Climate, Nature & Carbon
Renewable Energy & On-Farm Power
Solar on the roof usually beats anything else on the balance sheet.
On-farm renewable generation converts a cost into a revenue line and reduces exposure to energy price volatility. This module appraises solar, wind, hydro, heat and battery options against actual measured consumption, manages grid connection and planning, and monitors generation and self-consumption once installed.
- 12 capabilities
- 3 linked schemes
- Offline capable
- 12
- Capabilities in this module
- 5
- Interactive tools
- 3
- Linked support schemes
- 5
- Data integrations
- 5
- Measures reported
The ground reality
What is actually happening in renewable energy in the UK
Roof-mounted solar is generally the strongest farm energy play because it uses existing structures rather than productive land and matches daytime agricultural load. Grid connection capacity is the dominant constraint in many rural areas, and the economics depend far more on self-consumption than on export price.
Figures are as published at the time of writing. Farm policy and payment rates change frequently — verify against the primary source before relying on any number here.
In the field
Renewable energy, as it actually looks
Photography from working UK holdings alongside the interface that records it. Every frame below is a commissioned slot: the brief is stated until the photograph is taken.
Renewable Energy — a walkthrough
A working pass through renewable energy: entering the record once, and watching it appear in the evidence pack, the calendar and the scheme application without being typed again.
- 0:00 What the module is for
- 0:48 Entering the record
- 2:05 Where it appears next
- 3:20 The evidence pack
Photography slots state their own brief until the shot is commissioned, so the layout never shifts when real images arrive.
Capabilities
What Renewable Energy does
Every capability below is built on the same underlying record, so entering something once is enough for it to appear wherever it is needed.
Record and plan
- Energy consumption audit by building, process and time of day
- Solar generation modelling against roof orientation, pitch and shading
- Self-consumption modelling — the number that actually drives the return
Operate and monitor
- Battery storage sizing against the consumption and generation profile
- Wind, hydro and biomass option appraisal where site conditions support them
- Grid connection capacity enquiry and application management
Comply and evidence
- Planning permission and permitted development assessment
- Capital appraisal with payback, internal rate of return and sensitivity
- Power purchase and export arrangement comparison
Analyse and improve
- Generation and consumption monitoring once installed
- Heat generation and building heating decarbonisation options
- Electric machinery and vehicle charging load planning
Interactive
Tools you actually use, not screens you read
These are working interfaces inside the module — maps, calculators, planners and dashboards that respond to your own holding data.
Consumption profile chart by half hour across the year
Consumption profile chart by half hour across the year
ChartSolar generation and self-consumption model with payback output
Solar generation and self-consumption model with payback output
ToolBattery sizing tool against the measured profile
Battery sizing tool against the measured profile
ToolGrid capacity checker by connection point
Grid capacity checker by connection point
WizardInvestment comparison across every renewable option for the site
Investment comparison across every renewable option for the site
ToolEnd to end
How Renewable Energy runs, start to finish
The module is modelled as a state machine, so at any point the business knows exactly which stage every record is at and what has to happen next.
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1
Audit actual energy consumption
This is where the record starts, and getting it right here removes work at every later stage.
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2
Model generation options for the site
The platform prompts only for what this stage genuinely needs, and carries everything forward.
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3
Model self-consumption and battery benefit
Conflicts with scheme rules, regulatory windows and existing commitments are flagged here rather than discovered later.
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4
Check grid connection capacity
Capture works offline, so this stage is completed in the field rather than remembered afterwards.
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5
Assess planning requirements
Everything recorded at this point becomes evidence automatically, in every format that will later ask for it.
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6
Appraise capital and financing
This is the stage most businesses currently do twice, once for the operation and once for the paperwork.
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7
Install and commission
Results feed the whole-farm view, so the effect of this stage is visible against the rest of the business.
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8
Monitor generation and self-consumption against model
The cycle closes here, and what is learned is carried into next season's plan rather than lost.
Who uses it
Built around four real jobs, not one generic user
Each of these people needs something different from the same record. The module is designed so none of them has to work around the others.
Dairy farmer
High daytime electrical load
Needs self-consumption modelled properly, not a generic yield figure.
Grain store operator
Seasonal drying load
Needs generation matched to a highly seasonal demand.
Estate manager
Multiple buildings
Needs a portfolio view of connection capacity and opportunity.
Renewable installer
Quoting
Needs an accurate consumption profile to design against.
Schemes and funding
Support schemes this module works with
Agrivencia holds these schemes as data, so eligibility, payment rates, caps and windows update the day they change rather than at the next software release.
Improving Farm Productivity Grant
Support investment in robotics, automation and on-farm energy that raises productivity.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency EnglandFarming Transformation Fund
Fund larger capital projects that transform farm productivity, water management or value addition.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency EnglandRural England Prosperity Fund
Support rural business diversification and community infrastructure.
