What would a 500 kWp array produce in Durham?

Yes, and the number matters more than the sunshine. At 823 kWh per kWp a year, a 500 kWp array on a Durham roof models at around 412,000 kWh. What changes the answer is how much of that you use on site rather than export. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Which network operator handles the connection in Durham?

Applications go to Northern Powergrid, who run the network across County Durham. They decide the export limit, and we handle the G99 paperwork alongside the array design.

What does County Durham require for rooftop solar?

Roof-mounted panels on a commercial building usually fall under permitted development, subject to the limits on projection above the roof plane and to the building not being listed or in a conservation area. We confirm the position with County Durham before the design is finalised.

Has anyone near DH1 already done this?

The planning database records 6 solar schemes in this postcode district, 6 of them roof mounted. That matters less as proof that it works and more as evidence of how the local network has been treating export applications. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

Solar panels for warehouses in Durham

A Durham warehouse roof sits idle through exactly the hours its occupier buys the most expensive electricity. We start with the covering and the structure, because a roof with five years left in it changes the answer entirely.

823 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 500 kWp array models at about 412,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Book a roof survey in Durham

Drawing Durham unit

Roof 96 x 62 m

Array 500 kWp

Yield 412,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:500 / Rev A / DH1

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

Durham / County Durham

North East industrial estate with solar arrays on several unit roofs — Industrial stock of the kind we survey across North East.

Logistics solar PV across County Durham

What a roof in Durham actually generates

Modelled irradiation at this latitude is 1048 kWh per square metre a year in the plane of a shallow-pitched roof, which works out at 823 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 towns we cover, so the case here leans harder on how much you use on site rather than on raw generation.

Distribution stock around Durham clusters on A1(M), A167 and A690, which is where the large single-let roofs are.

Surveys run across DH postcodes, DH1 outward.

County Durham is the planning authority for most sites here, and the built-up area holds a population of about 50,510, so the stock here runs to trade counters, light industrial terraces and the occasional larger shed (ONS Census 2021 built-up areas).

FIG. 1 What a Durham 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 412,000 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	34	17,000
Mar	67	33,500
Apr	98	49,000
May	119	59,500
Jun	112	56,000
Jul	117	58,500
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 Durham against the rest of County Durham

Peterlee845
Durham823
Chester-le-Street821
Newton Aycliffe819
Bishop Auckland817
Consett811

Durham ranks 2 of 6 towns we cover in County Durham on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 811 to 845, a spread of 34 kWh per kWp. Within County Durham 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 County Durham, 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 County Durham the planning database records 85 solar schemes totalling 1168 MW, of which 9 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).

Solar already consented near DH1

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
Faerch Durham Solar Panels	Engerera Renewables Limited	0.61 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Collingwood College, South Road - Solar Panels	Howarth Litchfield Partnership	n/a	Roof	Awaiting Construction
The Graham Sports Centre, Maiden Castle - Solar Pv Panels	Durham University	n/a	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Grey College, South Road - Solar Panels	Durham University	0.19 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
SG Petch, Broomside Park - Solar Panels	SG Petch	0.16 MW	Roof	Awaiting Construction
Josephine Butler College Main Building, South Road - Solar Panels	Durham University	n/a	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 Durham

What would a 500 kWp array produce in Durham?: Yes, and the number matters more than the sunshine. At 823 kWh per kWp a year, a 500 kWp array on a Durham roof models at around 412,000 kWh. What changes the answer is how much of that you use on site rather than export. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Which network operator handles the connection in Durham?: Applications go to Northern Powergrid, who run the network across County Durham. They decide the export limit, and we handle the G99 paperwork alongside the array design.
What does County Durham require for rooftop solar?: Roof-mounted panels on a commercial building usually fall under permitted development, subject to the limits on projection above the roof plane and to the building not being listed or in a conservation area. We confirm the position with County Durham before the design is finalised.
Has anyone near DH1 already done this?: The planning database records 6 solar schemes in this postcode district, 6 of them roof mounted. That matters less as proof that it works and more as evidence of how the local network has been treating export applications. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026.

Nearby

All County Durham locations