Solar panels for farms in Dorking
Around Dorking 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.
916 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 458,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Book a roof survey in DorkingIllustrative layout for a unit of this size. Your own figures come from the roof survey.
Agricultural rooftop solar across Surrey
What a farm roof near Dorking generates
Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1174 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 916 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 3 percent above the mean across the areas we cover, which is as strong as UK farm rooftop gets outside the south coast.
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 Dorking is higher than the record shows.
Most of the buildings we look at here sit in the RH postcode area.
Mole Valley 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.
Dorking ranks 2 of 10 towns we cover in Surrey on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 900 to 916, a spread of 16 kWh per kWp. Within Surrey that difference is small enough to ignore: where the building sits is not what decides this scheme, your consumption pattern is.
Solar already consented near RH4
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucher Municipal, Curtis Road - Solar Panels | Bucher Municipal | 0.2 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
Grid connection through UK Power Networks
UK Power Networks operates the distribution network across Surrey, 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 Surrey the planning database records 74 solar schemes totalling 182 MW, of which 6 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).
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 Dorking
- How much does a farm roof near Dorking generate?
- The model gives 916 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 458,000 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 Dorking take the export?
- UK Power Networks is the distribution network operator for Surrey. 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 Dorking?
- 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 Mole Valley before design sign-off.