Solar PV and battery storage across Scarborough, Filey, Whitby and the North Yorkshire coast
CHAS Elite accredited · MCS certified · RECC member
Scarborough’s roofs work hard in summer. Hotels, guesthouses and holiday parks run kitchens, laundry, hot water and lighting through the busiest months, when solar generates most. The industrial units at Eastfield and Scarborough Business Park, farms across the Vale of Pickering, and churches, halls and family homes all use power in daylight too. BrightEdge Solar is an MCS-certified installer of solar panels and battery storage for businesses, farms, community buildings and homes in Scarborough, Filey, Whitby and along the coast. We’re based in Beverley, about 35 miles away, and our nearest job is a 51 kWp flat-roof system at Woodsmith Mine near Whitby, about 16 miles from Scarborough.
Book a free survey · Call 01482 765063
Hospitality is the biggest opportunity on this coast, because demand and generation peak together in the summer season. At a guesthouse in Brandesburton, about 32 miles south of Scarborough, we fitted a 20 kWp all-black array on a slate roof, a 20 kW SolaX three-phase inverter, a 6 kW SolaX AC charger and 12 kWh of SolaX battery storage.
What we look at for a Scarborough hotel, guesthouse or holiday park:
Many seafront hotels and commercial buildings have flat roofs, and on an exposed coast the mounting matters as much as the panels. At Woodsmith Mine near Whitby we installed 51.03 kWp of all-black panels on the change house’s flat roof, using a Van der Valk low-ballast mounting system designed for a high-wind location, with 24 kWh of battery storage.
On another flat roof, a new-build care home in Clifton, York, we fitted 47.08 kWp on a lightweight ballasted system that kept the roof loading under 32 kg/m², so the roof needed no structural strengthening and kept its membrane warranty. A care home, like a hotel, uses power around the clock.
Most of Scarborough’s industrial and trade space is south of the town at Eastfield, around Scarborough Business Park and the Cayton Low Road estates, including Plaxton Park and Dunslow Court, just off the A64. Units there include steel-framed buildings with insulated cladding and three-phase supplies, which suit rooftop solar well. Food production, engineering, workshops, cold stores and trade counters all run through the day.
For larger sites across the county, see commercial solar in York and North Yorkshire.
Farms from the Vale of Pickering to the moors edge have big sheds, daytime loads from grain, livestock and workshops, and low export prices. At Little Habton in Ryedale, about 25 miles from Scarborough, we re-clad an old agricultural store in new trapezoidal sheeting and installed a 24.64 kWp solar array with modular Fox ESS battery storage. Re-cladding first is often the right answer for a tired or asbestos roof. More on farm solar panels.
Churches, chapels, village halls and charity buildings often have large roofs and modest budgets. Solar panels and batteries installed in a building used solely for a relevant charitable purpose are currently zero-rated for VAT, until 31 March 2027, then 5%. We help with the paperwork and the faculty or planning route. Our community example is the grant-funded system at Hessle Sporting Club, 21.6 kWp funded by the FA. See solar panels for churches and solar panels for charities.
We fit on-roof and in-roof systems, with or without a battery, for homes across Scarborough, Scalby, Filey, Whitby and the villages. In-roof panels sit flush with the tiles, which suits new builds, re-roofs and homes where looks matter. At Catwick in East Yorkshire, about 33 miles south of Scarborough, we fitted in-roof all-black panels with Fox ESS battery storage on two new-build homes.
Installing solar panels and batteries on a home currently carries 0% VAT, until 31 March 2027. See home solar panels and battery storage.
A roof on the South Cliff or above Filey Bay is a different job from one inland, and we design for it:
Since 1 April 2023 North Yorkshire Council has been the planning authority for the former Scarborough borough, outside the National Park. Its conservation areas include Scarborough, Weaponness, Falsgrave, Scalby, Seamer, Filey, Whitby and Sandsend. North of the town, villages such as Robin Hood’s Bay, Fylingthorpe, Staithes and Runswick Bay are in the North York Moors National Park, where the National Park Authority handles planning and has Article 4 directions that remove some permitted development rights.
We check your address before we design, and can use all-black or in-roof panels to keep the roofline tidy.
Already have solar? We service, test and repair commercial and domestic systems, including ones fitted by other installers, here and nationwide. That includes drone thermography for large roofs and arrays, handheld FLIR thermal imaging of isolators, connectors and inverters, inverter and battery checks, panel cleaning and EICRs. Prices are on application. See solar panel servicing and maintenance.
These are areas we cover, not a list of past installs.
| Job | Distance from Scarborough | What we did |
|---|---|---|
| Flat-roof solar, Woodsmith Mine near Whitby | about 16 miles | 51.03 kWp all-black panels on Van der Valk low-ballast mounting for a high-wind site, 24 kWh battery |
| Re-clad farm store, Little Habton | about 25 miles | New trapezoidal cladding, 24.64 kWp array, modular Fox ESS battery storage |
| Guesthouse, Brandesburton | about 32 miles | 20 kWp all-black panels on slate, 20 kW SolaX inverter, 6 kW AC charger, 12 kWh SolaX battery |
| Care home, Clifton, York | about 42 miles | 47.08 kWp on a lightweight ballasted flat-roof system, no roof strengthening needed |
Scarborough, Filey and Whitby are on Northern Powergrid’s Northeast licence area, not the Yorkshire area that covers Bridlington, Hull and the East Riding. The first two digits of the MPAN on your electricity bill tell you which: 15 is Northeast and 23 is Yorkshire. A few villages south of Filey sit close to the boundary, so we check your MPAN when we quote.
Read our G99 application guide.
More on funding: solar panel grants for businesses.
Yes. We’re MCS-certified installers based in Beverley, about 35 miles away, and we cover Scarborough, Filey, Whitby and the surrounding villages. Our nearest job is a 51 kWp flat-roof system at Woodsmith Mine near Whitby, about 16 miles from Scarborough.
Often, because hospitality sites use the most power in summer, when solar generates most. A battery moves midday generation into the evening peak. We model it month by month against your occupancy and will tell you if it doesn’t pay.
Yes, if the system is designed for it. We carry out wind load calculations for every array and choose the mounting to suit, as we did with the low-ballast flat-roof system at Woodsmith Mine. On exposed sites we check the panels’ salt-mist testing and the mounting manufacturer’s coastal guidance, and set up remote monitoring at handover.
Northern Powergrid, on its Northeast licence area. Your MPAN should start with 15. Larger systems need G99 approval before connection, which typically adds 8–12 weeks. We submit and manage the application for you.
We don’t fix panels straight onto asbestos: we overclad it with new profiled sheeting and fit the solar on top, as one job. Modern (non-asbestos) fibre-cement roofs are different: once we’ve checked their condition, we can usually fit panels to them directly.
Yes, including systems another installer fitted. We offer health checks with drone thermography and FLIR thermal imaging, inverter and battery checks, panel cleaning and EICRs. Prices are on application.
Send us your address, a recent electricity bill (or half-hourly data for a business) and a photo of the roof. For a hotel, guesthouse or holiday park, tell us roughly how many rooms or pitches you have and when you’re busiest. We’ll come back with an initial layout and estimate, then arrange a survey.
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.