Solar power plant in England, United Kingdom. Approximate location 50.0465, -5.218.
SolarEnglandUnited Kingdom
Goonhilly Solar is a 4 MW solar power plant in England, United Kingdom. It is operated by Wardell Armstrong International Ltd. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 1.9k homes (estimated). It ranks #1848 of 2,860 United Kingdom power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, solar supplies about 6.6% of United Kingdom's electricity; the national grid averages 217 gCO₂/kWh (64.4% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GBR0001543.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000825628); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 4 MW, Goonhilly Solar is below the median solar plant in United Kingdom (5 MW). Solar PV converts sunlight directly into electricity with no moving parts or fuel; output varies by time of day and weather, so it pairs with storage or flexible backup.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Wardell Armstrong International Ltd.
This solar plant converts sunlight directly into electricity with photovoltaic panels. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 50.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 9% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 54/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Solar PV loses ~0.35%/°C above 25°C cell temperature — roughly 0.0% at warm-season highs here (estimate).
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with marine corrosion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #845 largest solar power plant of 1170 in United Kingdom by capacity.
United Kingdom has 1170 solar power plants in this dataset, together about 8,703 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 50.0465, -5.218 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Goonhilly Solar is a 4 MW source-record solar power plant in England, United Kingdom.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 1,914 homes (estimated).
Goonhilly Solar is operated by Wardell Armstrong International Ltd.
