Commercial solar installers in Redcar

Key facts

Where businesses are in Redcar

• Teesworks: A 4,500 acre former industrial site on the banks of the Tees, based at Redcar, which its operator calls Europe's largest brownfield site. It reports 2,725 long term jobs created and £2 billion of occupier investment secured, with 15% of the land occupied.
• Wilton International: An industrial complex owned and operated by Sembcorp, which supplies energy and utilities to energy intensive businesses on site. Planned projects there include sustainable aviation fuel plants, a data centre of up to 280MW and a 1GW battery storage system.
• Kirkleatham Business Park: A business park off Kirkleatham Lane a couple of miles from Redcar town centre, next to the Wilton complex. In 2020 its occupiers included Royal Mail, Serco, Redcar and Cleveland Police and ElringKlinger, and permission was granted for 17 new industrial units.

Large employers and sectors with sites here include:

• Carbon capture and clean energy (Teesworks): The Net Zero Teesside project at Teesworks aims to capture up to 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and deliver the UK's first zero carbon industrial cluster.
• Energy and process industries (Wilton): Sembcorp Energy UK owns much of the land at Wilton International and supplies energy and utilities to the many energy intensive businesses on the site.

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.

Enterprise, investment and freeport zones

• Teesside Freeport (Teesworks East, Teesworks West and Wilton International tax sites): Teesworks East includes the Redcar Bulk Terminal. Reliefs on the tax sites include Stamp Duty Land Tax relief, enhanced capital allowances and structures and buildings allowance, employer National Insurance relief and five years of business rates relief; the tax and National Insurance reliefs for English Freeport tax sites now run until 30 September 2031.

These zones can bring business rates relief or enhanced capital allowances for eligible firms on qualifying sites; check the current terms with the zone before relying on them.

Grid connection

Redcar is served by Northern Powergrid (Northeast 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 Redcar

Redcar follows the national planning rules for England, decided by Redcar and Cleveland 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 Coatham, Redcar Conservation Area covers about 14.7 hectares with five listed buildings, so check whether a building is inside it before planning roof panels.
• The Kirkleatham Conservation Area, about 73.9 hectares and designated in 1970, has 24 listed buildings including five Grade I, such as the Turner Mausoleum and Sir William Turner's Hospital, so roofs in or near it may get closer scrutiny.

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

What a business roof in Redcar could generate

Modelled with PVGIS for the town centre, a south-facing roof at 30 degrees produces about 933 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 Redcar 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 Redcar and Cleveland

At the end of 2025, Redcar and Cleveland had 3,837 solar PV installations with 20.0 MW of capacity, up 53% since 2020, according to government figures. The Redcar and Cleveland page has the full local figures and how they compare.

Nearby towns

• Middlesbrough, about 7 miles away
• Hartlepool, about 7 miles away
• Billingham, about 9 miles away
• Stockton-on-Tees, about 11 miles away

Sources

• ons.gov.uk: census2021
• ons.gov.uk: datadownload.xlsx
• teesworks.co.uk
• wiltoninternational.com
• teesbusiness.co.uk
• business.gov.uk: teesside freeport
• gov.uk: extension to when tax and national insurance contributions
• teesvalley-ca.gov.uk: 80m to revive town centres and back business
• gov.uk: enterprise zones
• heritagecheck.co.uk: coatham redcar
• heritagecheck.co.uk: kirkleatham
• 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.