Solar panels for farms in the North of England

This guide covers Yorkshire, County Durham and Northumberland. The farming runs from arable on the Wolds, the Vale of York and the Northumberland coastal plain to dairy in the Dales and hill sheep in the Pennines and Cheviots.

A south-facing 30° roof near York generates about 960 kWh per kWp a year on PVGIS, and DESNZ's 2025/26 data put the mean installed price of a 10–50 kW system in the Yorkshire and the Humber region at £1,347 per kW. By the end of July 2026 DESNZ counted 1,291 MW in Yorkshire and the Humber and 505 MW in the North East — 8% of the UK's 22,992 MW between them.

Farming and electricity use across the North of England

Pig and poultry units on the Wolds and in the Vale of York have the steady ventilation and heating loads that suit solar best. Grain stores and dryers on the arable farms peak in late summer. Hill farms use less electricity and are often at the end of long rural lines, where the grid connection shapes what can be exported.

What a farm roof generates here

These figures come from PVGIS, the European Commission's photovoltaic model (version 5.3, SARAH3 satellite data), for 1 kWp of crystalline panels facing due south with 14% system losses. Steep, pitched roofs suit a 30° row; many modern sheds are closer to 10°.

On a 30° roof near York, PVGIS gives about 110 kWh per kWp in August and 88 in September, which lines up with harvest drying. Set against your own meter data, those monthly figures show how much of the output your farm would use itself — and self-use, not export, is where most of the value comes from.

What farm solar costs in the North of England

DESNZ publishes installed prices for systems registered with MCS. For 2025/26 the mean for 10–50 kW systems in the Yorkshire and the Humber region was £1,347 per kW across 789 installations. The North East mean was £1,234 per kW across 284 installations. That is above the Great Britain-wide median of £1,262 per kW for the same size band. The figures include VAT where it was charged and exclude batteries.

For the national picture by system size, see what agricultural solar panels cost.

Planning: rooftop solar is usually permitted development

In England, solar panels on a farm building's roof are normally permitted development under Class J of Part 14 of the General Permitted Development Order, with no capacity limit since December 2023. Panels must stay within 0.2 m of a pitched roof's surface and at least 1 m from the roof edge; systems above 50 kW need the council's prior approval on design and glare before work starts. Listed buildings and scheduled monuments are excluded. The North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland National Parks, and National Landscapes such as Nidderdale, the Howardian Hills, the North Pennines and the Northumberland Coast, are protected land under article 2(3) of the order, where Class J does not allow panels on a wall that fronts a highway. A small free-standing array of up to 9 m² may fall under Class K; anything bigger on the ground needs a planning application. The detail is in our guide to planning permission for farm solar.

Grid connection

Northern Powergrid serves most of this area through its Yorkshire and Northeast licence areas, but boundaries do not follow county lines at the western edge, so check by postcode. Check which operator serves your holding by postcode before budgeting for a connection. A system rated above 16 A per phase (3.68 kW on a single-phase supply) falls outside the simple G98 notification route and needs the operator's G99 approval before it is connected, and a large array on a rural line may be offered an export limit.

Grants and tax relief in the North of England

No England grant for farm solar is open as of September 2026. Round 2 of the Improving Farm Productivity grant — £15,000 to £100,000 for solar on farm-building roofs or irrigation reservoirs, never for ground-mounted arrays — has closed, and Defra has not announced another round. The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund has closed too. What still works is tax relief: see how capital allowances work for farm solar, and the full, dated picture of farm solar funding across all four UK nations.

Farm types common here

• Arable farms
• Pig farms
• Poultry farms
• Dairy farms
• Sheep farms

County guides

Questions about farm solar in the North of England