Local authoritiesRates, caps and windows change frequently and sometimes without notice. Always confirm against the current published scheme rules before applying.
Measurement
How you will know it is working
The module reports against these measures from the day it is switched on, so the value is demonstrable rather than assumed.
- 01Self-consumption percentage
- 02Energy cost per unit of output
- 03Payback period achieved
- 04Generation against model
- 05Grid export value
Try it now
Solar Self-Consumption and Payback
The return on farm solar is driven by self-consumption, not by generation. This works out both.
How this is calculated
Generation is system size multiplied by expected yield. Self-consumption is estimated from the daytime proportion of your load, capped at generation. Benefit is self-consumed energy valued at the import price plus exported energy at the export price.
Grid connection capacity is frequently the binding constraint in rural areas and should be confirmed before any capital commitment.
Payment schedule
What is due, and when it lands
Farm support arrives in instalments from several bodies on different calendars. Set against your own overdraft, the question is not how much but when — so the ledger is ordered by date, not by scheme.
| When | Payment | From | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June | Improving Farm Productivity Grant | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Expected |
| February | Farming Transformation Fund | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Agreed |
| February | Rural England Prosperity Fund | Local authorities | — | Eligible |
| June | Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Eligible |
| March | Countryside Stewardship | Defra / Natural England / Rural Payments Agency | — | Eligible |
| June | Environmental Land Management Capital Grants | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Eligible |
- — Agreed and scheduled
- — Claimed, awaiting payment
- — Eligible, unclaimed
What the statuses mean
- Agreed
- Under a signed agreement with a scheduled payment date.
- Expected
- Claimed and assessed; payment date per the published standard.
- Eligible
- Your holding appears to qualify but nothing is claimed yet.
Benchmarking
How this compares with businesses like yours
A cohort is only useful if it is genuinely comparable, so it is built from farm type, soil grade, region and scale rather than from whoever happens to have signed up. Your own figure is never shown to anyone else.
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Self-consumption percentage
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 36 Median 50 Upper quartile 71
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Energy cost per unit of output
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 39 Median 47 Upper quartile 73
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Payback period achieved
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 31 Median 54 Upper quartile 77
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Generation against model
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 29 Median 50 Upper quartile 85
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Grid export value
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 33 Median 59 Upper quartile 81
How the cohort is built
- Farm type
- Matched
- Soil grade
- Matched
- Region
- Matched
- Scale band
- Matched
- Cohort size
- Minimum 12 businesses, or no comparison is shown
Questions answered
What people ask about Renewable Energy
Does this replace the software I already use?
Not necessarily. Agrivencia integrates with authoritative sources and mainstream packages rather than insisting on replacing them. Where an incumbent does one job well, the platform connects to it; where the job spans several systems and nobody does it, the platform does it.
Will it work where I have no signal?
Yes. Field capture in Renewable Energy is offline first, storing locally and synchronising when a connection returns. Only around a fifth of UK farms report reliable signal across the whole holding, so this is a design assumption rather than a feature.
What happens when the scheme rules change?
Scheme rules are held as data rather than code, so a rate change, a cap change or a window closure is a content update that takes effect the same day. The platform also alerts you to what the change does to your own position.
Who owns the data I put in?
You do. The Farm Data Charter gives you a complete export in open formats at any time, and every instance of data sharing requires an explicit, revocable consent that is visible in your account.
Does it work if I farm across a border?
Yes, and that is one of the main reasons the platform exists. A business with land in more than one nation sees one reconciled view rather than two portals, with obligations and deadlines from both administrations in a single calendar.
Can my agronomist or land agent use it too?
Yes. You grant scoped, time-limited access per holding and per module, and you can revoke it in one click. Advisers never get a shared password or a blanket view.
What is the biggest limitation of this module?
Grid capacity refusal. Checked before capital commitment. We would rather state that plainly than let you discover it after signing.
Documents
Take it away with you
Everything here is printable and works on a kitchen table with no signal. Where a document asks for an email address, it says so on the button rather than after you press it.
Self-Consumption Is the Whole Return: Appraising On-Farm Renewables
The practical handbook for renewable energy: what the rules require, what the evidence has to show, and the mistakes that cost people money.
renewable energy — evidence checklist
Every document an audit or a claim asks for, in the order it is asked for, with the validity period of each.
renewable energy — record template
The record structure the module uses, as a spreadsheet, so a business not yet on the platform can start keeping it correctly today.
Data model reference
Entities, fields and integration points for renewable energy, for advisers and software partners.
See Renewable Energy running on your own holding
Thirty minutes, using your parcels, your schemes and your enterprises rather than a sample farm. No obligation and no sales script — if it does not fit your business we will say so.
- Free tier available
- No card required
- Your data stays yours