Commercial solar installers in Margate

Key facts

Where businesses are in Margate

• Westwood Industrial Estate: Established industrial estate at Westwood where Hornby PLC has its registered office on Enterprise Road. Thanet's local plan names it among larger established sites in need of investment to renew or upgrade them.
• Manston Business Park: A 75.2 hectare business park at the centre of Thanet beside the former Manston Airport, about half developed, allocated and safeguarded for office, industrial and warehouse use in Thanet's local plan.

Large employers and sectors with sites here include:

• Culture and tourism (Turner Contemporary): Turner Contemporary says it has welcomed over 5 million visitors to Margate since 2011, contributing more than £140 million to the local economy.

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

Margate is served by UK Power Networks (South Eastern Power Networks 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 Margate

Margate follows the national planning rules for England, decided by Thanet 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:

• Thanet's local plan encourages retrofitting renewable installations to existing buildings under Policy CC04, as long as there is no adverse impact on heritage assets or their setting, and asks major new developments to make maximum use of renewable energy.
• The Margate Seafront Conservation Area covers about 9.4 hectares with 9 listed buildings, so seafront roofs need more care.

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

What a business roof in Margate could generate

Modelled with PVGIS for the town centre, a south-facing roof at 30 degrees produces about 1,111 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 Margate 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 Thanet

At the end of 2025, Thanet had 3,371 solar PV installations with 56.5 MW of capacity, up 21% since 2020, according to government figures. The Thanet page has the full local figures and how they compare.

Nearby towns

• Ramsgate, about 4 miles away
• Deal, about 12 miles away
• Dover, about 19 miles away
• Folkestone, about 23 miles away

Sources

• ons.gov.uk: census2021
• ons.gov.uk: datadownload.xlsx
• thanet.gov.uk: Thanet Local Plan July 2020 1 1
• find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
• uk.hornby.com: 70 years in margate
• turnercontemporary.org: about
• democracy.kent.gov.uk: Developing Discovery Park Sandwich Task Force Report
• heritagecheck.co.uk: margate seafront
• 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.