Commercial solar installers in Newquay

Key facts

Where businesses are in Newquay

• Treloggan Industrial Estate: Newquay's main industrial estate, 8.3 hectares, safeguarded in Cornwall Council's Site Allocations plan (NQ-E1) as a strategically important employment site for business, industrial and storage uses.
• Aerohub Business Park (Cornwall Airport Newquay): About 2 miles from Newquay, the Aerohub offers 236 hectares of land in three development zones and a business park, mainly for aerospace but also for IT and advanced engineering firms. It has a Local Development Order to speed up planning.

Large employers and sectors with sites here include:

• Airport (Cornwall Airport Newquay): The airport reported more than 407,609 passengers, 5,214 commercial flights and 19,035 aircraft movements in all during 2024.
• Tourism and surfing: Cornwall Council's Site Allocations plan describes Newquay as one of Cornwall's primary tourism destinations, with international recognition as a surf location, and aims to extend the tourist season.

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

Newquay is served by National Grid Electricity Distribution (South 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 Newquay

Newquay follows the national planning rules for England, decided by Cornwall 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 Newquay Neighbourhood Plan's heritage policy HC1 asks development to be consistent with the town's historic character, to conserve the historic townscapes of Newquay and Porth, and to protect listed buildings and their settings, so panels on older town centre 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 Newquay could generate

Modelled with PVGIS for the town centre, a south-facing roof at 30 degrees produces about 1,055 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 Newquay 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 Cornwall

At the end of 2025, Cornwall had 34,740 solar PV installations with 683.0 MW of capacity, up 14% since 2020, according to government figures. The Cornwall page has the full local figures and how they compare.

Nearby towns

• St Austell, about 14 miles away
• Redruth, about 14 miles away
• Bodmin, about 16 miles away
• Falmouth, about 18 miles away

Sources

• ons.gov.uk: census2021
• ons.gov.uk: datadownload.xlsx
• cornwall.gov.uk: cornwall site allocations development plan document
• cornwallairportnewquay.com: cornwall airport newquay a year of progress and
• gov.uk: robert goodwill tours cornwall airport newquay and opens
• gov.uk: enterprise zones
• gov.uk: investment zones in england
• ukfreeports.campaign.gov.uk
• newquayplan.org
• 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.