Commercial solar installers in Chippenham

Key facts

Where businesses are in Chippenham

• Bumpers Farm Industrial Estate: Chippenham's main industrial estate, which Wiltshire Council's 2023 plan document said should stay a Principal Employment Site. Logicor's Westpoint Business Park on Vincents Road, with 12 industrial units, sits within it near occupiers such as Howdens, Wickes and Royal Mail.
• Methuen Park: Business park named by Wiltshire Council as one of Chippenham's Principal Employment Sites. The council's July 2023 plan document recorded eight small units being built there, all sold off plan, and a retail park on the site with Next, TK Maxx and B&M.
• St Modwen Park Chippenham: A 32 hectare development north of the town at M4 Junction 17, which Wiltshire Council's July 2023 plan document said was coming forward for large units of up to 74,000 square metres.
• Southpoint Business Park: An 18 hectare business park south of the town at Showell Farm, aimed at larger business units. Siemens Mobility broke ground on its £100 million rail signalling factory and research centre there in April 2025.

Large employers and sectors with sites here include:

• Rail signalling (Siemens Mobility): Siemens Mobility's Chippenham factory makes conventional and digital rail signalling and control systems, with 50% to 60% of its output going to UK projects. Its new £100 million site at Southpoint Business Park, started in April 2025, is due to open in 2026 for around 800 staff.
• Manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and IT: Wiltshire Council's July 2023 plan document said Chippenham was home to a number of the county's larger employers in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and IT, concentrated at Langley Park, Bumpers Farm and Methuen Park, with virtually full occupancy of business premises. It named Wavin's factory expansion and the take-up of former Herman Miller buildings by Bechtle and Wincanton among recent investments.

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

Chippenham is served by SSEN Distribution (Southern Electric Power Distribution 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 Chippenham

Chippenham follows the national planning rules for England, decided by Wiltshire 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:

• Wiltshire Council's 2023 plan document warns that grid supply points across Wiltshire are constrained and that Chippenham's energy infrastructure would struggle with new demand, advising early talks with SSEN about connections, so check export capacity before sizing a larger roof system.
• The Chippenham Conservation Area, designated in 1973, covers about 109.3 hectares with around 230 listed buildings, so check whether a building is inside it before planning roof panels in the centre.

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

What a business roof in Chippenham could generate

Modelled with PVGIS for the town centre, a south-facing roof at 30 degrees produces about 1,008 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 Chippenham 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 Wiltshire

At the end of 2025, Wiltshire had 22,287 solar PV installations with 621.3 MW of capacity, up 14% since 2020, according to government figures. The Wiltshire page has the full local figures and how they compare.

Nearby towns

• Trowbridge, about 11 miles away
• Swindon, about 16 miles away
• Frome, about 18 miles away
• Cirencester, about 19 miles away

Sources

• ons.gov.uk: census2021
• ons.gov.uk: datadownload.xlsx
• cms.wiltshire.gov.uk: Planning for Chippenham July2023
• logicor.eu: westpoint business park chippenham
• news.siemens.co.uk: rail minister lord hendy breaks ground on siemens
• hellorayo.co.uk: chippenham power restored transformer fire
• gov.uk: enterprise zones
• assets.publishing.service.gov.uk: External HMRC IZs Information Pack FEB 26
• gov.uk: maps of freeports and freeport tax sites
• heritagecheck.co.uk: chippenham
• 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.