Alectrona
Commercial guideMost commercial rooftop solar in England falls under permitted development rather than a full planning application, but listed buildings, conservation areas and ground-mount arrays change the picture, so the route is confirmed for your specific site before any design is fixed.
These are representative example reviews, not yet-collected customer feedback. They are written to illustrate the kind of feedback Alectrona aims to earn and are shown as design placeholders while we gather and verify reviews from our first commercial clients. Alectrona is the commercial solar trading brand of RVTC LTD.
What set Alectrona apart was the documented design pack. We had quotes from three installers, but only Alectrona handed us a full set of drawings, a single-line diagram and a design referencing BS 7671 and the G99 connection process. The whole thing read like an engineering submission rather than a sales brochure. Our M&E consultant reviewed it and signed it off without a single query. That gave the board the confidence to release the capital.
Other firms priced our roof off a satellite image and a desktop guess. Alectrona flew an in-house drone survey, fully insured and flown by a qualified commercial drone pilot, and built a 3D model of the actual roof. It picked up plant, vents and a parapet line that a flat aerial photo had completely missed, which changed the panel layout. I would rather find that out at design stage than on the day the scaffold goes up. The accuracy of that survey is the reason I trusted everything that followed.
As a finance director I was wary of being oversold a system bigger than we could use. Alectrona modelled the array against our actual half-hourly consumption data rather than an annual total, so it is sized to what we genuinely draw on site during the day. They were honest that exporting surplus is worth far less than self-consumption, and built the design around that. The capital case stacked up because the engineering was honest, not because the numbers were inflated.
We were undecided between buying outright, leasing and a PPA. Alectrona laid out all three side by side with the pros and cons of each against our balance sheet, instead of pushing the one that pays them best. They were clear about where a PPA makes sense and where capex wins, and pointed us at our own accountant for the tax treatment. The survey and design took a little longer than I expected, but the thoroughness was worth the wait. Genuinely consultative.
The install crew were tidy and well run, and worked to a clear CDM 2015 plan with a proper site induction and RAMS. What impressed me most was the handover. We received a full commissioning pack with the IEC 62446-1 test results, certification, O&M documentation and an as-built record for our maintenance team. As the people who have to live with this asset for the next twenty years, having that paperwork in order matters enormously. Nothing was left loose.
I expected the usual hard sell and got the opposite. After surveying our site Alectrona told us one roof section was not worth covering because of shading, and that a smaller, well-sited array was the better investment than filling every square metre. There was no commission-driven upselling and no pressure. For a six-figure capital project, that straight talk is exactly what you want from the people advising you. We will be using them again on our second site.
OrientationThis is a plain-English orientation for a commercial buyer, not formal planning advice; we confirm the specifics for your site and its designations.
Planning is one of the first questions a finance or facilities director asks about a rooftop array, and the answer is usually more straightforward than expected. In England, solar equipment mounted on the roof of a commercial building is generally treated as permitted development, which means it does not require a full planning application provided it stays within the limits set out in legislation. That keeps the consenting route shorter than a new-build or change-of-use submission.
The word generally matters. Permitted development rights carry conditions, and several categories of site sit outside them: listed buildings, scheduled monuments, land in conservation areas and certain protected designations. Ground-mount solar follows a different test again. This guide sets out the framework in plain English so you know which route is likely to apply, then we confirm the specifics against your building and its designations.
For most commercial buildings, fixing solar panels to an existing roof falls within permitted development rights, so a standalone planning application is not needed. The rights are set out in the General Permitted Development Order, and they come with conditions on how the equipment is installed rather than a simple yes or no.
Those conditions typically govern how far the panels project above the roof surface, that the array should sit on a wall or roof without dominating the building, and that equipment is removed when no longer needed. Larger commercial rooftop installations can also require a prior approval step, where the local planning authority is notified and confirms specific matters such as design and external appearance before work proceeds. Prior approval is a lighter process than a full application, but it is still a formal step with its own timescale. The precise projection limits, the point at which prior approval is triggered and whether any upper size limit applies all turn on the current legislation and your building, so we confirm them against your specific site.
Permitted development rights are restricted or removed entirely on protected sites. If your building is listed, the array will normally need listed building consent in addition to any planning consideration, and the bar for what is acceptable is higher because the works must respect the special architectural or historic interest of the structure. Scheduled monuments carry their own separate consent regime.
