Cheshire’s economy is a mix you don’t see everywhere: salt and chemicals in the mid-Cheshire towns, vehicle making and engineering around Crewe and Ellesmere Port, food producers and dairy farms across the Cheshire plain, and logistics along the M6. Plenty of these businesses own their buildings and land, so solar can be decided quickly by the people who pay the bills. BrightEdge Solar designs and installs commercial solar PV and battery storage for factories, warehouses, farms and public buildings across Cheshire. We’re based in Beverley, East Yorkshire, and travel nationally for larger commercial projects, including a multi-unit warehouse scheme in Middlewich.
Pumps, compressors, mixers, refrigeration, packing lines and lighting all run while the sun is up. Every unit you generate and use on site is a unit you don't buy at full price.
Firms supplying chemicals, automotive and food customers are increasingly asked about energy and carbon.
From first call to aftercare
Initial call: we look at your bills and, ideally, half-hourly data. Desktop design: satellite imagery and mapping give us an initial layout and estimate, often before we visit.
Site survey: roof, structure, electrical supply, existing G99 approvals and access. Proposal: final design, expected generation, costs and timescale.
G99 application: we submit and track it, along with any planning application. Installation and commissioning: MCS-compliant, planned around your busy periods.
Remote monitoring, plus optional annual maintenance to MCS MIS3002.
Initial call: we look at your bills and, ideally, half-hourly data. Desktop design: satellite imagery and mapping give us an initial layout and estimate, often before we visit.
Site survey: roof, structure, electrical supply, existing G99 approvals and access. Proposal: final design, expected generation, costs and timescale.
G99 application: we submit and track it, along with any planning application. Installation and commissioning: MCS-compliant, planned around your busy periods.
Remote monitoring, plus optional annual maintenance to MCS MIS3002.
See our recent projects
Factories and process sites. Chemicals and salt-sector suppliers, engineering, food and drink producers and automotive supply-chain firms in Northwich, Middlewich, Winsford, Runcorn, Crewe and Ellesmere Port.
Warehouses and logistics. Distribution and trade units on the M6 and M56 estates. On a business park in Middlewich we installed 219.56 kWp across four warehouse units, each with its own grid connection. See warehouse and industrial solar.
Farms and rural estates. Dairy and arable farms, equestrian yards and estate workshops. Dairy units use a lot of power for milking and cooling, often early and late, which is where a battery helps. See agricultural and farm solar.
Schools and academies. Daytime use during term matches solar generation well. We plan installs around the school calendar.
Churches and charities. Halls, community buildings and charity premises. We give trustees plain figures to take to their committee.
Public sector. Council, health and emergency-service buildings, depots and leisure centres. We hold CHAS accreditation, which public bodies and main contractors often ask for. See office and public sector solar.
Including on systems installed by other firms: inspection, fixing and re-certifying non-compliant systems, and ongoing maintenance.
Yes. We cover Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Warrington and Halton, and we’ve installed 219.56 kWp across four warehouse units on a business park in Middlewich.
Most of Cheshire is on SP Energy Networks’ SP Manweb network, while Macclesfield and Wilmslow are on SP Electricity North West. We confirm yours from your postcode and handle the G99 application, which typically adds 8–12 weeks before installation.
Yes. We install on farm buildings and stores, and on spare land where a roof isn’t suitable. A battery stores midday surplus for milking and cooling outside daylight hours. We size it from your actual usage.
Typically about £17,000–£21,000 for 30 kWp, £28,000–£37,000 for 50 kWp and £50,000–£65,000 for 100 kWp, excluding VAT. Systems of 150 kWp and above are typically about £420–£650 per kWp. Book a free survey for an accurate quote.
Yes. In Middlewich we designed a separate system for each of four warehouse units, each with its own grid connection, and brought them online together. We can do the same for multi-let estates and sites with several buildings.
Many rooftop systems on commercial buildings fall under permitted development, subject to conditions and size limits. Ground-mounted arrays are more likely to need planning permission, and listed buildings and protected areas can need extra checks. We’ll check for your site and apply if it’s needed.
We work with businesses, farms and organisations across:
These are areas we cover, not a list of past installs. We also cover commercial solar in Greater Manchester.
A battery stores midday surplus for milking, early shifts and evening loads, instead of exporting it at a low rate. It can also help where the network operator limits your export. We size batteries from your half-hourly data, your tariff and your solar generation, and we’ll tell you if a battery doesn’t pay its way. Commercial battery storage typically costs about £350–£450 per kWh installed, including the hybrid inverter. More detail: commercial battery storage.
Cheshire is split between two network operators. Most of the county, including Chester, Ellesmere Port, Northwich, Winsford, Middlewich, Crewe, Nantwich, Knutsford and most of Warrington, is on SP Energy Networks’ SP Manweb network. Macclesfield and Wilmslow are on SP Electricity North West. We confirm yours from your postcode and meter number.
Almost every commercial system needs G99 approval before installation. We prepare and submit the application with the technical details and single-line diagrams the DNO needs, and deal with any queries. Approval typically adds 8–12 weeks before installation, so we start it early. On multi-unit sites, each unit can have its own application and connection, as on our Middlewich project. If the DNO limits your export, a G100 export limitation scheme or a battery means you still use what you generate on site. Read more: G99 applications explained.
Many rooftop systems on commercial buildings fall under permitted development, subject to conditions and size limits. Ground-mounted arrays are more likely to need planning permission. Local factors include:
We’ll check for your site and apply if it’s needed.
Indicative installed costs for commercial solar PV, by system size:
Commercial battery storage typically costs about £350–£450 per kWh installed, including the hybrid inverter. As a real example, a 42 kWh battery with a 20 kW hybrid inverter added to an existing system came to about £16,000.
Prices exclude VAT, which is charged at 20% on commercial installs. Simple roofs with good access sit at the lower end. Fibre-cement roofs, premium panels, scaffolding and safety systems such as rooflight protection or Man-Safe lifelines push the price up. Every quote sets out equipment, installation, scaffolding and DNO costs separately, so you can compare like for like.
Payback depends on how much of the generation you use on site, your unit rate, the system size and how easy the roof is to work on. Sites that use most of their solar during the day pay back faster than sites that export a lot. We model it from your half-hourly data and show the expected payback in your proposal.
Send us a recent electricity bill, your half-hourly data if you have it, and details of any existing G99 approval. We’ll come back with an initial view on system size and whether solar makes sense for your buildings.
Book a free survey · Call 01482 765063 · info@brightedgesolar.com
BrightEdge Solar Ltd, Colonial House, Swinemoor Lane, Beverley HU17 0LS. MCS certified (NIC-601602). RECC member.