Is Huddersfield Too Cloudy for Solar Panels? What the Met Office and PVGIS Figures Show
ElectriFusion Solutions · 16 September 2026
Huddersfield sits on the edge of the Pennines, and people there reasonably ask whether solar panels make sense so far west of the flat land around Doncaster. The short answer is yes, with a smaller margin in winter. Here are the numbers.
Sunshine and rain
The Met Office publishes long-term averages for a station at Huddersfield (Oakes). For 1991–2020 it recorded 1,384 hours of sunshine and 1,041 mm of rain a year. Sunshine hours are a blunt measure, though: panels generate in diffuse light too, and what matters is energy on the panel over the year.
Modelled output, compared
The European Commission's PVGIS tool models that directly. For south-facing panels at 35°, per kW of panels per year:
| Town | kWh per kW per year |
|---|---|
| Gainsborough | 986 |
| Doncaster | 980 |
| Barnsley | 958 |
| Wakefield | 956 |
| Huddersfield | 916 |
PVGIS 5.2, town-centre coordinates, 14% losses.
Huddersfield comes out about 7% below Doncaster. On a roof split east and west (panels at 30°, half on each slope), PVGIS puts it at about 740 kWh per kW.
Where the gap is widest
| Month | Huddersfield | Barnsley |
|---|---|---|
| January | 28.9 | 34.1 |
| March | 79.8 | 85.3 |
| May | 116.9 | 118.8 |
| July | 115.4 | 117.7 |
| September | 85.7 | 88.4 |
| November | 38.0 | 41.3 |
| December | 28.3 | 33.1 |
In July a Huddersfield roof produces within 2% of a Barnsley one. In December and January it produces about 15% less. In percentage terms the gap is widest in winter, the months when panels produce least anyway.
What it means if you are thinking about solar
- Payback is a little longer, other things being equal, because output is about 7% lower than in Doncaster.
- Battery sizing for summer is much the same as in Barnsley, because summer output is close.
- Winter is where a time-of-use tariff earns its place, charging a battery overnight when the roof cannot fill it.
- Roof direction matters more than location: an east-west roof in Huddersfield produces about a fifth less than a south-facing one.
For system design, planning in Kirklees' conservation areas and a quote, see our page on solar panels in Huddersfield.
Questions
How many hours of sunshine does Huddersfield get?
The Met Office long-term average for its Huddersfield (Oakes) station is 1,384 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020), with 1,041 mm of rain.
How much less do solar panels produce in Huddersfield than in Doncaster?
PVGIS models about 916 kWh a year per kW of south-facing panels in Huddersfield against 980 in Doncaster, roughly 7% less. In percentage terms the difference is widest in winter; in summer the two are close.