Commercial solar installers in Barry

Key facts

Where businesses are in Barry

• Atlantic Trading Estate: Industrial estate of about 9 acres on the east side of Barry, close to the Port of Barry.
• Port of Barry and Clean Growth Hub: ABP's 531-acre port, with warehousing, open storage and over 100 acres of development land earmarked for low-carbon industry.
• Atlantic Business Park (Hayes Lane, Sully): Business units on the edge of Atlantic Trading Estate, east of Barry town centre.
• Barry Industrial Complex: The chemical manufacturing complex east of the town where Dow Silicones operates.

Large employers and sectors with sites here include:

• Chemicals: Dow Silicones UK: Makes silicon-based products around the clock with about 850 employees and contractors. Dow has shut its upstream siloxanes unit at Barry, but the site keeps making other silicone products.
• Ports and liquid bulk: ABP Port of Barry and Vopak: Handles liquid bulks for the chemical industry, with 45,000 cubic metres of Vopak storage. Also handles steel, timber and scrap metal, and has a 5 MW solar farm.

Large, simple roofs on distribution sheds and modern industrial units are usually the quickest and cheapest to fit. Older mill, factory and workshop buildings can work well too, but often need a structural survey first, and roofs from before 2000 may contain asbestos cement: see asbestos roofs.

Grid connection

Barry is served by National Grid Electricity Distribution (South Wales). Almost every commercial system needs G99 approval from the network operator before it is switched on, and the question is usually how much the local network can take back. Where export is limited, a G100 export limitation scheme can let a larger array connect. See G99 and DNO applications.

Planning in Barry

Planning in Barry is decided by Vale of Glamorgan council under the Welsh rules. Many non-domestic roofs are covered by Welsh permitted development, with conditions, but not within 3 km of an airport or aerodrome or on listed buildings.

Points that come up locally:

• Barry has several conservation areas, including Barry Marine (seafront and Whitmore Bay, designated 1991) and Barry Garden Suburb, each with a council appraisal and management plan.

Our guides on listed buildings and conservation areas explain what these mean for a solar project.

What a business roof in Barry could generate

Modelled with PVGIS for the town centre, a south-facing roof at 30 degrees produces about 1,058 kWh per kWp a year.

Illustrative, not a quote: the same sums as our commercial solar calculator. A company paying corporation tax can usually shorten the payback with capital allowances.

Funding and support

• Development Bank of Wales Green Business Loan Scheme: Loans of £1,000 to £1.5m for energy efficiency and decarbonisation, including solar PV, with funding available until 2028. Check the scheme's own page for eligibility and closing dates.

National reliefs apply too: see grants and reliefs in Wales.

Solar across Vale of Glamorgan

At the end of 2025, Vale of Glamorgan had 4,474 solar PV installations with 93.6 MW of capacity, up 15% since 2020, according to government figures. The Vale of Glamorgan page has the full local figures and how they compare.

Nearby towns

• Bridgwater, about 22 miles away
• Port Talbot, about 26 miles away
• Taunton, about 28 miles away
• Llanelli, about 43 miles away

Sources

• citypopulation.de: W45000617 barry
• en.wikipedia.org: Atlantic Trading Estate
• abports.co.uk: barry
• gb.dow.com: dow in barry
• european-rubber-journal.com: dow reports demand growth for downstream silicones amid
• valeofglamorgan.gov.uk: Barry Marine Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan
• valeofglamorgan.gov.uk: Barry Garden Suburb CA AMP Sep 2009
• developmentbank.wales: green
• en.wikipedia.org: Barry, Vale of Glamorgan
• Yield: PVGIS 5.3 (European Commission Joint Research Centre), SARAH3 data, 14% system losses, for the town centre, modelled 4 November 2026.
• Council area figures: DESNZ, renewable electricity by local authority 2014 to 2025.