Commercial solar installers in Kendal

Key facts

Where businesses are in Kendal

• Shap Road Industrial Estate (including Westmorland Business Park): Established trading estate a short distance north of Kendal town centre. Westmorland Business Park within it has modern trade counter and warehouse units, and the council's 2025 employment land schedule records allocated land on the estate in use by Kentdale Jaguar Land Rover.
• Meadowbank Business Park: Business park north of Kendal town centre. In January 2026 Watch This Space submitted outline plans to Westmorland and Furness Council for The Flock, a 475,000 sq ft scheme of up to 14 storage, industrial and distribution buildings on 34 acres to the north of it.

Large employers and sectors with sites here include:

• Hydro turbines and pumps (Gilkes): Gilbert Gilkes & Gordon, established in 1853, is based at Canal Head North in Kendal and makes hydropower turbines and engine cooling and lubricating oil pumps; it reports over 6,800 hydro turbines exported to over 85 countries.
• Infant formula (Kendal Nutricare): Kendal Nutricare, maker of the Kendamil formula brand, has its registered office at the Milk Factory on Mint Bridge Road, a Kendal site it took ownership of in 2015.

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

Kendal is served by Electricity North West (North 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 Kendal

Kendal follows the national planning rules for England, decided by Westmorland and Furness 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:

• The Kendal Conservation Area was designated in 1969 and its boundary amended in 1978, 1982, 2000 and 2007; a 242-page character appraisal with townscape and architectural quality maps was adopted in December 2007, so roofs in the historic centre need more care.

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

What a business roof in Kendal could generate

Modelled with PVGIS for the town centre, a south-facing roof at 30 degrees produces about 871 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 Kendal 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 Westmorland and Furness

At the end of 2025, Westmorland and Furness had 9,791 solar PV installations with 78.7 MW of capacity, up 72% since 2020, according to government figures. The Westmorland and Furness page has the full local figures and how they compare.

Nearby towns

• Morecambe, about 19 miles away
• Lancaster, about 19 miles away
• Penrith, about 23 miles away
• Barrow-in-Furness, about 25 miles away

Sources

• ons.gov.uk: census2021
• ons.gov.uk: datadownload.xlsx
• applications.southlakeland.gov.uk: Default
• westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk: Local Plan Employment Sites Status 31st March 2025
• placenorthwest.co.uk: watch this space lodges plans for 475000 sq
• gilkes.com
• gilkes.com: about us
• find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
• find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
• daily-focus.co.uk: multi million pound new factory investment to create
• southlakeland.gov.uk: 01 kendal ca character appraisal 51207
• westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk: find conservation area
• westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk: applications open next round greening businesses scheme
• 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.