends.
Once planning approval is nearly with us, we will produce a detailed project plan which will try and pin point when the shut downs may be required, and work with you to ensure the impact is minimal.
We work to ensure the two sides of the connection are ready, and then the shut down is simply to bring them both together. If required, we can have multiple – short – shutdowns if this better suits the operations of the site.
Your solar panels will need to stay in place for over 25 years, and they will need to withstand the very best that Mother Nature has to offer.
Accordingly, our commercial solar panel installers will use power tools to ensure a solid fix to the roof.
The noise of the drills and fixings – particularly on a metal roof – are not to be under-estimated.
Additionally, the noise created by our operatives as they criss-cross over the roof, may well cause issues internally and should be discussed early on.
In the majority of circumstances, commercial rooftop solar PV systems will qualify for Permitted Development (PD) whereas ground-mounted solar PV systems will almost always require full Planning Permission.
Broadly, the rules are as follows when determining whether or not your solar array qualifies for PD –
Rooftop –
• System capacity of less than 1MW (1,000kW)
• A one metre gap is maintained between the edge of the panels and the roof
• The panels sit no more than 200mm off the plane of the roof
Ground-mount –
• System footprint of less than 9m2
Naturally there may be certain local exceptions to these rules – such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or listed buildings/properties within the curtilage of a listed building.
Despite the governments pledge to achieve Net Zero by 2050 there are instances where businesses can be prevented from installing solar panels.
In short, if the local grid does not have the capacity to receive the power your solar system generates or it has issues on its network that prevent the installation of special hardware to prevent export to the grid, they have the right to veto the project.
Please see our blog – No Export, No Problem – for further information.
Not owning the building you would like to connect solar panels to is not necessarily a barrier to generating your own solar power.
As a rule of thumb you will have at least the projected payback plus 3 year remaining on your lease as well as having the express permission of your landlord before beginning the process.
If you own your building but are worried about the implications of installing solar on a building you may wish to redevelop at a later date, you are under no obligation to continue generating clean energy once you start. If you install solar on year 1, and sell at year 15, the solar can simply be disconnected along with the other utility services; there may even be some residual value in the equipment being removed.
If you own your own building but are worried it may impact on your ability to sell the facility to a new occupant, bear in mind that selling premises with its own clean energy station is likely to help it gain an advantage over similar buildings that do not generate their own power. As the cost of electricity rises this point is likely to become stronger.
Solar panels are designed to be installed once and, ideally, left in place. Accordingly, it is important to consider the condition of the roof you are thinking of installing the panels on.
The condition of your roof is important to protect both your return on investment and you risk.
You clearly want to avoid the cost of removing the panels if you can help it but you also want to avoid having a less-than-watertight roof. Although leaks are rare, if the roof’s best days are behind it, you may wish to consider repairs/replacement as part of the project.
Conversely, if your roof is brand new, you want to be clear that the roof was in great condition before the installation began.
An agricultural installation shares many of the same ‘Things to think about’ as a commercial or new build solar project
However there are several things that are specific to a solar installation on a farm or in a farming environment, and these must be taken it consideration when developing a solar PV project.
Most of the buildings used to host a solar array are also used for the storage of crops or cattle. With this in mind – if at all possible – it makes sense to plan the work for a time when cattle movement or crop storage is at it’s lowest.
Of course, this isn’t always possible which is why clear, open, dialogue is important to ensure a smooth and efficient installation.
Many remote farms struggle to obtain permission to connect their
solar arrays in parallel with the local electricity network. If the site has
a significant power requirement then there are ways around this but if there is little/inconsistent electricity demand then a smaller system may well be proposed or the site will incur costs to ‘strengthen’ the network in order to permit connection.
Another issue occasionally encountered in rural locations, is grid voltage fluctuation. In the UK, mains electricity is currently required by law
to be delivered at 230 volts and within a tolerance of -6%, +10%. As a result, the solar inverters – the ‘bridge’ between the solar panels and the network – are required to work towards these parameters as well.
The issue occurs when the power supplied to the site – and therefore the inverter – either exceeds or is below 230 volts (plus the tolerance). When this happens the inverter is designed to disconnect and attempt to reconnect 30 seconds later, when hopefully the voltage issue has corrected itself; the inverter will disconnect again if the issues persists.
There are one of two steps that can be taken in order to overcome the issue of grid voltage instability. The first is to complain to your electricity supplier. As mentioned earlier, there is a legal requirement for your supplier to provide you with electricity at a set voltage.
The second option is to apply for permission to widen the parameters of the inverter so that it can continue to operate when the voltage is too low or too high. This option is suitable if only the solar inverters are impacted by the voltage issue but if you have other equipment that is vulnerable to fluctuating voltage then option one may prove to be more beneficial.
As farm buildings are generally built to store equipment, crops and cattle, they are typically built to a lower specification than a building built for prolonged human occupation.
With this in mind, the tolerance for the addition of weight to the roof is much lower.
As part of our development process we will ensure that the proposed installation is signed off by a suitably qualified independent structural engineer.
It’s not uncommon for farms in the UK to have multiple electricity supplies.
There may be one for the workshop, one for the grain store and another for the farm house.
On occasion, and subject to the specific electricity demand of each supply, it may make sense to amalgamate all of the onsite supplies into one large, single, supply.
