Durham
Solar panels in Houghton-le-Spring, with the numbers shown.
Twelve panels (6.36 kWp) here make about 6,060 kWh a year for £6,360 installed, designed around your roof on a free 30-minute video call.
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Houghton-le-Spring's solar year
From 28.3 kWh per kWp in December to 124 in May: a roof in Houghton-le-Spring makes 4.4 times as much in its best month as in its darkest, and 953 kWh per kWp across the year.
Generation per kWp, month by month
Show the monthly figures
| Month | kWh/kWp |
|---|---|
| January | 31.6 |
| February | 48.1 |
| March | 82.8 |
| April | 110 |
| May | 124 |
| June | 114 |
| July | 119 |
| August | 107 |
| September | 89 |
| October | 59.8 |
| November | 40.4 |
| December | 28.3 |
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: Houghton-le-Spring makes 953 kWh per kWp a year, and the mean of our 85 county PVGIS estimates (our GB average) is 925, so Houghton-le-Spring is 3% above it.
How Houghton-le-Spring compares
Small towns rarely get published solar figures, so here are the numbers for Houghton-le-Spring. It is one of 35 Durham towns we track, and it ranks 10th of 35 for solar yield, a town of 13,095 people in the House of Commons Library settlement data. PVGIS gives its roofs 953 kWh per kWp a year, 2.61 peak sun hours a day averaged across the seasons, and the standard 12 panel model turns that into £862 of year one benefit, £247 of it from your own generation and £615 from export at 12p.
These are starting numbers, not a quote. The calculator below opens on Houghton-le-Spring's own PVGIS figure; change the panels, the battery or the export rate and it reruns. The design call replaces every assumption with your roof and your bills.
Sunderland is the planning authority covering Houghton-le-Spring, which the House of Commons Library classes as a small town.
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.
Modelled for Houghton-le-Spring at 54.84109, -1.47405 on PVGIS data, with imports valued at 26.32p/kWh and solar at £1,000 per kWp installed. Sources and assumptions: help page.
Who runs the grid in Houghton-le-Spring
Northern Powergrid owns and runs the local electricity network in Houghton-le-Spring, as part of its North East England licence area.
What decides the paperwork is the inverter and battery output, not the number of panels. Up to 3.68kW per phase, a system follows G98: Northern Powergrid is notified within 28 days of commissioning and nothing has to be approved first.
Anything bigger is a G99 case and is applied for first. Northern Powergrid publishes a guaranteed standard of 45 working days to quote for a low voltage generation connection.
Sources: NESO DNO licence areas (3 May 2024); Northern Powergrid, generation connections page, checked 25 September 2026. G98 vs G99, explained.
Adding a heat pump or an EV charger in Houghton-le-Spring
A heat pump in Houghton-le-Spring
A heat pump does most of its work from November to February. Over those four months, 12 panels in Houghton-le-Spring make about 940 kWh, against 2,950 kWh from May to August, so winter heating runs mostly on grid electricity and the tariff matters more than the roof.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, open in England and Wales, takes £7,500 off an air source or ground source heat pump, or £2,500 off an air-to-air unit. Homes on oil or LPG with no mains gas get £1,500 more until March 2027 (gov.uk, checked 28 September 2026).
Charging an EV in Houghton-le-Spring
From April to September, 69% of a Houghton-le-Spring roof's yearly output arrives, peaking at about 790 kWh in May on 12 panels. A car parked at home in daylight can soak up what the house, at around 70 kWh of daytime use that month, cannot.
If you rent, or own a flat, and have private off-street parking, the government chargepoint grant covers 75% of the cost, capped at £500 a socket, until 31 March 2027 (gov.uk, checked 28 September 2026). The calculator above prices a 7.4kW smart charger from £1,100 installed.
What the named kit costs, installed
Every system is designed around your roof on the free call before anything is fitted.
Solar panel servicing and repair in Houghton-le-Spring
Faults, servicing and ageing inverters follow the same economics in Houghton-le-Spring as anywhere else, and the guides below price them plainly.
Common questions about solar in Houghton-le-Spring
What does a solar panel system produce in Houghton-le-Spring?
Each kWp of panels in Houghton-le-Spring makes 953 kWh a year on PVGIS figures, so a typical 12-panel system produces around 6,060 kWh, from about 180 kWh in December up to 790 kWh in May.
What would 12 solar panels cost in Houghton-le-Spring?
£6,360 for 12 panels (6.36 kWp), the same as in every other place we cover, because solar is priced at £1,000 per kWp installed rather than by area. A battery adds its own installed price on top. Where Houghton-le-Spring differs is output: about 6,060 kWh a year from that system.
Would a system in Houghton-le-Spring need approval from the network operator?
Houghton-le-Spring is on Northern Powergrid's network (North East England licence area). Systems up to 3.68kW per phase of inverter output follow G98: Northern Powergrid is notified within 28 days of commissioning, with no approval needed first. Anything larger needs a G99 application before installation. Northern Powergrid publishes a guaranteed standard of 45 working days to quote for a low voltage generation connection. Our G98 vs G99 guide explains both routes.
How much would export pay on a system in Houghton-le-Spring?
It is exported. With typical use and no battery, about 5,124 kWh of the 6,060 kWh a 12-panel system makes in Houghton-le-Spring goes to the grid, around £615 a year at 12p. A battery keeps more of it for the evening; the export rates table shows what suppliers pay.
Is solar worth it in Houghton-le-Spring in winter?
It works, but the year is lopsided. 69% of a Houghton-le-Spring roof's output lands between April and September; the four months from November to February give about 940 kWh on a 12-panel system. Payback is worked out on the whole year, not the winter.
How Houghton-le-Spring compares with its neighbours
How the towns nearest Houghton-le-Spring compare on the same PVGIS settings, closest first.
| Town | kWh per kWp a year | vs Houghton-le-Spring |
|---|---|---|
| Houghton-le-Spring | 953 | this town |
| Fence Houses | 948 | −5 kWh |
| Hetton-le-Hole | 952 | −1 kWh |
| Shiney Row and Penshaw | 959 | +6 kWh |
| Murton | 976 | +23 kWh |
| Chester-le-Street | 936 | −17 kWh |
| Washington | 952 | −1 kWh |
PVGIS v5.2 for each town centroid, identical assumptions throughout. A few kWh either way is weather-year noise; a spread beyond about 30 kWh per kWp is real geography.
Also for Houghton-le-Spring: Solar panels in Houghton-le-Spring from OVO Solar & Battery
Also near Houghton-le-Spring
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Reading for Houghton-le-Spring homeowners
Sourced, dated and written by us. The same ground we cover on your free call.
Do solar panels work in winter? Yes, just less than summer
Panels run on light, not sunshine. Cloud turns them down, not off. What that means for an awkward roof.
Read the guide →Tesla Powerwall 3 against the alternatives, and where each one wins
The strongest single box in the market, and the houses it is still wrong for.
Read the guide →Charging an EV from your own solar
Every surplus kWh is 3.6 to 5 miles. Whether that beats a 7p overnight rate is arithmetic.
Read the guide →Are heat pumps noisy? The 37 dB(A) answer, in plain terms
The 1 metre boundary rule is gone. A 37 dB(A) sound test replaced it.
Read the guide →Will energy prices keep rising, and by how much
The January forecasts jumped fast. What is confirmed, what is guessed, and whether solar is a real hedge.
Read the guide →G98 or G99: which one applies, what the application involves, and how long it takes
The G98 line sits at 3.68kW per phase. Above it, your network operator has to say yes first.
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.