Generate Clean, Low-Cost Energy with Ground-Mounted Solar PV
High-performance commercial ground-mounted solar PV systems (50 kW – 5 MW), designed, consented, and installed by UK-based engineering specialists. Ideal for commercial premises, rural estates and local authorities looking to cut energy costs and carbon emissions.
Why Choose Ground-Mounted Solar PV?
Ground-mounted solar PV allows businesses and landowners to turn underused ground into a long-term, income-generating asset. Whether you’re offsetting your own site’s electricity demand or exporting to the grid, our systems are designed for maximum yield, reliability, and longevity.
Typical use cases include:
- Industrial sites or factories with underused land
- Leasing adjacent or nearby land and installing a private-wire electrical connection to your site, for onsite use
- Landowners with low-grade agricultural land (ALC Grade 3b or lower)
- Business parks, data centres, and local authorities with suitable land
- Land around reservoirs or water treatment works
System Sizes & Typical Outcomes
- System capacity: from 100 kW up to 5 MW (larger on request)
- Energy yield: typically 850 – 1,200 kWh per 1 kW of PV panel capacity (kWp) per year, depending on location and orientation
- Payback: 4 – 8 years for self-consumption systems
- CO₂ savings: around 150 – 212 tonnes per MWp per year (site dependent)
We use high-efficiency modules and inverters, and quality mounting systems to achieve strong performance across the system’s 25–30 year lifespan.
Why Renewables First?
- Experienced engineering team specialising in the design and delivery of complex renewable energy systems.
- Full turnkey service – or support with specific project stages – from feasibility through design, planning, DNO liaison, and construction
- Quality and compliance – systems engineered to meet BS7672, G99 and CDM Regulations.
- Independent advice – we’re manufacturer-agnostic, designing purely for optimum performance and value.
Ground Conditions & Mounting System
Every site is different. We select the mounting system and foundation type to match your ground type and local conditions:
- Driven pile systems – ideal for firm soils and large-scale projects.
- Screw foundations – suitable for rocky or variable soils.
- Ballasted systems – for brownfield or capped landfill sites where penetration isn’t allowed.
We conduct geotechnical and topographic surveys as part of our design process to ensure the optimum solution for your site.
Site Selection – What to Consider
When assessing potential ground-mounted solar PV sites, we look for:
- Available land area: approximately 2 acres per MWp (or 4,000–5,000 m² per MWp)
- Orientation: ideally south-facing, or flat land with minimal shading
- Grid / electrical connection proximity: shorter cable runs reduce cost
- Access: suitable for construction and maintenance vehicles
- Environmental and planning constraints: avoiding flood zones and visual impact, ecology and heritage sensitivities.
Our feasibility studies include yield modelling, grid assessments and planning risk appraisals.
Planning Permission & Permitted Development
Many rooftop and car port solar PV installations can proceed under Permitted Development Rights (PDRs), meaning full planning permission isn’t always required.
However this is not the case for ground-mounted systems where planning consent is required. Renewables First can prepare, submit and manage planning applications on your behalf. Note that tiny ground-mounted systems (typically under 9 m² of panel area) may fall under permitted development, but all commercial and land-based arrays require planning approval.
Our Proven Process
Free Initial Assessment & Detailed Feasibility
Design & Consenting
Installation
Insurance & Compliance
All systems must meet current fire-safety, electrical, and structural standards (RC62, BS7672, and relevant DNO requirements). Our design documentation ensures full compliance and insurability for the long term.
Our other Solar Applications....
Our Clients
Renewables First works with commercial businesses, farms, industrial operators and landowners across the UK to deliver high-performing renewable energy projects.
We do not just produce reports. We design, build and operate renewable energy systems that generate measurable results.
Landowners, Farmers and Estates
Commercial Clients
Utility Companies
Community Groups
Local Authorities
Investors
Private Residences
Educational Institutions
Conservation Groups
Landowners, Farmers and Estates
Commercial Clients
Utility Companies
Private Residences
Educational Institutions
Conservation Groups
We don’t just talk and write reports – we actually build stuff!
