For many UK businesses, interest in solar PV tends to peak as the days get longer and summer approaches. It’s an understandable instinct, more sunshine feels like the right moment to act. In practice, however, the most successful commercial solar projects are rarely initiated in spring or summer. They are prepared well in advance. Quarter One is, counter-intuitively, the most effective time of year to lay the groundwork for solar PV, even though it delivers the lowest levels of generation.
That is because solar projects are not constrained by irradiance, but by process. Equipment availability, installer capacity, grid approvals and commercial sign-off all take time. Businesses that treat Q1 as a planning and preparation window place themselves in a far stronger position to install and begin generating during the peak summer period, when solar delivers its greatest operational and financial value.
One of the earliest constraints businesses encounter is equipment lead time. While global supply chains have stabilised compared to recent years, commercial-scale projects still depend on advance procurement—particularly for inverters, mounting systems and grid-compliant protection equipment. During Q1, installers and manufacturers are allocating stock for the main build season. Early engagement provides access to a broader range of tier-one components and reduces the risk of substitutions or design compromises later in the year. By contrast, organisations that wait until late spring often find that availability has tightened and delivery schedules have slipped, pushing commissioning into periods of lower generation.
Installer scheduling follows a similar pattern. The most reputable commercial solar contractors do not operate on a reactive basis; their pipelines are built months ahead. Q1 is typically when installer diaries still have flexibility, allowing time for site surveys, detailed engineering design and meaningful commercial negotiation. Once the summer demand surge arrives, availability narrows and pricing pressure increases. Engaging early allows businesses to select the right delivery partner rather than simply accepting whoever has capacity at short notice.
For many sites, however, the most critical factor is neither panels nor installers, but the grid. Grid connection agreements and Distribution Network Operator (DNO) approvals are often the longest and least predictable elements of a solar project. Export capacity assessments, budget estimates, technical offers, and acceptance periods all require lead time, and these processes cannot be compressed simply because a business wants to install quickly. Q1 is a comparatively quieter period for DNOs, meaning applications are more likely to be processed promptly. Leaving grid engagement until later in the year significantly increases the risk of missing the summer generation window altogether.
Taken together, these factors make Q1 the ideal period to complete the administrative and commercial groundwork that underpins a successful solar project. Feasibility assessments, structural and electrical surveys, landlord or planning approvals, grid applications, and contract negotiations are all best handled during what might be considered the “fallow” months for solar output. By the time irradiance rises, the project should already be moving into installation rather than still navigating approvals.
Crucially, effective preparation is not just technical—it is commercial. One of the most common weaknesses in solar decision-making is reliance on simplistic financial models that assume a flat electricity price, apply a generic inflation rate, and ignore how power is actually bought. In reality, most medium and large UK businesses operate with layered procurement strategies, forward hedging, known contract end dates and varying exposure to wholesale markets. Solar interacts with all of these elements and its value cannot be accurately assessed in isolation.
This is where more sophisticated analysis becomes essential. True Group has developed a quote validation and assessment tool that evaluates solar PV projects using a business’s real procurement data rather than generic assumptions. By overlaying current contracts, future renewal points, hedging strategies and forward wholesale power price curves, the tool produces a site-specific view of how solar generation actually offsets cost and risk. The result is a business case grounded in reality, not headline pence-per-kilowatt-hour savings.
Alongside this commercial validation, the same process provides access to trusted solar installers whose assumptions, performance forecasts and pricing have been independently reviewed. This dual focus ensures that projects are technically credible and commercially robust, reducing the risk of underperformance or disappointment once systems are live.
The strongest solar PV projects are rarely rushed. They are planned deliberately, aligned with procurement strategy and executed at the right moment. By using Q1 to progress grid engagement, secure installers, validate economics and complete the necessary administration, businesses can ensure their solar arrays are commissioned in time to capture peak summer generation. In solar PV, it is winter preparation that unlocks summer returns.
Book a call to talk to our team about using Q1 to your advantage.