Your situation
Plug-in solar for north-facing homes
Is plug-in solar worth it if your house or balcony faces north? North vs south output for your area, and ways to find a better-facing spot.
PVGIS solar data
The numbers
Estimated yearly output of a typical 890 Wp kit (800W cap), from PVGIS solar data for each place. Get yours.
| Setup | London | Manchester | Edinburgh |
|---|---|---|---|
| North-facing, vertical (balcony or wall) | 180 kWh | 173 kWh | 166 kWh |
| South-facing, vertical (balcony or wall) | 661 kWh367% of the first row | 575 kWh332% of the first row | 607 kWh366% of the first row |
| North-facing, tilted 15° (low frame) | 631 kWh351% of the first row | 566 kWh327% of the first row | 549 kWh331% of the first row |
| South-facing, tilted 30° (garden stand) | 899 kWh499% of the first row | 783 kWh453% of the first row | 795 kWh479% of the first row |
If your balcony or only free wall faces north, the first question isn’t the rules, it’s whether the kit will produce enough to be worth buying. The rows above answer that for your area. They set north-facing panels against south-facing ones, both vertical (a balcony or wall) and tilted (a frame). The figures come from PVGIS, the European Commission’s solar model (PVGIS), and assume open sky.
Look at two things: how the north rows compare with the south rows, and how much lower angles change the north result. If a north-facing spot is your only option, the payback figure on each kit page, worked out for your postcode and direction, is the number to judge by.
Rules and permissions
The rules don’t depend on which way you face. The same ones apply everywhere:
- Permission. Renters, leaseholders and residents of managed buildings need permission from the landlord, freeholder or managing agent before installing (IPS §8.3.1; DESNZ).
- Surfaces you can’t use. No timber balconies, and no timber, ACM, MCM or HPL cladding (IPS §5.8). No party walls between homes (IPS §8.3.2).
- Planning in England. Wall and balcony kits must stick out no more than 0.2 m on a road-facing side or 0.4 m elsewhere. They aren’t permitted development on listed buildings or on wooden walls, balconies or fences. In conservation areas, nothing may go on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure that fronts a road (SI 2026/896). We found no plug-in-specific planning change in Scotland or Wales.
- One kit per household, registered with your DNO. See how to register.
What to look for
- Another side of the property. If your front faces north, your back faces south. A small garden, yard or rear wall may be a much better spot. See gardens, walls and terraced houses.
- A free-standing frame. In a garden, a stand lets you face the panels south whatever way the house faces.
- Tilt, if you’re stuck facing north. Compare the north rows above at different angles before choosing a mount. A mount with adjustable tilt lets you change it later.
- A smaller kit. Lower output means a longer payback on the same price. A cheaper one-panel kit may make more sense than an 800 W kit.
- Shade. A north-facing panel gets most of its light from the open sky rather than direct sun, so tall buildings or trees opposite cut it further. Our figures don’t include them.