How much does a farm roof near Cramlington generate?

The model gives 825 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 413,000 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 Cramlington take the export?

Northern Powergrid is the distribution network operator for Northumberland. 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 Cramlington?

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 Northumberland before design sign-off.

Has anyone near NE23 already done this?

The planning database records 1 ground mounted and 5 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 Cramlington

The case for solar on a Cramlington holding turns on how much of the output the farm uses itself, not on how much the roof makes. 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.

825 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 413,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

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Drawing Cramlington unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 413,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / NE23

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

Cramlington / Northumberland

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

Agricultural rooftop solar across Northumberland

What a farm roof near Cramlington generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1051 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 825 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 5.8 MW. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

5 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 Cramlington is higher than the record shows.

Most of the buildings we look at here sit in the NE postcode area.

Northumberland 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 Cramlington 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 413,000 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	35	17,500
Mar	67	33,500
Apr	98	49,000
May	119	59,500
Jun	113	56,500
Jul	116	58,000
Aug	99	49,500
Sep	75	37,500
Oct	44	22,000
Nov	24	12,000
Dec	15	7,500

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Cramlington against the rest of Northumberland

Blyth848
Alnwick840
Berwick-upon-Tweed827
Cramlington825
Morpeth824
Hexham803

Cramlington ranks 4 of 6 towns we cover in Northumberland on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 803 to 848, a spread of 45 kWh per kWp. On a 500 kWp array that is about 22,500 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 NE23

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
Advanced Composite Engineering, Colbourne Avenue - Solar Panels	Advanced Composite Engineering	0.22 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Browns 2000, Colbourne Avenue - Solar Panels	Private Developer	0.99 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
American Air Filter, Bassington Lane - Solar Panels	American Air Filters	0.6 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Renolit Cramlington Limited, Station Road - Solar Panels	Renolit Cramlington Limited	1 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Moorland Way - Solar Panels	George Smith Limited	0.18 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Seghill Household Waste Recovery Centre -Solar Panels	Suez Recycling and Recovery UK Limited	5.8 MW	Ground	Application Submitted

Grid connection through Northern Powergrid

Northern Powergrid is the network operator here, and their answer on export capacity shapes the design. Any commercial array above 3.68 kW per phase connects under G99 rather than G98, and the application fixes what you are allowed to push back onto the network. If the local network is tight, limiting export rarely breaks the case here: most of the generation is consumed on site while the building is working.

Across Northumberland the planning database records 38 solar schemes totalling 276 MW, of which 2 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 Cramlington

How much does a farm roof near Cramlington generate?: The model gives 825 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 413,000 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 Cramlington take the export?: Northern Powergrid is the distribution network operator for Northumberland. 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 Cramlington?: 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 Northumberland before design sign-off.
Has anyone near NE23 already done this?: The planning database records 1 ground mounted and 5 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.

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