How much does a farm roof near Chester-le-Street generate?

The model gives 821 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 411,000 kWh a year before shading losses. A building of roughly 1,485 sqm of clear roof carries it. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Will the rural network around Chester-le-Street take the export?

Northern Powergrid is the distribution network operator for County Durham. Anything above 3.68 kW per phase connects under G99, and the application sets the export limit. Rural supplies are often the binding constraint, so we ask the question before an array is sized.

Is planning permission needed for panels on a farm building near Chester-le-Street?

Usually permitted development covers a roof array. Ground mounted arrays are a different question and are far more likely to need a full application. We put both to County Durham before design sign-off.

Has anyone near DH3 already done this?

The planning database records 1 ground mounted and 3 roof mounted solar schemes in this postcode district. That matters less as proof it works and more as evidence of how the local network has treated export applications. Roof arrays under a megawatt often never appear in the database, so the real figure is higher. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

Solar panels for farms in Chester-le-Street

A Chester-le-Street farm buys electricity at the worst rate of the day in exactly the hours its roof could be generating. Each survey records the sheet type and condition, the usable area once rooflights and vents come out, and whether the supply is single or three phase.

821 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 411,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Chester-le-Street

Drawing Chester-le-Street unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 411,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / DH3

Illustrative layout for a unit of this size. Your own figures come from the roof survey.

Chester-le-Street / County Durham

North East farmland with solar arrays on farm buildings — Industrial stock of the kind we survey across North East.

Farm building solar PV across County Durham

What a farm roof near Chester-le-Street generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1046 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 821 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is about 7 percent below the mean across the areas we cover, so the case here rests on using the output on the holding rather than exporting it.

The planning record lists 1 ground mounted solar scheme in this postcode district, which is a fair guide to how the local network has treated field arrays. The typical consented scheme in this district is about 1.9 MW. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

3 roof mounted schemes are on record nearby. Roof arrays under a megawatt frequently never reach that database at all, so the real number of farm roofs generating around Chester-le-Street is higher than the record shows.

We survey holdings across the DH postcode area, starting from DH3.

County Durham is the planning authority for most holdings here, and it is the authority that decides whether an array on an agricultural building falls inside permitted development.

FIG. 1 What a Chester-le-Street roof makes, month by month

May produces 7.9 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 411,000 kWh across the year, but it arrives unevenly, which is why we size against your summer daytime load and then look at whether storage is worth adding for the shoulder months.

Monthly figures as a table

Month	kWh per kWp	500 kWp array
Jan	19	9,500
Feb	34	17,000
Mar	67	33,500
Apr	98	49,000
May	119	59,500
Jun	112	56,000
Jul	117	58,500
Aug	98	49,000
Sep	75	37,500
Oct	44	22,000
Nov	24	12,000
Dec	15	7,500

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Chester-le-Street against the rest of County Durham

Peterlee845
Durham823
Chester-le-Street821
Newton Aycliffe819
Bishop Auckland817
Consett811

Chester-le-Street ranks 3 of 6 towns we cover in County Durham on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 811 to 845, a spread of 34 kWh per kWp. Within County Durham that difference is small enough to ignore: where the building sits is not what decides this scheme, your consumption pattern is.

Bars are zero based, so length is proportional to the figure. Where a county is flat, that is the finding: location is not the lever, consumption is. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, modelled per town

Solar already consented near DH3

From the government's Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026. These are the schemes on record in this postcode district, which is a fair guide to how the local network has been treating export applications.

Scheme	Operator	Capacity	Mounting	Status
Lumley Water Treatment Works - Solar Panels	Northumbrian Water Limited	1.9 MW	Ground	Operational
Komatsu UK, Durham Road - Solar Panels	Komatsu UK Limited	1.76 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Birtley Building Products - Solar PV Array	SNRG	0.58 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Chester-Le-Street Community Hospital - Solar Panels	County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust	0.16 MW	Roof	Application Submitted

Grid connection through Northern Powergrid

Northern Powergrid operates the distribution network across County Durham, so the export application goes to them. Anything larger than 3.68 kW per phase falls under G99, which means an application before commissioning rather than a notification afterwards. A constrained network is not the end of a scheme. Capping export costs little when the building already absorbs most of what the roof produces.

Across County Durham the planning database records 85 solar schemes totalling 1168 MW, of which 9 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

Book the survey

Send us the postcode

Tell us where the unit is and roughly how big the roof is. We come back with what it can carry, what it would generate against your consumption, and the three ways to pay for it.

Lenzie Consulting Ltd arranges the survey and passes your details to our MCS-certified installation partner so they can quote.

Questions about solar in Chester-le-Street

How much does a farm roof near Chester-le-Street generate?: The model gives 821 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 411,000 kWh a year before shading losses. A building of roughly 1,485 sqm of clear roof carries it. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Will the rural network around Chester-le-Street take the export?: Northern Powergrid is the distribution network operator for County Durham. Anything above 3.68 kW per phase connects under G99, and the application sets the export limit. Rural supplies are often the binding constraint, so we ask the question before an array is sized.
Is planning permission needed for panels on a farm building near Chester-le-Street?: Usually permitted development covers a roof array. Ground mounted arrays are a different question and are far more likely to need a full application. We put both to County Durham before design sign-off.
Has anyone near DH3 already done this?: The planning database records 1 ground mounted and 3 roof mounted solar schemes in this postcode district. That matters less as proof it works and more as evidence of how the local network has treated export applications. Roof arrays under a megawatt often never appear in the database, so the real figure is higher. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

Nearby

All County Durham locations