UK Landowner Utility

Lease Your Land for Solar: Does It Pass an Initial Site Screen?

Check the nearest mapped 33kV+ substation and published DNO headroom where available. This is a preliminary proximity screen, not a live grid-capacity check or valuation.

Land & Grid Proximity Checker

System Online

Approximate is fine. Sites under 10 acres receive a preliminary battery-storage (BESS) proximity screen rather than a solar-farm assessment.

We will find the nearest mapped 33kV+ substation and show published DNO headroom where available.

Free preliminary screen using published network and location data. This is not a live DNO capacity check.

Watch

How much do solar farms pay per acre?

2026 UK lease rates, how RPI indexation compounds, worked income examples for 5, 25 and 100 acre sites, and the grid connection check that decides if any of it applies to your land.

£850-£1,200

Illustrative Solar Range

The checker applies an illustrative annual per-acre range. It is not a valuation, market quote or promise of an offer.

33kV+

Mapped Grid Proximity

See the straight-line distance to the nearest mapped 33kV+ substation. Proximity alone does not establish capacity, route or connection cost.

100% Free

No Obligation Search

The first-stage screen is free. You decide whether to continue if a relevant developer wants to investigate the site.

What the Lease Illustration Does — and Does Not — Tell You

The lease illustration multiplies the acreage you enter by a broad annual solar-rate range. It is shown separately from the grid proximity screen and does not adjust the rent for your site's constraints.

Illustrative lease range

  • • Uses the acreage entered
  • • Applies £850-£1,200 per acre per year
  • • Does not predict a developer's offer
  • • Does not assume indexation unless a contract provides it

Separate proximity screen

  • • Finds the nearest mapped 33kV+ substation
  • • Shows straight-line distance and voltage
  • • Shows published DNO headroom where available
  • • Does not confirm live capacity, route or cost

Actual rent depends on the full commercial and technical package. For published market sources, worked examples from a 1 acre solar farm up to 100 acres, and the effect of negotiated indexation, see our Solar Farm Income & Profit Per Acre UK guide.

How SolarGridCheck Works

  1. Locate Infrastructure: We cross-reference your postcode with NESO (National Energy System Operator) and DNO datasets.
  2. Screen Proximity: We calculate straight-line distance to the nearest mapped 33kV+ substation and display published headroom where available. Only the network operator and detailed studies can establish a connection route, capacity and cost.
  3. Consider an Introduction: If the enquiry appears to fit a developer's current requirements, we may make an introduction. The developer must then carry out its own grid, planning, environmental, title and commercial checks.

Illustrative Checker Inputs

Solar Lease (High)£1,200/acre
Battery Lease (High)£40,000/acre
Live Grid CapacityDNO Check Required

*Broad illustrations only, not live quotes or offers. BESS rent is not reliably valued with a simple per-acre calculation.

What if my land isn't right for solar?

Don't write off your asset. Explore high-value alternatives.

Battery Storage (BESS)

High Lease Rates

Too small for a solar farm? Some battery-storage projects use compact sites, but live import/export capacity and the physical layout must be checked.

Check Battery Potential

Biodiversity (BNG)

New Market

Where long-term habitat creation may be a better fit, learn how off-site BNG works before making a 30-year commitment.

Read the BNG Landowner Guide

Landowner Guides

Grid Check & Landowner FAQs

Published UK market guidance often places solar farm lease rates around £850 to £1,200 per acre annually, but an actual offer can fall outside that range. Battery-storage rent is negotiated mainly around connection capacity and site specifics, not a simple per-acre formula. Treat the figures in this checker as illustrations, not a valuation or offer.
Solar farm leases commonly run for 25-40 years and may include extension rights. Rent-review and indexation terms vary, so have your own solicitor and land agent check the entire option and lease rather than relying on the headline rent.
Many utility-scale solar developers look for tens of acres, although requirements vary by project and location. Battery storage can use a much more compact site, but only a developer and the network operator can establish whether the grid position and physical site are workable.
Yes, solar farms over 1MW (approximately 6-8 acres) require planning permission. Since December 2025 the threshold for a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) in England is 100MW; solar farms under 100MW now go through the local planning authority, and only projects over 100MW follow the DCO process. See our full solar planning permission guide for details on timelines, agricultural land grades, and common refusal reasons.
Yes, many solar farms allow sheep grazing between panel rows. Some sites also incorporate wildflower meadows for biodiversity, which can count towards Biodiversity Net Gain requirements.
Yes. Since England's onshore wind planning ban was lifted in July 2024, developers are signing new wind options again, and some developers we work with ask for wind-suitable sites alongside solar and battery storage. Wind rent is quoted per turbine or per MW rather than per acre, with reported figures around £10,000/MW a year or 6-8% of project revenue. Fewer sites qualify than for solar (wind speed, distance from homes and planning constraints all bite), but the same grid-capacity question decides both: see our wind turbine land lease guide for rates and how the deal works.
Important factors include proximity and a practical route to suitable grid infrastructure, land size and shape, access, topography, flood and environmental constraints, agricultural land classification, planning policy, connection cost and the live network queue. A nearby substation is useful context but does not confirm capacity.
SolarGridCheck provides a free first-stage screen for UK landowners. It checks proximity to mapped grid infrastructure and shows published headroom indicators where available; it does not test live capacity. If the enquiry appears relevant, SolarGridCheck may make an introduction to a developer whose current requirements fit the site, without guaranteeing interest or a project.
Compare the whole proposal, not only the headline rent. Check the option payment, exclusivity period, rent-review mechanism, access and cable rights, assignment, tax, reinstatement and decommissioning terms. Benchmark the commercial structure and have an independent renewable-energy solicitor and, where appropriate, a land agent advise before you sign.