Is there enough sun around Wombwell to make this work?

Modelled at 838 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 419,000 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 Wombwell?

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 Barnsley?

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 Barnsley either way.

Has anyone near S73 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 Wombwell

A Wombwell farm buys electricity at the worst rate of the day in exactly the hours its roof could be generating. 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.

838 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 419,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Wombwell

Drawing Wombwell unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 419,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / S73

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

Wombwell / South Yorkshire

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

Agricultural rooftop solar across South Yorkshire

What a farm roof near Wombwell generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1071 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 838 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is about 5 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 0.4 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 Wombwell is higher than the record shows.

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

Barnsley 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 Wombwell roof makes, month by month

Jul produces 6.5 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 419,000 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	21	10,500
Feb	37	18,500
Mar	70	35,000
Apr	97	48,500
May	116	58,000
Jun	112	56,000
Jul	117	58,500
Aug	102	51,000
Sep	76	38,000
Oct	46	23,000
Nov	26	13,000
Dec	18	9,000

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Wombwell against the rest of South Yorkshire

Doncaster856
Mexborough847
Barnsley839
Wombwell838
Rotherham835
Sheffield830

Wombwell ranks 4 of 6 towns we cover in South Yorkshire on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 830 to 856, a spread of 26 kWh per kWp. Within South Yorkshire 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

Grid connection through Northern Powergrid

Northern Powergrid operates the distribution network across South 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 South Yorkshire the planning database records 93 solar schemes totalling 1624 MW, of which 8 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

Solar already consented near S73

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
Naylor Industries, Station Road Industrial Estate - Solar Panels	Naylor Specialist Plastics	0.38 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Yorkshire Water Services, Ings Road - Solar Panel Array	Downing Renewable Developments	0.37 MW	Ground	Awaiting Construction
Morrisons Supermarkets, Corton Wood - Solar Panels	WM Morrisons Supermarkets Plc Head Office	0.38 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Cranswick Convenience Foods, Valley Park Industrial Estate - Solar Panels	Cranswick Convenience Foods	2.24 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction

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 Wombwell

Is there enough sun around Wombwell to make this work?: Modelled at 838 kWh per kWp a year for a shallow-pitched roof at this latitude, which puts a 500 kWp array at roughly 419,000 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 Wombwell?: 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 Barnsley?: 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 Barnsley either way.
Has anyone near S73 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 South Yorkshire locations