Dorset, England
Solar panels in Dorset, priced before anyone visits.
Twelve panels (6.36 kWp) here make about 6,910 kWh a year for £6,360 installed, designed around your roof on a free 30-minute video call.
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Sunlight in Dorset, in numbers
Dorset's best month is July, at 132 kWh per kWp; December manages 37.3. Over the year that comes to 1,086 kWh per kWp, 17% above the mean of our 85 county estimates.
Generation per kWp, month by month
Show the monthly figures
| Month | kWh/kWp |
|---|---|
| January | 41.7 |
| February | 58.5 |
| March | 95.4 |
| April | 124 |
| May | 131 |
| June | 131 |
| July | 132 |
| August | 118 |
| September | 99.4 |
| October | 67.6 |
| November | 49.8 |
| December | 37.3 |
Source: PVGIS v5.2 (European Commission JRC), SARAH3 database, 1 kWp, 14% system loss, 35 degree pitch, due south, checked September 2026.
Against Great Britain as a whole: Dorset makes 1,086 kWh per kWp a year, and the mean of our 85 county PVGIS estimates (our GB average) is 925, so Dorset is 17% above it.
How Dorset compares
Dorset ranks 2nd of the 85 counties we track for solar yield, which puts export income near the top of the country. On the 12p scenario a 12 panel system here sends about 5,970 kWh to the grid a year on top of the £247 it saves you directly, so oversizing the array is usually the right call.
Treat these as calibration rather than a quote. The calculator below opens on Dorset's own PVGIS yield and prices a 12 panel system at £6,360 installed before any battery; your free design call reworks every number for your roof.
The charger is in the installed price but left out of payback: charging savings depend on your mileage and tariff, which the design call models properly.
Your real roof and usage, worked through on a free 30-minute video call. Use the full form or leave three details below.
Price this for your roof
Three details. We call or text within one working day to book your free 30-minute design call, on video or by phone if you prefer.
Generation from PVGIS v5.2 (European Commission JRC, SARAH3), retrieved August 2026 for a representative point in Dorset (50.8034, -2.3346), assuming 1 kWp, 14% system loss, 35 degree pitch, due south. Import valued at 26.32p/kWh (Ofgem price cap average, Oct to Dec 2026); off-peak charging at 8.5p/kWh where used (a supplier's published off-peak rate, checked September 2026); export at the scenario you pick, from the dated tariff table. Prices are installed pricing, August 2026, standard installations; 530W LONGi panels at £1,000 per kWp. Estimates for illustration, not a quote: your free design call prices your actual roof.
SSEN and your Dorset connection
The centre of Dorset sits in Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks' Southern England licence area on NESO's boundary map, so SSEN is the network operator (DNO) a system here is registered with.
Most home systems stay within 3.68kW per phase of inverter output, which puts them on G98, a notification to SSEN within 28 days of switch-on. Panel count does not decide it; the inverter and any battery do.
Above that, G99 means applying before the work is booked. SSEN says it can take up to 45 working days to issue a quotation for a generation connection above 3.68kW per phase and up to 50kW.
Parts of Dorset are on a different network: some of its towns are served by NGED. Each town page names its own operator, worked out from that town's own location.
Sources: NESO DNO licence areas (3 May 2024); SSEN, micro-generation connections page, checked 25 September 2026. G98 vs G99, explained.
Heat pumps and EV charging in Dorset
A heat pump in Dorset
Heating demand peaks when solar is weakest. In Dorset, a 12-panel system makes about 240 kWh in December and 270 kWh in January, a fraction of its 840 kWh in July, which is why a heat pump here is costed on its tariff first.
In England, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump and £2,500 towards an air-to-air one, with £1,500 more until March 2027 for homes heated by oil or LPG with no mains gas (gov.uk, checked 28 September 2026).
Charging an EV in Dorset
Dorset's July output, about 840 kWh from 12 panels, is several times the 70 kWh or so a typical home uses in daylight that month on our calculator's settings. Daytime charging turns that surplus into miles.
Renters and flat owners with private off-street parking can get 75% off a chargepoint and its installation, up to £500 per socket, until 31 March 2027 (gov.uk, checked 28 September 2026). The calculator above adds a 7.4kW smart charger from £1,100 installed.
