Does solar actually make sense in Devon?
Devon gets enough daylight for solar to generate meaningful electricity across the year, but a county-wide sunshine figure won’t tell you whether your own roof is a good investment. Roof direction, shading, system size, your household’s usage and project cost all matter more to the final result.
Devon generates around 20% more than average.
How much a solar system generates depends heavily on the amount of sunlight a location receives, which varies across the UK. That’s reflected in a location’s specific yield: the electricity a system actually generates per kWp of installed capacity over a year. Devon typically sees a specific yield of around 1,060 kWh/kWp per year, roughly 20% above the UK-wide average of 884 kWh/kWp.
In practice, that means a solar system in Devon will generally produce more electricity, and pay itself back faster, than the same system installed further north or inland. Your exact figures depend on roof orientation, pitch and shading, which is why every quote starts with a proper site survey rather than a desktop estimate.
Devon’s annual solar yield. UK-wide average is roughly 884 kWh/kWp.
Dartmoor National Park and your roof.
Most homes in Devon fall under permitted development for solar panels, meaning no planning application is needed, provided panels don’t protrude more than 200mm from the roof plane, sit above the roof ridge, or the property is listed. This applies inside Dartmoor National Park too for ordinary residential roof-mount installations.
A handful of situations still need permission, though:
Listed buildings
Need listed building consent regardless, permitted development rights don’t apply.
Farms on Dartmoor
Agricultural buildings within Dartmoor National Park don’t have permitted development rights for solar and need full planning permission.
Ground-mounted systems
Permission is needed if panels are over 4m tall, larger than 9m², or in a conservation area.
We check all of this as part of your survey, so you’ll know exactly where your property stands before any work begins. You can also read Dartmoor National Park Authority’s own planning guidance.
See your roof’s solar potential.
No cost, no obligation, and we check the planning position for your property as standard.
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