Commercial solar installers in Kirkwall

Key facts

Where businesses are in Kirkwall

• Hatston Industrial Estate: Orkney's main commercial hub, on the western edge of Kirkwall beside the main ferry terminal. Engineering firm Ocean Kinetics opened an engineering shop and stores at Hatston in September 2025 as part of a wider workshop development there.
• Hatston Pier enterprise area: Highlands and Islands Enterprise invested £2.95 million to build six workshop, storage and office units next to Hatston Pier for tidal energy developers using EMEC, and the Innovation Centre Orkney on Hatston Pier Road offers offices and workshops; in 2018 a further four hectares beside the pier was transferred to the harbour authority for pier users.

Large employers and sectors with sites here include:

• Whisky (Highland Park): Highland Park distillery in Kirkwall reopened to visitors in 2025 after a year of works, including a £13 million mashhouse upgrade and a heat recovery system expected to cut over 1,000 tonnes of CO2e a year, with an aim of halving emissions by 2030.
• Cruise tourism: Orkney Islands Council expected 178 cruise calls and around 170,000 passengers in 2025, after a record 223 calls in 2024, worth an estimated £12 to 15 million a year, with shore services employing over 65 local people; Hatston is the main cruise berth.

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

Kirkwall is served by SSEN Distribution (Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution, North of Scotland 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 Kirkwall

Planning in Kirkwall is decided by Orkney Islands 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 Kirkwall Conservation Area, around St Magnus Cathedral and the historic centre, covers about 32.1 hectares and 56 postcodes, so check whether a building is inside it before planning roof panels in the centre.
• Since 24 May 2024, Scotland's Class 6J lets solar PV go on non-domestic buildings without planning permission if it protrudes no more than 1 metre from the surface of the building, but not on a listed building or within its curtilage, within 3 km of an aerodrome or technical site, or, in a conservation area, on the principal elevation or a side elevation fronting a road.

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

What a business roof in Kirkwall could generate

Modelled with PVGIS for the town centre, a south-facing roof at 30 degrees produces about 846 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, repaid over 8 years (a shorter term can be requested). 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, allocated first come, first served. Applications are processed on a rolling basis all year round, subject to the overall availability of 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 Orkney Islands

At the end of 2025, Orkney Islands had 558 solar PV installations with 2.3 MW of capacity, up 62% since 2020, according to government figures. The Orkney Islands page has the full local figures and how they compare.

Nearby towns

• Wick, about 37 miles away

Sources

• citypopulation.de: S52000378 kirkwall
• en.wikipedia.org: Kirkwall
• orkneyharbours.com: more land available in support of harbour business
• en.wikipedia.org: Kirkwall Airport
• 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
• theorkneynews.scot: ocean kinetics to open new store in kirkwall
• orkney.com: property
• whiskyexperts.net: nach einem jahr umbau highland park wieder in
• orkney.gov.uk: 2025 cruise season ahoy
• heritagecheck.co.uk: kirkwall
• legislation.gov.uk: made
• 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.