Installed prices, the same across Dorset
Every system is designed around your roof on the free call before anything is fitted.
What else is true of Dorset
Dorset's housing character varies sharply by area. Weymouth's seafront is a continuous run of Georgian and Regency terraces built between 1770 and 1855, many now converted into flats and guest houses, while inland and along the Purbeck coast, villages such as Corfe Castle, Worth Matravers and Swanage are built substantially from local Purbeck stone, a tradition that continues in construction today, so panel counts and roof form depend heavily on which part of the county a home sits in.
Dorset sits mostly in SSEN territory, except the far west of the county around Bridport and Lyme Regis, which falls under National Grid Electricity Distribution; the 45 working day industry standard for a generation quotation applies either way. Dorset Council, a unitary authority covering the county outside Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, is the planning authority, and Dorset National Landscape has already shaped one large scheme: the solar element of a 300MW proposal at Chickerell was withdrawn in 2023 after a third of the site fell inside the designation.
Dorset Council approved a large battery storage facility at East Chickerell Court Farm near Weymouth in July 2024, developed by Statera Energy: around 600 units housing 2.5 million lithium-ion cells and about 400MW of capacity, reported at the time as thought to be the second-biggest facility of its kind in the world. The council has also brought forward its own carbon neutrality target from 2040 to 2035, backed by more than 13,000 solar panels already installed across its estate.
Sources: bbc.co.uk · dorset-nl.org.uk
Dorset solar questions
How much electricity do solar panels make in Dorset?
About 6,910 kWh a year from 12 panels (6.36 kWp), on PVGIS satellite data for Dorset: 1,086 kWh per kWp, or 2.97 peak sun hours a day on average. July is the strongest month, at about 840 kWh.
Is solar more expensive in Dorset?
Prices on this site are the same everywhere: £1,000 per kWp installed, which puts a 12-panel system at £6,360 in Dorset, and a Duracell Dura16 installed with solar at £4,450 on top. The local part is generation, about 6,910 kWh a year here, which is what drives payback.
Which DNO covers Dorset, and what does it need from me?
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) covers the centre of Dorset. A home system of up to 3.68kW per phase is notified to SSEN within 28 days of commissioning under G98, and nothing waits on approval. Larger outputs need a G99 application before work starts. SSEN says it can take up to 45 working days to issue a quotation for a generation connection above 3.68kW per phase and up to 50kW.
What could I earn from exporting in Dorset?
On the 12p export scenario, a 12-panel system in Dorset sends about 5,970 kWh a year to the grid, worth around £716. The export rates table compares what each supplier pays.
How much solar does Dorset get in December?
December is the low point: about 240 kWh from a 12-panel system in Dorset, on PVGIS data, rising to 840 kWh in July. From November to February the same system makes about 1,190 kWh in total, which is why a battery charged off-peak does more of the work in winter.
Towns we cover in Dorset
15 Dorset towns have their own page, each with PVGIS figures, a network operator and a monthly curve for its own location.
Nearby in England
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Reading for Dorset homeowners
The same guidance we would talk through on your call, written down and sourced.
Solar panel types, and the four numbers that actually matter
TOPCon, HJT and back contact decoded, plus the four numbers worth comparing.
Read the guide →Whole home backup or partial backup? The runtime arithmetic
Whole home backup sounds obvious until you do the runtime maths. Here is how to choose the right tier.
Read the guide →Smart charge point regulations, explained
Why your charger arrives pre-set to charge overnight, and why it waits before it starts.
Read the guide →Are heat pumps worth it? The real 2026 numbers
Electricity costs 3.3x gas per kWh. A heat pump is about 3x as efficient. The numbers nearly cancel out.
Read the guide →Why tariff choice moves payback more than kit choice
Identical kit, five times the export income. The tariff decision worked through with August 2026 rates.
Read the guide →NAPIT, NICEIC and competent person schemes: who tells building control about your solar
Solar work is notifiable. A competent person scheme means your installation team notifies, not you.
Read the guide →Get my free quote
Takes about two minutes. We call or text within one working day to book your free 30-minute video design call at a time that suits you. We design it around your roof and your numbers, and our MCS-certified, fully insured installation teams install it.