How much does a UK solar panel actually generate? Every location, pitch and orientation

625 modelled figures, from 692 to 1,042 kWh per kWp on a typical south-facing roof, and from 157 to 1,042 across every combination. Free to download, openly licensed, and reproducible from the two scripts that made it.

On a typical 35° roof facing south, one kWp of panels generates between 692 and 1,042 kWh a year in the UK — Lerwick to Brighton.

Across every pitch and orientation we model, the full spread is 157 to 1,042 — a factor of 6.6 between a vertical north-facing wall in Shetland and a well-angled southern roof on the Sussex coast.

The whole dataset is below, and downloadable under an open licence.

Download the data

UK solar generation by location, pitch and orientation

625 modelled values — 25 locations × 5 pitches × 5 orientations, annual AC output in kWh per kWp.

Download the CSV · 33 kB · CC BY 4.0

Credit as: solar.org.uk, modelled from PVGIS 5.3 (European Commission, Joint Research Centre). Provenance, method and caveats travel inside the file as header comments.

No sign-up, no email address, no attribution-in-exchange-for-a-lead. If it is useful to you, take it.

The headline table: 35° facing south

The most common British roof, near enough. This is the figure to multiply by your system size in kWp.

Annual output per kWp installed, 35° pitch facing due south. Output column is for 4 kWp.
LocationkWh per kWp a year4 kWp output
Brighton1,0424,168
Plymouth1,0124,048
Southampton9593,836
Cardiff9393,756
Norwich9313,724
Bristol9223,688
London9193,676
Birmingham8743,496
Chester8653,460
Aberystwyth8603,440
Newcastle8573,428
Middlesbrough8573,428
Sheffield8563,424
Dundee8473,388
Belfast8313,324
Carlisle8243,296
Dumfries8203,280
Edinburgh8173,268
Aberdeen8093,236
Manchester8013,204
Kirkwall7763,104
Glasgow7713,084
Inverness7342,936
Stornoway7252,900
Lerwick6922,768

Source: our own modelling from PVGIS 5.3, European Commission Joint Research Centre, at 20% system losses following the method in MCS MIS 3002. Full dataset: data/irradiance.yaml.

Every orientation, at 35°

Same locations, same pitch, rotated. The ratios between columns barely change across the country, which is the subject of roof orientation and pitch.

Annual output per kWp installed, 35° pitch facing south-east or south-west. Output column is for 4 kWp.
LocationkWh per kWp a year4 kWp output
Brighton9843,936
Plymouth9573,828
Southampton9023,608
Cardiff8923,568
Bristol8713,484
Norwich8673,468
London8553,420
Aberystwyth8183,272
Birmingham8173,268
Chester8163,264
Sheffield8023,208
Newcastle8003,200
Middlesbrough7983,192
Dundee7923,168
Belfast7803,120
Carlisle7763,104
Dumfries7723,088
Edinburgh7633,052
Aberdeen7563,024
Manchester7513,004
Kirkwall7352,940
Glasgow7302,920
Inverness6902,760
Stornoway6862,744
Lerwick6562,624

Source: our own modelling from PVGIS 5.3, European Commission Joint Research Centre, at 20% system losses following the method in MCS MIS 3002. Full dataset: data/irradiance.yaml.

Annual output per kWp installed, 35° pitch facing east or west. Output column is for 4 kWp.
LocationkWh per kWp a year4 kWp output
Brighton8223,288
Plymouth8063,224
Southampton7583,032
Cardiff7553,020
Bristol7362,944
Norwich7222,888
London7142,856
Aberystwyth6962,784
Chester6902,760
Birmingham6872,748
Sheffield6742,696
Middlesbrough6642,656
Newcastle6632,652
Belfast6562,624
Carlisle6552,620
Dundee6552,620
Dumfries6512,604
Manchester6382,552
Edinburgh6362,544
Aberdeen6252,500
Glasgow6202,480
Kirkwall6192,476
Inverness5842,336
Stornoway5822,328
Lerwick5562,224

Source: our own modelling from PVGIS 5.3, European Commission Joint Research Centre, at 20% system losses following the method in MCS MIS 3002. Full dataset: data/irradiance.yaml.

Annual output per kWp installed, 35° pitch facing due north. Output column is for 4 kWp.
LocationkWh per kWp a year4 kWp output
Plymouth5362,144
Brighton5322,128
Southampton5152,060
Bristol5022,008
Cardiff5022,008
London4951,980
Norwich4921,968
Birmingham4801,920
Chester4741,896
Aberystwyth4741,896
Sheffield4661,864
Belfast4561,824
Middlesbrough4551,820
Manchester4531,812
Carlisle4531,812
Newcastle4491,796
Dumfries4481,792
Edinburgh4341,736
Dundee4341,736
Glasgow4311,724
Aberdeen4181,672
Kirkwall4151,660
Inverness4121,648
Stornoway4031,612
Lerwick3801,520

Source: our own modelling from PVGIS 5.3, European Commission Joint Research Centre, at 20% system losses following the method in MCS MIS 3002. Full dataset: data/irradiance.yaml.

Flat, and why it beats a pitched roof off-south

A horizontal plane has no orientation, so one column serves every direction — and at 83% of the south-facing optimum it beats a pitched roof facing anywhere from east round to north.

Annual output per kWp installed, flat pitch facing due south. Output column is for 4 kWp.
LocationkWh per kWp a year4 kWp output
Brighton8653,460
Plymouth8513,404
Southampton8043,216
Cardiff7893,156
Bristol7753,100
Norwich7693,076
London7673,068
Birmingham7312,924
Aberystwyth7282,912
Chester7242,896
Sheffield7122,848
Middlesbrough7032,812
Newcastle6992,796
Belfast6922,768
Carlisle6882,752
Dundee6862,744
Dumfries6822,728
Manchester6772,708
Edinburgh6692,676
Aberdeen6552,620
Glasgow6462,584
Kirkwall6432,572
Inverness6152,460
Stornoway6082,432
Lerwick5812,324

Source: our own modelling from PVGIS 5.3, European Commission Joint Research Centre, at 20% system losses following the method in MCS MIS 3002. Full dataset: data/irradiance.yaml.

How to use these figures honestly

Pick the nearest location, not the nicest. The gap between neighbouring entries is often small, but Brighton is not a proxy for London and London is not a proxy for Birmingham.

Multiply by kWp, then stop. The result is annual generation. It is not a saving. Turning generation into money needs your import rate, your export rate and your self-consumption — and that last one moves the answer more than location does.

Subtract for shading. Multiply by a shade factor. Our shading page gives modelled factors for fifteen scenarios; a real assessment on your roof beats all of them.

Do not present a modelled figure as a measurement. We do not, and neither should anything built on this data. That is the one thing we would ask of anyone who reuses it.

If you are checking a quote

Divide the annual kWh in the quote by the kWp and compare the result with the row for your nearest location. The bands and what they should prompt you to ask are on kWp vs kWh.

A quote implying more than about 1,050 kWh per kWp is claiming a better result than anywhere in our dataset achieves at 35° south. That is not proof of anything — but it is a fair question.

Sources

  1. Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS) 5.3 European Commission, Joint Research Centre · Accessed 17 August 2026
  2. MIS 3002: The Solar PV Standard, issue 6.0 MCS · Accessed 17 August 2026
Last verified: How we research this Suggest a correction
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