Commercial solar installers in Newtown

Key facts

Where businesses are in Newtown

• Vastre Industrial Estate: Industrial estate in Newtown. In October 2024 Powys councillors approved an extension to Pear Stairs' factory at Unit A, which the company said would safeguard 62 jobs and add 25 more.
• CymruTech Park (planned), Llanidloes Road: About 14 hectares next to Newtown College that Powys County Council agreed in February 2026 to buy for a planned advanced manufacturing centre, flexible business units and a green skills academy, subject to planning permission and funding.

Large employers and sectors with sites here include:

• Electric motor control (Nidec Drives): Nidec Drives, formerly Control Techniques, designs and makes electric motor control technology in Newtown, where its Y Gro site has housed its worldwide research and development centre for 30 years; in January 2026 its turnover was put at about £125m.
• Staircase manufacturing (Pear Stairs): Pear Stairs, the staircase business of Welshpool builders' merchant Boys and Boden, announced a move to the former Laura Ashley site in Newtown in 2022 with a £232,000 Welsh Government grant, and the factory extension approved in 2024 was expected to add 25 jobs to the 62 it safeguarded.

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

Newtown is served by SP Energy Networks (SP Manweb, Merseyside and North Wales 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 Newtown

Planning in Newtown is decided by Powys council under the Welsh rules. Many non-domestic roofs are covered by Welsh permitted development, with conditions, but not within 3 km of an airport or aerodrome or on listed buildings.

Points that come up locally:

• In Wales, roof panels on a non-domestic building are usually permitted development if they stand no more than 200mm proud of the roof, stay at least 1 metre from the roof edge and, on a flat roof, rise no more than 1 metre, but a listed building needs planning permission and listed building consent, and in a conservation area panels on a principal or side wall visible from a highway need consent.

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

What a business roof in Newtown could generate

Modelled with PVGIS for the town centre, a south-facing roof at 30 degrees produces about 942 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

• Development Bank of Wales Green Business Loan Scheme: Discounted fixed interest rate loans for energy efficiency measures and low carbon projects, with renewables including solar PV listed as eligible projects. Limited companies, sole traders and partnerships must be based in Wales, have traded for at least two years and have at least one set of filed annual accounts. A grant of up to 50% of the cost of a detailed energy audit, to a maximum of £10,000 (£20,000 total costs), is also offered. Check the scheme's own page for eligibility and closing dates.

National reliefs apply too: see grants and reliefs in Wales.

Solar across Powys

At the end of 2025, Powys had 10,118 solar PV installations with 56.2 MW of capacity, up 137% since 2020, according to government figures. The Powys page has the full local figures and how they compare.

Nearby towns

• Oswestry, about 26 miles away
• Ludlow, about 27 miles away
• Shrewsbury, about 27 miles away
• Leominster, about 31 miles away

Sources

• ons.gov.uk: census2021
• ons.gov.uk: datadownload.xlsx
• brecon-radnor.co.uk: green light given to factory extension in newtown
• wales247.co.uk: cymrutech park plan promises 400 jobs boost for
• wales247.co.uk: welsh manufacturing strength showcased at newtown based nidec
• media.service.gov.wales: powys businesses to expand operations at new site
• businesswales.gov.wales: enterprise zones
• gov.uk: maps of celtic freeport tax sites
• gov.uk: maps of flintshire and wrexham investment zone tax
• gov.wales: planning permission solar panels non domestic
• developmentbank.wales: green
• 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.