How Much Solar Does a York Roof Make in January? The PVGIS Figures, Month by Month
ElectriFusion Solutions · 15 October 2026
January is the month that decides whether a home battery in York earns its keep from the roof or from the tariff. Below is every month for a south-facing York roof, from the European Commission's PVGIS model, and what each one means for a 5 kWh and a 10 kWh battery.
A 4.85 kW array in York, every month
| Month | Output | Average per day |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 162 kWh | 5.2 kWh |
| Feb | 241 kWh | 8.6 kWh |
| Mar | 408 kWh | 13.2 kWh |
| Apr | 531 kWh | 17.7 kWh |
| May | 595 kWh | 19.2 kWh |
| Jun | 550 kWh | 18.3 kWh |
| Jul | 575 kWh | 18.5 kWh |
| Aug | 523 kWh | 16.9 kWh |
| Sep | 429 kWh | 14.3 kWh |
| Oct | 295 kWh | 9.5 kWh |
| Nov | 200 kWh | 6.7 kWh |
| Dec | 153 kWh | 4.9 kWh |
PVGIS 5.2, SARAH2 radiation database, York town-centre coordinates, south-facing at 35°, 14% system losses, fetched 15 October 2026. Annual total 4,662 kWh (961 kWh per kW), about 1.9% less than Doncaster. Modelled averages, not a guarantee for any particular roof.
The best month here is May at 595 kWh (19.2 kWh a day) and the worst is Dec at 153 kWh (4.9 kWh a day), a ratio of 3.9 to one; that ratio, not the annual total, is what a battery has to live with.
For scale: PVGIS puts the in-plane irradiation on that roof at about 1,183 kWh per square metre a year, and the array converts it to 961 kWh per installed kilowatt; a York household with the regional average evening load would see the battery cycle fully on about 214 days a year on these figures.
What that means for the battery
Rule of thumb: a 5 kWh battery fills from the roof on a 10 kWh day, a 10 kWh battery on a 16 kWh day, once the house has used its daytime share. For York the first is true on average in Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep and the second in Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug.
From November to January the average is 5.6 kWh a day. A house that runs a fridge, a router, a kettle and some lighting through the day uses most of that as it arrives, so the battery sees a few hundred watt-hours of surplus, not five kilowatt-hours. That is not a fault with the battery or the panels; it is the latitude.
That something else is the grid
On a time-of-use tariff the battery charges in the cheap overnight window and discharges into the evening peak, every day of the year, solar or not. In the dark months that is the whole of its job in York; in summer it is a top-up, because the roof has already filled it. The saving is the rate gap times the kilowatt-hours shifted, so ask for the tariff's night and peak rates before the battery's brochure.
The two savings do not stack on the same day: an overnight charge leaves the battery full when the roof starts generating, so a summer day earns the solar saving or the tariff saving, whichever applies.
So what size for a York home?
Start from the smart meter, not the roof: a week of evening usage gives the number, and in York that is usually 5 kWh for a three-bedroom house and 10 kWh where there is an EV or a heat pump to feed overnight. What the roof adds is the table above. Everything on the installation side, from G98 and G99 to standalone batteries, is on our battery storage York page, and the panels on solar panels in York.
Questions
Does a home battery work in winter in York?
It works, but from the tariff rather than the roof: PVGIS gives a 4.85 kW array in York about 5.6 kWh a day across November to January, most of which the house uses as it is generated. On a time-of-use tariff the battery charges overnight and runs the evening peak all winter.
Which months will a 5 kWh battery fill from solar in York?
On the PVGIS monthly averages, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, when the roof makes 10 kWh or more a day after daytime use. A 10 kWh battery fills from solar alone in Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug.