Commercial solar installers in Lerwick

Key facts

Where businesses are in Lerwick

• Gremista Industrial Estate: Industrial district about 2 km north west of Lerwick town centre, tied to Lerwick Harbour, which also holds Shetland College, Lerwick Power Station and a 130 berth marina.
• Greenhead Base: Licensed quayside decommissioning base at Lerwick Harbour, one of the port's two with Dales Voe, where Peterson (UK) and Veolia handled the 8,000 tonne TCP2 modules support frame from the Frigg Field.

Large employers and sectors with sites here include:

• Port, energy and decommissioning (Lerwick Port Authority): Lerwick Harbour has 4,754 metres of quays and 120,000 m2 of laydown and open storage, supports oil and gas, decommissioning and renewables, and hosts about 100 cruise ships a season.
• Fishing: Landings at Lerwick were worth £20.5 million in October 2025, 10,461 tonnes, and the port's fishmarket is one of Britain's main centres for landing and selling seafood.

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

Lerwick 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 Lerwick

Planning in Lerwick is decided by Shetland 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:

• Lerwick has two conservation areas, Lerwick Lanes and Lerwick New Town (about 10.7 hectares), and Shetland Islands Council adopted revised character appraisals for both in December 2025, so check whether a building is inside one 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 Lerwick could generate

Modelled with PVGIS for the town centre, a south-facing roof at 30 degrees produces about 756 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 Shetland Islands

At the end of 2025, Shetland Islands had 409 solar PV installations with 2.0 MW of capacity, up 648% since 2020, according to government figures. The Shetland Islands page has the full local figures and how they compare.

Sources

• citypopulation.de: S52000396 lerwick
• en.wikipedia.org: Lerwick
• heritagecheck.co.uk: lerwick new town
• 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
• scottish-places.info: townfirst35226
• lerwick-harbour.co.uk: decommissioning
• lerwick-harbour.co.uk
• fishfocus.co.uk: fish landings in scotland in october 2025
• shetland.gov.uk: conservation area reviews
• 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.