Ground-Mounted vs Rooftop Solar

Solar comes in two broad forms for landowners and rural businesses: large ground-mounted solar farms in fields, and rooftop arrays on barns, sheds and buildings. They serve different purposes, and many farms benefit from both.

Ground-mounted solar farms

Ground-mounted solar uses open land to host a large array that exports power to the grid, typically under a lease that pays the landowner rent. It is the route to a substantial, long-term income from under-used or marginal land, and the focus of most of our work.

Rooftop solar

Rooftop solar puts panels on the roofs of barns, sheds, poultry units and other farm buildings. It is generally smaller in scale and most valuable for cutting your own electricity bills by generating power where you use it, rather than as a land-income play.

Which is right for you?

If your goal is to earn a long-term income from land, a ground-mounted solar farm is usually the answer. If you want to reduce on-farm energy costs, rooftop solar on your buildings may suit better. The two are not mutually exclusive — a farm can lease a field for a solar farm and put panels on its barns.

• Ground-mounted: large scale, land income via lease, exports to grid.
• Rooftop: smaller scale, cuts your own bills, uses existing buildings.
• Many farms do both, for income and self-supply.