Why farms are the best case for solar in Northern Ireland
Solar is worth most to whoever uses the electricity at the moment it's made. A house is often empty at noon. A farm is not. Milking, cooling, ventilation, augers, grain drying and lighting all run through daylight hours, which is why the farm systems we survey typically use a far higher share of their own generation than a domestic system does — and why the payback is usually shorter.
Add the roofs. A single shed can carry an array that would take three house roofs, and it's usually a clean, unshaded, uniform pitch with no dormers or chimneys to design around.
Which enterprises pay best
- Dairy. The strongest case we see. Milking twice a day, plate coolers, bulk tank refrigeration and water heating are a steady daytime load, and the parlour is usually near a big roof.
- Poultry. Ventilation runs constantly and hardest in warm weather — precisely when the array produces most. Broiler and layer sheds have enormous roof areas.
- Grain and arable. Drying and handling are seasonal but heavy, and the peak often coincides with late-summer sun.
- Mixed and beef. Usually a smaller load, so the case rests more on displacing the farmhouse's own consumption plus outbuildings — still worth modelling, just sized differently.
The 20% grant most farms don't know about
There is no grant for domestic solar in Northern Ireland. For a business or farm there is: Power NI administers the Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Programme (NISEP), which funds 20% of a qualifying installation across six technologies, solar PV among them. The 2026/27 scheme is open.
Two things decide whether you actually get it. The funds are limited and allocated first come, first served — and you must hold the grant offer letter before you place the order. Buy the system first and the money is gone. It's the single most common way farms miss out, so tell us at the survey and we'll quote and sequence the job around it.
Beyond that: 0% VAT on the installation until 31 March 2027, and capital allowances against farm profits — worth putting to your accountant alongside the quote.
Three-phase, G99 and the paperwork
Most farms are on three-phase, which is an advantage: it supports a bigger inverter and spreads the load properly. It also means the connection goes through a G99 application to NIE Networks that must be approved before the system is energised — not notified afterwards like a small domestic system. That approval takes time, and it can come back with an export limit.
An export limit is rarely the problem farmers fear. It caps what you can push onto the network at any moment; it doesn't cap what you generate and use in the parlour. On a high-daytime-load farm most of the generation never leaves the yard anyway. We prepare, submit and chase the G99 as part of the job and design to whatever limit comes back.
The roof comes first
Before any of the above, the shed has to be fit to carry it. We assess roof structure, sheeting condition and fixings before a rail goes up — asbestos-cement roofs and tired purlins are a genuine stop, and it is far cheaper to know that at survey than half way through. Where a roof isn't suitable or faces the wrong way, a ground-mount is often the answer on a farm in a way it rarely is at a house.
What we do
Survey the sheds, model the array against your actual half-hourly consumption, handle the G99, flag the NISEP sequencing, and give you a fixed written quote with a payback built from your own bills — not a brochure average. NICEIC Approved Contractor, and we certify everything we install. See agricultural solar or call 028 9691 8755.
Questions people ask
Is there a grant for farm solar in Northern Ireland?
Yes. Power NI administers NISEP, which funds 20% of a qualifying solar PV installation for businesses and farms, and the 2026/27 scheme is open. Funds are limited and first come, first served, and you must hold the grant offer letter before you place the order.
Can you put solar on an asbestos or older shed roof?
Not on asbestos-cement, and not on a roof whose sheeting or purlins won't carry it. We assess the structure and the sheeting at survey before anything is ordered, and where the roof isn't suitable we look at another shed or a ground-mount.
Does a farm need a G99 application?
Almost always. Systems above 3.68 kW per phase need a G99 application approved by NIE Networks before the system is energised, rather than a G98 notification afterwards. We prepare, submit and chase it as part of the job.
Will an export limit ruin the payback?
Rarely on a working farm. An export limit caps what you can send to the grid at any moment, not what you generate and use on site — and a farm with milking, cooling or ventilation is using most of it anyway. We design the system around whatever limit NIE Networks sets.
How long does a farm installation take?
It depends on the roof area and the connection, but the G99 approval is usually the long pole rather than the install itself. We give you the realistic sequence at quote stage, including the NISEP timing.