Having issues getting solr search facets to appear on non-search pages
This is also something I want whereby the search facets are visible alongside a content type.

This problem applies to search facets in general (e.g. for those who don't use solr but use 'database search' - a "poor man's" version with less demanding requirements, suitable for shared hosting.)

Facets are generated from search results - so on a page with no search results the facets will not appear. That appears to be the design, as explained here:
Show facet filter even if there is no result

There are several possibilities that you (and I) could consider:


How do I allow facets on my full content display page? - here
the answer is not to display faceted search on a content page /
non-search page but rely on breadcrumbs to link back to a search page
My preferred approach (not yet implemented): is to put search results
on the same page as the content. These search results will be the
same as those that one clicked through before the content page. In
other words, the same list of results that contained the link to the
content item are displayed on the page of the content item itself.
These will of course be focused search items ("drill down"ed)
results. These would serve a purpose for the user as "related" and
follows convention - if you look at this site
drupal.stackexchange.com you'll see related results. But we would
probably want to display them in a smaller space, using a different
view with theming and the view could restrict the number of items
shown.