Is there enough sun around Northallerton to make this work?

Modelled at 817 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 409,000 kWh a year before shading. That array needs about 1,485 sqm of clear roof once ridge vents and walkways are allowed for. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Who do we apply to for export near Northallerton?

Only Northern Powergrid can answer it for your connection, and on rural feeders the answer varies farm to farm. An export-limited offer usually still works, because a holding with grain drying, cooling or ventilation uses most of what it makes.

Do we need planning permission in Hambleton?

In most cases no, because panels on the roof of an agricultural building usually sit within permitted development. The exceptions are listed buildings, conservation areas, protected landscapes and arrays that stand proud of the roof. We check with Hambleton either way.

Has anyone near DL6 already done this?

The planning database records 2 ground mounted and 2 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 Northallerton

Around Northallerton the constraint is rarely the roof. It is the incoming supply and what the network will accept back. 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.

817 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 409,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Northallerton

Drawing Northallerton unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 409,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / DL6

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

Northallerton / North Yorkshire

Yorkshire farmland below moorland with rooftop solar on farm buildings — Industrial stock of the kind we survey across Yorkshire and The Humber.

Farm building solar PV across North Yorkshire

What a farm roof near Northallerton generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1045 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 817 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is about 8 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 2 ground mounted solar schemes 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 29.4 MW, with the largest at 30.81 MW. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

2 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 Northallerton is higher than the record shows.

We survey holdings across the DL postcode area, starting from DL6.

Hambleton 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 Northallerton 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 409,000 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	33	16,500
Mar	66	33,000
Apr	99	49,500
May	118	59,000
Jun	112	56,000
Jul	117	58,500
Aug	99	49,500
Sep	73	36,500
Oct	43	21,500
Nov	24	12,000
Dec	15	7,500

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Northallerton against the rest of North Yorkshire

Scarborough859
Whitby849
York840
Ripon834
Knaresborough833
Harrogate831
Northallerton817
Skipton799

Northallerton ranks 7 of 8 towns we cover in North Yorkshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 799 to 859, a spread of 60 kWh per kWp. On a 500 kWp array that is about 30,000 kWh a year between the strongest and weakest town in the county.

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 DL6

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
Northallerton	Big 60 Million	28 MW	Ground	Abandoned
Darlington Road - Solar Array	North Yorkshire County Council	0.4 MW	Roof	Application Withdrawn
East Cowton Solar Farm	Green Nation Solar Energy	30.81 MW	Ground	Application Submitted
Friarage Hospital - Solar Panels	South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust	0.42 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction

Grid connection through Northern Powergrid

Northern Powergrid operates the distribution network across North Yorkshire, 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 North Yorkshire the planning database records 151 solar schemes totalling 1723 MW, of which 18 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 Northallerton

Is there enough sun around Northallerton to make this work?: Modelled at 817 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 409,000 kWh a year before shading. That array needs about 1,485 sqm of clear roof once ridge vents and walkways are allowed for. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Who do we apply to for export near Northallerton?: Only Northern Powergrid can answer it for your connection, and on rural feeders the answer varies farm to farm. An export-limited offer usually still works, because a holding with grain drying, cooling or ventilation uses most of what it makes.
Do we need planning permission in Hambleton?: In most cases no, because panels on the roof of an agricultural building usually sit within permitted development. The exceptions are listed buildings, conservation areas, protected landscapes and arrays that stand proud of the roof. We check with Hambleton either way.
Has anyone near DL6 already done this?: The planning database records 2 ground mounted and 2 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 North Yorkshire locations