01
Your distribution network operator is National Grid Electricity Distribution
Leicester sits in the East Midlands licence area of National Grid Electricity Distribution, the same network as Nottingham, formerly trading as Western Power Distribution.
All commercial scale arrays go through a G99 application and require approval before energisation. On multi occupied industrial buildings the first question is often whose supply the array is connecting to, since a building with several sub tenants may have several meters.
That question is worth settling before an application, because connecting to the wrong supply means the generation offsets someone else's bill. It sounds obvious and it happens.
02
Food production and refrigeration load
Food manufacturing and cold storage produce the most solar friendly load profile there is: refrigeration and chilling run continuously, are largely weather independent and consume heavily through the middle of the day when generation peaks.
Because of that, self consumption on a food site is typically very high, and the array is limited by roof area rather than by demand. The units generated go straight against a full import rate.
Refrigeration is also mildly flexible. Set point and defrost scheduling can be shifted within safe limits, which improves the match further and, on a half hourly settled site, can reduce charges in expensive time bands. That belongs in an energy audit rather than in a panel quotation.
03
Textiles, light manufacturing and subdivided buildings
The textile and light manufacturing stock includes a great deal of older, low rise, subdivided property, sometimes with multiple occupiers behind a single frontage and roofs that have been extended, patched and re covered over decades.
The practical consequences are real. Roof ownership and tenancy may not align with the electrical supply, structural information may not exist, and the covering may be a patchwork of different ages and materials.
None of this prevents a project, but it means a physical survey rather than a satellite estimate, and it means the lease and the metering are examined before the panels are specified.
04
Hygiene, access and working around production
On a food site the installation constraints come from hygiene and continuity rather than from engineering. Roof works above production areas need control of debris, drilling and contamination, and in some cases production must be stopped or the area sheeted.
Electrical connection work requires a planned shutdown, which on a continuous process site is the scarcest resource in the project. Scheduling that is usually the critical path, not the panel installation.
Any contractor working on a food production site should already understand this. It is one of the specific things the installer vetting is intended to check.
05
How NRG Solar works in Leicester
We operate nationally through a vetted installer network with no Leicester premises. Our job is to assess the site honestly, model it against your consumption and put one appropriate installer in front of you.
On the older subdivided stock that assessment often finds problems before it finds opportunities, and we would rather tell you that the tenancy or the roof condition needs resolving first than sell you a design that cannot be built.
The assessment is free and there is no obligation.
Network operator for Leicester
Connections in this area are approved by National Grid Electricity Distribution, licence area East Midlands. Your distribution network operator is not your electricity supplier, and a commercial array needs their approval under the G99 process before it can be energised.
NRG Solar has no office in Leicester. We operate nationally and match you with a vetted installer working in the area, which is how the local knowledge above reaches your roof.
