Solar panels for farms in Great Yarmouth
Around Great Yarmouth the constraint is rarely the roof. It is the incoming supply and what the network will accept back. What decides a farm scheme here is the state of the roof sheets and the incoming supply, which is why the survey looks at both before anyone sizes an array.
920 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 460,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Book a roof survey in Great YarmouthIllustrative layout for a unit of this size. Your own figures come from the roof survey.
Agricultural rooftop solar across Norfolk
What a farm roof near Great Yarmouth generates
Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1176 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 920 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 4 percent above the mean across the areas we cover, which is as strong as UK farm rooftop gets outside the south coast.
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 Great Yarmouth is higher than the record shows.
Most of the buildings we look at here sit in the NR postcode area.
Great Yarmouth 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.
Great Yarmouth ranks 2 of 8 towns we cover in Norfolk on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 897 to 923, a spread of 26 kWh per kWp. Within Norfolk that difference is small enough to ignore: where the building sits is not what decides this scheme, your consumption pattern is.
Grid connection through UK Power Networks
UK Power Networks operates the distribution network across Norfolk, 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 Norfolk the planning database records 179 solar schemes totalling 1490 MW, of which 43 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).
Solar already consented near NR31
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hopton Holiday Village, Warren Road - Solar Panels | Bourne Leisure Limited | 0.24 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
| James Paget University Hospital - Design And Installation Of PV Panels | James Paget University Hospital Trust | n/a | Roof | Under Construction |
| Proserv, Gawain Road - Solar Panels | Spartek ECS Limited | 0.25 MW | Roof | Application Submitted |
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 Great Yarmouth
- What would a 500 kWp array produce on a farm near Great Yarmouth?
- Yes, and the figure matters more than the sunshine. At 920 kWh per kWp a year, a 500 kWp array on a Great Yarmouth holding models at around 460,000 kWh. What changes the answer is how much of that the farm uses itself. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
- Which network operator handles the connection around Great Yarmouth?
- Applications go to UK Power Networks, who run the network across Norfolk. On a farm the incoming supply matters as much as their answer: a single phase supply caps what can be installed whatever the roof would take.
- What does Great Yarmouth require for solar on an agricultural building?
- Roof-mounted panels on an agricultural building often fall under permitted development, subject to limits on projection above the roof plane and to the building not being listed or in a conservation area or National Park. We confirm the position with Great Yarmouth before the design is finalised.
- Has anyone near NR31 already done this?
- The planning database records 0 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.