In a conservation area, rooftop solar may still be permitted development, but the rights are tighter, particularly where panels would be visible from a road or public space. Other designations such as National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and World Heritage Sites can also narrow what is allowed. The practical point for a director is simple: the designation of the site, rather than the size of the array, is often what decides the route, so it is checked early, and we confirm how the rights apply to your building and its designations.
The page makes one distinction repeatedly: the route is decided by where the array sits and the designation of the site, rather than the size of the array. These are the two routes it sets out.
For most commercial buildings, fixing solar panels to an existing roof falls within permitted development rights, so a standalone planning application is not needed.
Ground-mounted solar is not assessed the same way as rooftop. Permitted development rights for stand-alone ground arrays on commercial land are far more limited.
Ground-mounted solar is not assessed the same way as rooftop. Permitted development rights for stand-alone ground arrays on commercial land are far more limited, and they are constrained by area, height and proximity to boundaries. Beyond a certain scale, a ground-mount scheme will need a full planning application, and a very large field-scale array may engage additional regimes depending on its capacity.
For a typical commercial occupier looking at spare yard, car park or adjacent land, the realistic position is that anything more than a modest array is likely to need planning consent rather than relying on permitted development. That application considers landscape and visual impact, ecology, drainage and access, so it carries a longer lead time than a rooftop scheme. We flag this early because the consenting route shapes the programme, and the area, height and capacity points are confirmed against your site.
Planning rarely sits on its own. A commercial rooftop project runs the consenting question alongside the structural assessment of the roof, the grid connection application to your network operator, and the design and safety duties under CDM 2015. Confirming the planning route early means the rest of the programme is built on a settled basis rather than a hopeful one.
Because these systems sit above 50 kWp and outside the MCS scheme, assurance comes from engineering rigour, named component standards and regulatory compliance rather than a domestic certificate. We carry out the planning check as part of the same survey-led process that produces the structural model and the half-hourly performance model, so the design you sign off is one that can actually be built and consented on your site.
Permitted development is not a blanket exemption. It is a set of rights granted under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order, and each right carries conditions and limitations that the installation has to stay inside. Step outside any one of them and the right falls away, which puts the array back into a full planning application even on an otherwise unremarkable commercial roof. The useful question for a buyer, then, is whether your specific scheme keeps within every condition that applies, rather than whether rooftop solar is permitted development in principle.
The conditions that recur for non-domestic rooftop installations concern how far the equipment projects above the plane of the roof slope or, on a flat roof, above the highest part of the roof; where it sits relative to the roof edge and the principal elevation, particularly on a wall facing a highway; an expectation that the array is sited to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building and on the amenity of the area; and a requirement that the equipment is removed as soon as reasonably practicable when it is no longer needed for generating electricity. The Order also draws a hard line around protected land, which is why designation matters more than panel count. Because the numerical projection limits and the precise trigger points have been revised by successive amendments to the Order, the live wording governs, and the current position on the Planning Portal and in the National Planning Policy Framework is confirmed against your building rather than assumed.
One further point catches commercial buyers out. Permitted development rights can be removed from a specific site by an Article 4 direction made by the local planning authority, often across a conservation area or a designated frontage. Where an Article 4 direction is in force, a scheme that would normally be permitted development needs a full application instead. Checking for one is part of the desk study, alongside the roof feasibility set out in our guide to how much roof space you need.
A full application becomes the route in three broad situations: the site is protected so the permitted development right is restricted or removed, the scheme breaches one of the conditions above, or it is a ground-mount array beyond the limited rights that apply to standalone equipment. In each case the local planning authority assesses the proposal on its planning merits rather than checking it against a fixed permitted development box, which means the design has to make a positive case.
For a rooftop scheme that has lost permitted development, the considerations are usually visual and heritage led: how the array reads against the building and the surrounding area, and on a listed structure the separate listed building consent test of harm to special interest. For a ground-mount array the application is more involved, because it considers landscape and visual impact, ecology and biodiversity net gain, agricultural land classification where fields are involved, glint and glare near roads or aerodromes, drainage, and access. Above a certain scale a scheme may also need an Environmental Impact Assessment screening opinion under the EIA Regulations, where the authority decides whether a formal environmental statement is required. Very large generating stations can fall under a different consenting regime entirely as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, though that threshold sits well above a typical commercial occupier's array.
A full application is a documented submission: a site plan and elevations, a design and access statement, and the technical reports the proposal needs, validated by the authority before the clock starts. We scope which of these apply during the survey-led design, so the consenting question is settled on the same evidence base as the structural model and the grid connection, not added as an afterthought. The wider sequence is set out in our overview of the commercial process.
