How much does a farm roof near Lewes generate?

The model gives 1028 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 514,000 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.

Is planning permission needed for panels on a farm building near Lewes?

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 Lewes before design sign-off.

Solar panels for farms in Lewes

Most holdings around Lewes already own the best generating site they will ever have, and it is the roof of the shed they built for something else. 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.

1028 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 514,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Lewes

Drawing Lewes unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 514,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / BN7

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

Lewes / Sussex

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

Farm building solar PV across Sussex

What a farm roof near Lewes generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1301 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 1028 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 16 percent above the mean across the areas we cover, which is as strong as UK farm rooftop gets outside the south coast.

No solar scheme is recorded in this postcode district in the planning database. On a farm that usually means nothing has been built above the reporting threshold rather than that nothing has been built, because a roof array on a shed rarely appears in it.

We survey holdings across the BN postcode area, starting from BN7.

Lewes 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 Lewes roof makes, month by month

Jun produces 6.0 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 500 kWp array here models at about 514,000 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	28	14,000
Feb	44	22,000
Mar	83	41,500
Apr	120	60,000
May	136	68,000
Jun	145	72,500
Jul	145	72,500
Aug	121	60,500
Sep	92	46,000
Oct	57	28,500
Nov	33	16,500
Dec	24	12,000

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Lewes against the rest of Sussex

Chichester1028
Lewes1028
Eastbourne1017
Brighton1015
Bognor Regis1000
Worthing999
Hastings989
Haywards Heath957
Horsham935

Lewes ranks 2 of 10 towns we cover in Sussex on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 915 to 1028, a spread of 113 kWh per kWp. On a 500 kWp array that is about 56,500 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

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 Lewes

How much does a farm roof near Lewes generate?: The model gives 1028 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 500 kWp comes out at about 514,000 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.
Is planning permission needed for panels on a farm building near Lewes?: 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 Lewes before design sign-off.

Nearby

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