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Solar panels for farms in Hexham

Around Hexham 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.

803 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 402,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

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96 m phase 1
Drawing Hexham unit
Roof 96 x 62 m
Array 500 kWp
Yield 402,000 kWh/yr
Scale 1:500 / Rev A / NE46

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

Hexham / 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 Hexham generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1019 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 803 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is about 9 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 MW. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

1 roof mounted scheme is on record nearby. Roof arrays under a megawatt frequently never reach that database at all, so the real number of farm roofs generating around Hexham 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 Hexham roof makes, month by month

What a Hexham roof makes, month by month

Modelled output per kWp installed, for a shallow-pitched south-facing array. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2.

0255075100Jan: 18 kWh per kWpJanFeb: 34 kWh per kWpFebMar: 65 kWh per kWpMarApr: 95 kWh per kWpAprMay: 117 kWh per kWpMay117 kWh Jun: 109 kWh per kWpJunJul: 115 kWh per kWpJulAug: 97 kWh per kWpAugSep: 72 kWh per kWpSepOct: 43 kWh per kWpOctNov: 24 kWh per kWpNovDec: 14 kWh per kWpDec

May produces 8.4 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 402,000 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
MonthkWh per kWp500 kWp array
Jan189,000
Feb3417,000
Mar6532,500
Apr9547,500
May11758,500
Jun10954,500
Jul11557,500
Aug9748,500
Sep7236,000
Oct4321,500
Nov2412,000
Dec147,000
Source: EU PVGIS v5.2
FIG. 2 Hexham against the rest of Northumberland
  • Blyth848
  • Alnwick840
  • Berwick-upon-Tweed827
  • Cramlington825
  • Morpeth824
  • Hexham803

Hexham ranks 6 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

Grid connection through Northern Powergrid

Northern Powergrid operates the distribution network across Northumberland, 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 Northumberland the planning database records 38 solar schemes totalling 276 MW, of which 2 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

Solar already consented near NE46

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
Halfway House, Lincoln Hill - Solar Array Humshaugh Net Zero 1 MW Roof Awaiting Construction
Acomb Village, Acomb - Solar Panels Acomb Parish Council 0.99 MW Ground Awaiting Construction
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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.

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Questions about solar in Hexham

What would a 500 kWp array produce on a farm near Hexham?
Yes, and the figure matters more than the sunshine. At 803 kWh per kWp a year, a 500 kWp array on a Hexham holding models at around 402,000 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 Hexham?
Applications go to Northern Powergrid, who run the network across Northumberland. 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 Northumberland 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 Northumberland before the design is finalised.
Has anyone near NE46 already done this?
The planning database records 1 ground mounted and 1 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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