See the latest UK solar panel stats, graphs and data.
Solar continues to be one of the fastest growing home improvement upgrades, and with good reason. Energy prices are becoming more unstable, and homeowners are looking for investments to hedge against rising uncertainty. Here you’ll find every solar headline number, from properly sourced data and in-house research.
Britain crossed two million solar installations in 2026, and has added 257,397 new installs over the whole of 2025. That’s a new install around every 2 minutes. If you’re a journalist, blogger or website owner covering energy bills, net zero, the cost of living or solar, this page is the go-to resources for the statistics that make an article worth sharing.
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- The UK flew past 2 million solar installations in March 2026 and reached 2,026,000 installations / 22.3 GW by the end of April, capacity up 11.2% year on year (DESNZ deployment data).
- 2025 was the biggest year on record. MCS certified 257,397 small-scale solar installations, up 32% on 2024; rooftop installs (267,032) beat the 2011 Feed-in Tariff peak by 31% (MCS).
- Solar met a record 6.4% of Great Britain’s electricity in 2025, generating 18,314 GWh, up 30% on 2024’s 14,067 GWh (Solar Energy UK / NESO).
- A new instantaneous record of 15.42 GW was set at 1pm on 23 April 2026, about 42% of the grid at that moment (NESO).
- A typical 4 kW system costs £5,500-£8,000 installed at 0% VAT (in place until 31 March 2027), paying back in roughly 6-12 years.
Installations & capacity
The UK’s installed solar base has doubled in capacity in under ten years and is now adding gigawatts a year. At the end of April 2026 the country stood at 2,026,000 installations and 22.3 GW, having crossed the two-million mark the month before (DESNZ provisional deployment data, via pv magazine). Total capacity grew 11.2% in the twelve months to April 2026, and nine of the ten busiest months for installations on record fell within that window.
Cumulative UK solar PV capacity across all scales, 2020 to April 2026.
Two-thirds of all installations are rooftop systems on homes, but ground-mounted solar farms still hold the largest share of capacity, at roughly 8.4 GW, or 38% of the total. Domestic rooftop accounts for around 29% of capacity, a small slice of the megawatts, but the overwhelming majority of the two million installations by count.
In March 2026 there were 27,607 installations in a single month, the busiest calendar month for UK solar since 2012, back in the original Feed-in Tariff boom (DESNZ). Across summer, MCS reported the equivalent of one rooftop system going up roughly every two minutes.
The record-breaking year
2025 didn’t just set a modern record, it broke one that had stood since the Feed-in Tariff peak of 2011. MCS certified 257,397 small-scale solar installations across the year, up 32% on 2024. Counting rooftop installs specifically, the 267,032 total beat 2011’s long-standing 203,125 record by 31% (MCS).
MCS-certified UK installations. Dashed line marks the previous record, set in 2011 during the Feed-in Tariff boom.
Momentum carried straight into 2026: MCS certified more than 57,000 rooftop installations in Q1 alone, the strongest opening quarter since 2012, and industry forecasts point to another ~50% year-on-year rise for the full year, helped by 0% VAT and the incoming Future Homes Standard.
Generation & grid records
More panels means more power. Solar supplied a record 6.4% of Great Britain’s electricity in 2025, generating 18,314 GWh, a 30% jump on 2024. On bright days the instantaneous share is far higher: solar regularly covers more than 30% of demand, and hit an all-time peak of 42% in April 2026.
Annual UK solar generation (NESO)
Up 30% year on year – a record, and 6.4% of GB power
The instantaneous generation record has been broken repeatedly as capacity climbs. Great Britain first passed 14 GW of solar output in July 2025, then set successive new highs through spring 2026, reaching 15,420 MW at 1pm on 23 April 2026, roughly half the grid’s demand at that moment (NESO). Over the summer, July 2026 became the highest-generating solar month ever, with 3.3 TWh meeting 15% of demand across the month (Carbon Brief).
The summer 2020 solar peak, the reference point the more recent records are measured against.
A new instantaneous record set at 12:30pm, beating the previous 13.8 GW high (Solar Energy UK / NESO).
Output climbed faster than seasonal patterns alone would explain, as new capacity came online.
Recorded at 1pm by NESO, representing about 42% of the total generation mix at that moment.
The 18,314 GWh of solar generated in 2025 is enough to make roughly 732 billion cups of tea, or to heat around 4.6 million typical three-bed semis with a heat pump for a year (Solar Energy UK).
