Solar Panels for Distribution Centres is an independent information service run by SEO Dons Ltd (company no. 16766013, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ). It explains what rooftop solar means for UK distribution centres, fulfilment centres, cold-chain stores, last-mile depots and port warehouses: what it costs, how payback is worked out, which tax reliefs and funding routes apply, and what to check before signing a contract. It is not an installer, and it does not survey, design or install systems.
Why the focus on distribution centres
A distribution centre is not a big house, and the things that go wrong on a logistics roof are specific: sprinkler clearances, insurer pre-design review, wind loading on a high clear-span roof, lease consent between tenant and institutional landlord, and the half-hourly load profile of a 24-hour pick-and-despatch operation. Guidance written for homeowners or for commercial buyers in general tends to skip them, so this site is organised around them.
Logistics buildings carry some of the largest unobstructed roofs in UK commerce, and most of that roof is not yet generating electricity.
How this site works
The guides cover costs, grants and funding, the savings calculator, the pages for each type of site and the location guides. The figures are typical ranges, not quotes, and each page says what drives them. If you send an enquiry through the form, it goes to SEO Dons Ltd and we reply by email. We never sell your details.
What to check on any installer
Whoever quotes, ask to see these and verify each one with the body that issues it rather than taking it on trust:
- Electrical competence, for example NICEIC or an equivalent scheme. Check at niceic.com
- Structural and wind-loading design for your roof, to BS EN 1991-1-4
- Sprinkler clearance and insurer sign-off: LPC clearances, and the insurer’s pre-design approval in writing
- The G99 grid application: who submits it, and the DNO’s current timescale
- An insurance-backed workmanship warranty in writing, alongside the manufacturer’s panel and inverter warranties
An honest note
This is an information site, so you will not find testimonials, an install count or case studies here, and no page claims to have installed a system. Where a page shows a figure, it is a typical range. Corrections are welcome through the contact page.