Commercial solar installers in Galashiels

Key facts

Where businesses are in Galashiels

• Tweedbank Industrial Estate: Industrial estate at Tweedbank, Galashiels. In 2018 owner Catalyst Capital refurbished vacant units there and let Block 1, the largest building on the estate, to Mossburn Distillers.
• Borders Innovation Park: Business park next to Tweedbank station, led by Scottish Borders Council and the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal. Phase 1 created the Inspire Learning Centre, and a £3 million South of Scotland Enterprise award announced in February 2024 is funding a new access road and almost 400 square metres of hybrid work and commercial units.

Large employers and sectors with sites here include:

• Further education (Borders College): Borders College, the regional college for the Scottish Borders, is based at the Scottish Borders Campus on Nether Road, Galashiels, which it shares with Heriot-Watt University. Its accounts to 31 July 2025 report 284 employees and around 1,143 full-time and 3,013 part-time students.
• Textile and design education (Heriot-Watt University): Heriot-Watt teaches design, fashion and textiles programmes at its Galashiels campus, which grew from weaving, dyeing and chemistry classes set up by the Galashiels Manufacturers Corporation in 1883 for mill workers.

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

Galashiels is served by SP Energy Networks (SP Distribution, Central and Southern Scotland). 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 Galashiels

Planning in Galashiels is decided by Scottish Borders council under Scotland's own system. Non-domestic rooftop solar is often permitted development under the Scottish rules, but not on listed buildings, in National Scenic Areas or within 3 km of an aerodrome.

Points that come up locally:

• The Galashiels Conservation Area covers about 10.7 hectares and 48 postcodes, so check whether a building is inside it before planning roof panels in the centre.
• Scotland's June 2024 permitted development changes removed the 50kW cap for rooftop solar on non-domestic buildings and allow flat roof systems up to 1m above the roof; listed buildings and World Heritage Sites are the exceptions, and in conservation areas panels can be permitted development only if they are not on primary elevations or facing roads.

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

What a business roof in Galashiels could generate

Modelled with PVGIS for the town centre, a south-facing roof at 30 degrees produces about 901 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

• Business Energy Scotland SME Loan: Interest-free loans of £1,000 to £130,000. Cashback of 75% of eligible costs, up to £20,000 for energy efficiency measures and up to £10,000 for heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar thermal, with a maximum of £30,000 per business. Applications are processed on a rolling basis all year round, subject to loan funds. The page says the scheme is not accepting new applications for solar PV projects. Check the scheme's own page for eligibility and closing dates.

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

Solar across Scottish Borders

At the end of 2025, Scottish Borders had 7,152 solar PV installations with 33.4 MW of capacity, up 100% since 2020, according to government figures. The Scottish Borders page has the full local figures and how they compare.

Nearby towns

• Kelso, about 15 miles away
• Livingston, about 34 miles away
• Kirkcaldy, about 37 miles away
• Bathgate, about 38 miles away

Sources

• en.wikipedia.org: Galashiels
• citypopulation.de: S52000267 galashiels
• commercialnewsmedia.com
• southofscotlandenterprise.com: sose investment to help kickstart next phase of
• esescityregiondeal.org.uk: expansion at tweedbank
• borderscollege.ac.uk: galashiels
• opencharities.uk: 2025 07 31 accounts
• hw.ac.uk: our campuses
• hw.ac.uk: scottish borders and orkney campuses
• gov.uk: maps of forth green freeport tax sites
• gov.uk: maps of inverness and cromarty firth green freeport
• gov.uk: maps of glasgow city region investment zone tax
• gov.uk: maps of north east scotland investment zone tax
• heritagecheck.co.uk: galashiels
• solarpowerportal.co.uk: scotland removes planning permission requirement for rooftop solar
• businessenergyscotland.org: sme loan
• 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.