The reason for this is that one solar array may only provide power to one electricity supply; accordingly, unless you choose to install multiple systems, power not consumed by the supply fed by the solar array will be exported to the grid if not consumed at the exact moment of generation. Amalgamating supplies means that if the grain store in our example was not able to consume all of the solar energy being produced, it would be capable of supplying the workshop and then the farm house before being exported to the grid – often at a price less than 1/3 of the cost of power purchased from the grid.
When constructing a new building, it makes complete sense to ensure it is as energy efficient as possible.
Double glazing, insulation and LED lights are par for the course these days, but what about one step beyond this; what about not just consuming power efficiently, what about generating it cleanly?
Sadly, far too many new buildings are being built without utilising the roof space for solar power generation – for some, it’s an aggravation that will be avoided if it can be.
But what about those buildings that are incorporating solar power into the design? We’ve put together a short list of things to think about when incorporating solar into a new construction –
If the new building is going to have a new electricity supply connected to it, it is recommended that the proposed solar installation is incorporated into the specification of the supply.
The vast majority of new connections only require power to go in one direction – from the network to the property.
However when a solar system is installed a ‘dynamic connection’ will be required to ensure that power is permitted to travel in both directions. Not only does this ensure compliance with regulations, it also means that the owner of the building will have the opportunity of being paid for any energy that they do not consume on site.
Please bear in mind that even if the predicted output of the system is unlikely to scratch the surface of the predicted load of the new building your DNO will still ask you to apply for a dynamic connection; they will always apply the logic that at some point in the future the output of the solar array may outstrip the demand of the building.
Sometimes a DNO is unable to provide a dynamic connection because of grid constraints in the area. Our blog – No Export, No Problem – explores this in further depth.
When arranging an electricity meter for the new property, ensure the meter and the contract is capable of handling exported energy as well as imported energy.
This will allow the owner of the building to apply for payment for the power they have not consumed from the solar array.
The big one.
Many new build solar installations require roof penetrations in order to keep the solar array in place; penetrating a new roof, however, may lead to concerns about the roof warranty.
Depending on the type of roof the panels are being installed on – providing that the mounting system is t for purpose and is installed correctly – penetrating the roof will not lead to the immediate voiding of roof warranties.
For an added layer of protection it may be prudent to have the commercial solar panel installer mark out where the fixings are to go and then have the roofing installer carry out the penetrations. The solar installer can then undertake the mechanical fixing of rails to the penetrations and then the panels to the rails.
The most important point is to have these discussions early on in proceedings and, if necessary, involve the roof material supplier in discussions to avoid any issues further down the line. It is also advisable, before work commences on the roof, to have a detailed roof inspection so as to highlight any damage to the roof that was present before the panels were installed.
The ultimate backstop will be to ensure that the company fitting the solar panels have the correct levels of insurance in place in the event of something going wrong.
Commercial solar panel installers will consider the location of the point of connection (POC) when planning your system. The most efficient installations allow solar cables to be laid during the early phases of construction—this helps avoid the need to drill through freshly finished walls later on.
Again, early liaison is key.
Even though they perform arguably the most important function of a solar PV system – they invert the DC power produced by the panels into AC power than can be used on site – more often than not they are the forgotten part of a solar system.
The positioning of a solar array is much more than ensuring there is adequate space for it – consideration must be given to the ongoing maintenance of the unit(s) as well as making sure it is well ventilated where possible; remember that if any element of the array is going to fail during its 25-year life, its most likely going to be the inverter.
As with each item in this list – early conversations cannot be overstated. We can work with you when you are designing your plant room to ensure the chosen space for the inverters is adequate; if plant room space is at an absolute premium, we can also advise on other areas that may be suitable.
Incorporating a solar installation during the construction phase of a building not only allows for an efficient installation, it also has the potential to save on costs.
One such area is roof access – if there is access in place to install the roof, it makes sense to try and utilise this access when fitting the solar panels.
Early conversations will allow us to specify exactly what we require in order to avoid having to rework the scaffolding/access further down the line.
A key requirement when installing solar panels is a loading tower for our materials. It may make sense to load the equipment onto a completely separate structure before they are carried to their position on the roof.
Solar panels use photovoltaic (PV) cells to convert sunlight into electricity. When the sun shines onto the PV cells, it dislodges electrons, generating a flow of direct current (DC) electricity. This current flows into an inverter converting it into alternating current (AC) which is useable by homes and businesses.
Benefits include reducing electricity bills, reducing carbon emissions and footprint, achieving net zero goals and increasing property values.
Before any solar PV system is installed, a full site and technical survey will be carried out whereby a third party structural survey will assess the structural integrity of the building. The outcome of the surveyors findings will dictate whether or not the building is suitable for solar PV.
There are several factors that need to be considered:
Energy usage: If your energy consumption is high, solar panels can offset or cover a portion of these electricity bills.
Roof/ground condition and location: to maximise the efficiency, it is important to have an area with minimal shading and a south or east-west roof for the panels. It is important that the roof is also in good condition or remedial works will need to be carried out beforehand.
Fun fact, if your roof is a low pitch, some North facing roofs may even be suitable for solar, particularly on sites that have large energy demands.
We’ll review your site, propose a schedule, and send a simple quote.