Our Windpower Projects
Blacktoft Nursery, 500 kW EWT DW54 Wind Turbine
Feasibility, design, consenting and construction. Directly supplying an enormous commercial greenhouse.
Hibaldstow Farm, 500 kW EWT DW54 Wind Turbine
Design, project management and delivery. Supplying the chicken farm with electricity and surplus exported to the grid.
Baulker Farm, 500 kW EWT DW54 Wind Turbine
Complex integration of a large wind turbine into a constrained site with power used to supply the chicken farm.
Any questions? Visit our Learning Centres
Solar Learning Centre - FAQs
We often hear the same key questions from clients — here are some of the most important ones, with links to in-depth answers in our Learning Centre.
Other Renewable Services we offer
Energy Storage Systems
For better alignment of your generation and demand profiles, and making best use of Time-of-Day electricity pricing
Heat Pumps
Specialists in water-source heat pumps and heat extraction from water courses, particularly rivers
Consultancy
Decades of experience of complex analysis, design, consenting and construction. We know how to solve problems, or avoid them completely
Solar PV
Large roof-top, ground-mounted, solar carports and floating solar, 50 kW to 5 MW+
Hydropower
Low, medium and high-head schemes and all turbine types, 25 kW to 2 MW+
If you have a lot of land, you will have a lot of renewable energy generation potential, often utilising different technologies. We can assess your land and building assets to identify the sites with the highest potential, then provide all of the services you need to get the sites fully assessed, designed, consented and built. For some clients we operate the finished system for them so they have minimal disruption and just get the financial benefit produced. In some cases we can link ‘investors looking for sites’ with ‘landowners looking for investment’.
We work with a lot of businesses that want to a) reduce their energy bills and b) significantly reduce their carbon emissions. This is our core business. We can do everything from detailed feasibility studies, through the design and consenting stages and then build your system. We understand that any disruption to your day-to-day operations during the construction stage must be minimised and are very familiar with designing systems that are compliant with the needs of commercial insurance companies. As the client, you can be as involved, or not involved, as you want to be - either way we will appoint a Project Engineer to be your knowledgeable first point of contact and keep you informed throughout the process. Our expertise will deliver you an optimised renewable energy generation system that will reduce energy costs and carbon emissions and look great on your marketing material.
We’ve done many projects with utility companies. We are adept at high-level portfolio and site assessments to identify potential projects, all of the way to detailed design, consenting and construction. We are familiar with your critical day-to-day operational functions which must not be compromised, your strict adherence to the highest standards of Health & Safety and rigorous approval processes that must be followed at all project stages.
We support co-operatives and local groups with the technical engineering and project delivery of community-scale renewable projects. Community groups can generally access a lot of grants, particularly to find the feasibility and consenting stages – we are always abreast of what is available and happy to discuss how to access these grants. We can also point groups towards template group structures that are available to use, and introduce new groups to community groups that have been through the process and have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share.
We work with local authorities for the operation and maintenance of existing renewable energy systems, design and build new systems and undertake consultancy work on whole-area renewable energy resource assessments, which often form the basis of local development plans. Many local authorities have ambitious carbon reduction targets to meet, so our expertise in actually designing and building systems makes us a reassuring partner in any project.
We’ve worked with private individuals, family offices and investment funds to deliver technically robust, long-term renewable generation projects. Our focus is on dependable engineering delivery and attractive project ROI.
We work with high-demand residential properties where there is space for larger renewable systems. We can offer conventional grid connected systems, fully off-grid capable systems in case electricity supplies fail in the future and energy (battery) storage systems. Systems can be designed to be discreet, and we will respect your privacy.
We help schools, colleges, and universities deploy on-site renewables for cost savings, resilience, and climate education. Educational institutions often have complex consumption data, but we are adept at analysing this to understand when you need generation. We can assess your building and land portfolio for its renewable energy potential and recommend the best options, then design and deliver it. Operational Health & Safety are always key considerations in educational settings and we can recommend appropriate mitigations.
Our building and land portfolio assessment services are key for identifying the best renewable energy generation opportunities, then we can design and deliver systems that are sympathetic to the particular building’s aesthetic or land’s ecological sensitivities.