Commercial building solar panels in Consett
For a landlord in Consett, a roof array is increasingly a question about the EPC rating as much as the electricity bill. Each survey records the usable area once edge strips, plant and walkways are taken out, the load the deck can take, and whether the lease lets the occupier alter the roof.
811 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 210 kWp array models at about 170,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Book a roof survey in ConsettIllustrative layout for a flat commercial roof of this size, with plant, shade and access kept clear. Your own figures come from the roof survey.
- 29,885
- people in the Consett built-up area (ONS Census 2021)
- 2,340
- office properties on the rating list in County Durham (VOA, March 2025)
- 4,190
- retail properties, 170 of them large-format (VOA, March 2025)
- 0
- named commercial rooftop schemes on the planning record nearby (REPD, Q1 2026)
Solar for offices and retail across County Durham
How much sun a Consett roof gets
Modelled irradiation here is 1,030 kWh per square metre a year on a low-tilt array, which works out at 811 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is about 8 percent below the mean across the towns we cover, so the case here rests more on daytime consumption than on raw generation.
The rating list for County Durham
The Valuation Office Agency's rating list puts 2,340 office and 4,190 retail properties in County Durham, covering about 396,000 and 805,000 square metres of floorspace respectively. By office stock the district sits in the top quarter of the 318 districts in England and Wales; by retail stock it sits in the top tenth of the 318 districts in England and Wales.
170 of those retail properties are superstores, large food stores, large shops or retail warehouses, together about 324,000 square metres. Single storey boxes of that size are where most commercial rooftop solar actually gets built, because the roof is big, flat or shallow, and uninterrupted.
The same list carries 990 hotel, leisure and assembly properties in the district. Leisure centres and hotels run seven days a week, which puts weekend generation to use that an office would export.
Source: Valuation Office Agency, Non-domestic rating: business floorspace, 31 March 2025 (published December 2025), counts and floorspace by special category code and local authority district, England and Wales.
The built-up area holds about 29,885 people, so the stock here runs to high street premises, a supermarket or two and the odd hotel (ONS Census 2021 built-up areas).
Surveys run across DH postcodes, DH8 outward.
Consett ranks 6 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.
All solar on record near DH8
Every scheme in this postcode district in the government's Renewable Energy Planning Database, Q1 2026, ground and roof mounted, commercial or not. None of them is ours. Together they are a fair guide to how the local network has been treating export applications.
| Scheme | Operator | Capacity | Mounting | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number One Industrial Estate - Solar PV system | Private Developer | 0.32 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
| Number One Industrial Estate - Solar Panels | Gardner Aerospace | 1.02 MW | Roof | Awaiting Construction |
| Highfield Energy Park | Exagen | 40 MW | Ground | Appeal Lodged |
| Derwentside Environmental Testing Servs Limited - Solar pv panels | Olympus Power | 0.38 MW | Roof | Revised |
| Derwentside Environmental Testing Servs Limited - Solar pv panels | Olympus Power | 0.38 MW | Roof | Operational |
Grid connection through Northern Powergrid
Connections around Consett are handled by Northern Powergrid, which sets the export limit for the site. Above 3.68 kW per phase the connection runs under G99, so the export limit is agreed in advance rather than assumed. Where the local network is constrained, an export-limited connection usually still makes the scheme work, because a commercial building uses most of what the roof makes during the working day.
Across County Durham the planning database records 85 solar schemes totalling 1168 MW, of which 9 are operational (REPD Q1 2026).
Send us the postcode
Tell us where the building is, roughly how big the roof is, and whether you own it or lease it. 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 Consett
- Is there enough sun in Consett for a commercial roof array?
- Modelled at 811 kWh per kWp a year for a low-tilt array at this latitude, a 210 kWp system comes out at roughly 170,000 kWh a year before shading. It needs about 1,390 m² of flat roof once the edge strip, plant and walkways are kept clear. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
- Is planning permission needed for panels on a Consett office or shop?
- Usually not a full application. In England, panels on the roof of a non-domestic building are permitted development under Class J of Part 14 of the General Permitted Development Order, with no capacity cap since December 2023. Above 50 kW, which covers most commercial arrays, you must first apply to County Durham for a determination on prior approval of the design and appearance, in particular glare on neighbouring land. On a flat roof panels may stand no more than 1 metre above the roof and must sit at least 1 metre from its edge, and listed buildings and scheduled monuments are excluded. See our planning permission guide for the detail.
- Will rooftop solar improve the EPC rating of a let building in Consett?
- It can. A non-domestic EPC is an asset rating, and on-site generation counts in the calculation, so an array usually lifts the score. Let property in England and Wales must be EPC E or better today. The government's interim response of 18 June 2026 proposes EPC B, where cost effective, from 2031 for let buildings over 1,000 m², and drops the EPC C step once planned for 2027. How far solar moves a particular building depends on its fabric and services, which is why the EPC assessor models it before anything is fitted.
- Does the grid around Consett have capacity for export?
- Northern Powergrid is the distribution network operator for County Durham. Arrays above 3.68 kW per phase connect under G99, and the application sets the export limit. It is part of the design work we arrange.