Commercial solar installers in Bodmin

Key facts

Where businesses are in Bodmin

• Walker Lines Industrial Estate: A former Second World War camp built as an extension to the DCLI Barracks, now an industrial estate that is still known as Walker Lines.
• Beacon Technology Park: Business park where BAM Construct was appointed in 2014 to build a £10m, three storey Cornwall Council office building with photovoltaic cells on the roof and natural ventilation.

Large employers and sectors with sites here include:

• Pasty making (Proper Cornish): Proper Cornish, part of the Onoré group, has made Cornish pasties since 1988 and is based at Lucknow Road in Bodmin.
• Confectionery (Buttermilk): Bodmin based confectioner Buttermilk has completed a 420 square metre expansion of its factory with Good Growth funding, doubling its capacity, with solar panels and heat recovery included.

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

Bodmin is served by National Grid Electricity Distribution (South West licence area). 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 Bodmin

Bodmin follows the national planning rules for England, decided by Cornwall council. Rooftop solar on most non-domestic buildings is permitted development, within height and edge limits, and systems above 50 kW need a prior approval application covering design and glare.

Points that come up locally:

• Bodmin Conservation Area, designated in 1991, covers about 47.1 hectares of the town centre and holds 96 listed buildings, including the Grade I Church of St Petroc and the Grade II* Shire Hall, so roofs inside it need more care.

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

What a business roof in Bodmin could generate

Modelled with PVGIS for the town centre, a south-facing roof at 30 degrees produces about 1,009 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

We found no council or regional grant for business solar open in Bodmin at the time of writing (November 2026). National reliefs still apply, such as capital allowances and, in England, the business rates exemption for onsite renewables: see grants and reliefs in England.

Solar across Cornwall

At the end of 2025, Cornwall had 34,740 solar PV installations with 683.0 MW of capacity, up 14% since 2020, according to government figures. The Cornwall page has the full local figures and how they compare.

Nearby towns

• St Austell, about 10 miles away
• Newquay, about 16 miles away
• Falmouth, about 27 miles away
• Redruth, about 28 miles away

Sources

• ons.gov.uk: census2021
• ons.gov.uk: datadownload.xlsx
• en.wikipedia.org: Bodmin
• constructionenquirer.com: bam wins 10m cornwall council office job
• propercornish.co.uk
• propercornish.co.uk: about us
• cornwall.gov.uk: good growth programme driving innovation sustainability and food
• gov.uk: enterprise zones
• sa.catapult.org.uk
• en.wikipedia.org: Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station
• wired-gov.net: Twelve+new+Enterprise+Zones+go+live+05042017091559
• gov.uk: investment zones in england
• en.wikipedia.org: Freeports in the United Kingdom
• heritagecheck.co.uk: bodmin
• 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.