Where a full application is likely, the cheapest mistake to avoid is submitting blind. Most local planning authorities offer a pre-application advice service, where a planning officer reviews an outline of the scheme and gives an early read on the principle, the likely conditions, and the documents the authority will want to see. For a commercial solar proposal that engagement is worth having, because it surfaces the local concerns, whether heritage, landscape, or amenity, while the design is still flexible and changes cost nothing.
Early engagement also shapes the supporting evidence. If an officer signals that visual impact from a particular vantage point is the sensitive issue, the design can respond before the application is lodged rather than during a contested determination. Where a heritage asset is involved, the National Planning Policy Framework expects the significance of the asset and the impact on it to be described and justified, so producing a proportionate heritage statement early tends to smooth the path. For ground-mount, scoping ecology and landscape work at the outset avoids the validation delays that come from a thin submission.
The practical effect is a higher chance of a clean determination and fewer rounds of further information. This matters for the programme, because planning sits in parallel with the G99 grid connection and the structural assessment, and a stalled application holds up the whole build. We carry the planning route check as part of the same survey-led approach that produces the half-hourly performance model and the engineering design, and where battery storage is part of the scheme we confirm whether the enclosure and any associated equipment carry their own planning considerations, as covered in our guide to commercial battery storage.
Our own insured pilot flies your roof and captures the real geometry and shading, so the design starts from your building instead of a satellite guess.
Booked to suit your operating hours
We model the array in bankable-grade software, size it around your daytime load, and set out generation, savings and payback across three funding routes.
Modelled, not promised
Designed and installed to BS 7671, commissioned to IEC 62446-1, connected under G99 and run under CDM 2015. Alectrona is typically the Principal Contractor.
Outside MCS, assured by the non-MCS stack
A 12-month defects period backed by an Insurance-Backed Guarantee, then ongoing operations and maintenance so the asset keeps earning for its full working life.
Kept performing, year on year
Last updated June 2026
In most cases, no. Solar mounted on the roof of an existing commercial building in England is generally permitted development, so a full planning application is not required as long as the installation stays within the conditions set in legislation. Larger rooftop arrays can require a prior approval step, which is a lighter, faster process than a full application.
The exception is protected sites. Listed buildings, conservation areas and certain designations restrict or remove those rights, so the first thing we check is the status of your building, not the panel count.
A listed building will normally need listed building consent for a rooftop array, on top of any planning consideration, and the design has to respect the special interest of the structure. That is a higher bar and a longer process than a standard rooftop scheme.
In a conservation area, rooftop solar may still be permitted development, but the rights are narrower, particularly where panels would be visible from a road or public space. We confirm the exact position against your site's designations before any design is fixed.
Yes. Permitted development rights for stand-alone ground arrays on commercial land are far more limited than for rooftop, and they are constrained by area, height and boundaries. Most ground-mount schemes beyond a modest size need a full planning application, which considers landscape, ecology, drainage and access.
That means a longer lead time than a rooftop project, so we flag the route early and build it into the programme.
We carry out the planning route check as part of the survey-led design process, alongside the structural assessment and the grid connection application, so you know which consenting path applies before committing to a design.
Where a full application or listed building consent is needed, we set that out clearly so it can be planned into the timeline. This guide is orientation only, and we confirm the specifics for your building.
Most commercial rooftop arrays fall under permitted development, so there is no full planning application fee at all, only the lighter prior approval or notification step where it applies. Where a full application is needed, typically on a protected building or a ground-mount scheme, the local planning authority charges a statutory application fee set by government, plus the cost of any supporting reports such as a heritage or landscape statement. We scope which route applies during survey so any planning cost is known before you commit, and the total scheme cost is always survey-led rather than a published figure. Our guide to commercial solar cost sets out how we model it.
For a permitted development rooftop array there is no determination period to wait on, so planning does not gate the programme. A prior approval step has a defined notification window with the authority before work proceeds, which is measured in weeks rather than months. A full planning application is longer, with statutory determination targets that the local planning authority works to, and a listed building or ground-mount scheme with supporting reports sits at the longer end. We confirm the route at survey so the realistic timeline is built into the programme alongside the grid connection queue, and exact dates are settled once the route and any application are confirmed.
A guide can only take you so far. The figure you get is modelled from your own half-hourly load and a system sized from the on-site drone survey. No obligation, and systems this size sit outside the domestic MCS scheme, so the assurance is the engineering stack.