Cost, savings & payback
Hardware prices have fallen even as installation volumes have climbed. Across MCS-registered domestic jobs in early 2026, solar cost roughly £1,565-£1,785 per kW, putting a standard 4 kW system at £5,500-£8,000 fully installed – panels, inverter, mounting, electrical work and DNO notification, at 0% VAT.
Here is where the money goes on a mid-market 4 kW plus 10 kWh battery install – the most-quoted configuration in the UK’s 2026 market:
Payback varies sharply by region. In sunnier Cornwall the break-even point is around 11 years, against a UK average closer to 13, a spread driven almost entirely by annual yield (Eco Experts / MCS). Self-consumption savings, not export income, are what make the numbers work: every unit used at home avoids buying at the ~26p/kWh price cap.
Export tariffs (the Smart Export Guarantee)
Since the Feed-in Tariff closed to new applicants in 2019, the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) is how households get paid for surplus power. Any licensed supplier with 150,000+ customers must offer an export tariff. By March 2025, 270,395 installations were on an SEG tariff – a 63% jump in a year (Ofgem).
The gap between the best and worst rates is enormous, the top time-of-use tariffs pay more than seven times the standard flat rate, but they require a battery and a smart meter. The market average across all SEG tariffs sits around 13p/kWh. A 4 kW system with a battery on a premium tariff can turn export into £400-£900 a year of income on top of self-consumption savings.
- Smart Export Guarantee (SEG)
- The scheme requiring large suppliers to pay small-scale generators for electricity exported to the grid. Replaced the export leg of the Feed-in Tariff.
- Flat vs time-of-use export
- Flat tariffs pay one rate around the clock. Time-of-use tariffs pay far more during the late-afternoon peak but need a battery to dispatch stored power on demand.
- MCS certificate
- Mandatory to access any SEG tariff and to qualify for 0% VAT. Issued by an MCS-certified installer at commissioning.
Battery storage
Batteries have gone from optional extra to default fitting. MCS certified more than 40,000 battery storage installations in 2025, almost double the previous record, as households moved to store daytime generation for evening use and to access premium export tariffs.
The mid-market has consolidated around a handful of all-in-one hybrid systems. For reporting context, here is how the three most-quoted 2026 options compare on the specs buyers actually weigh:
- Capacity
- 9.5 kWh
- Warranty
- 12 years
- Best for
- Adding to existing solar
- Capacity
- 10 kWh
- Warranty
- 10 years
- Best for
- Most UK homes
- Capacity
- 13.5 kWh
- Warranty
- 10 years
- Best for
- Bigger homes, EV households
Where in the UK solar is winning
Adoption is uneven, and – contrary to popular assumption, sunshine is not the main driver. Home ownership and rural housing stock matter more. The South West of England leads on penetration, with 8.5% of households on solar; Cornwall alone is near 10%, more than 24,500 homes. London sits bottom at 1.6%, held back by flats and limited roof space.
By sheer volume of new installs in 2025, the leaderboard is spread far wider than the sunny south. Somerset and Cornwall led, but three of the top five were northern or midland authorities, evidence that rooftop solar is no longer a regional story.
| Rank | Local authority | Installs, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Somerset | 3,741 |
| 02 | Cornwall | 3,726 |
| 03 | North Yorkshire | 2,780 |
| 04 | County Durham | 2,668 |
| 05 | Wiltshire | 2,545 |
As a share of households rather than raw count, Welsh authorities top the table, the Isle of Anglesey, Ceredigion and Gwynedd lead the UK. The single densest local hotspot by installs per head is South Hams in Devon, at 409 systems per 10,000 people. Owner-occupied homes make up 70.6% of all solar households (MCS).
New build & the Future Homes Standard
The fastest-growing source of new rooftop solar isn’t retrofits, it’s new homes. Since MCS began tracking new builds in October 2023, they have accounted for around a third of all rooftop installs, and that share rose to 35% in 2025. June 2025 set a single-month record of 9,507 new-build installs.
New-build share of rooftop installs when MCS began tracking
And set to rise sharply once solar becomes near-mandatory on new homes
The forthcoming Future Homes Standard is expected to make solar effectively standard on new-build homes from 2027, which points to a lasting rise in the numbers rather than a temporary one.
How the UK compares
For all the records, the UK remains a mid-table solar nation on household adoption. Around 6% of UK homes have solar, against roughly 25% in the Netherlands and 22% in Belgium, countries with a comparable, or cloudier, climate. Cloudiness has never been the barrier; policy, roof ownership and grid access are.
The government’s Clean Power 2030 plan targets 45-47 GW of solar – more than double today’s base. On current trajectory, analysts warn of a shortfall of around 16 GW against that goal, so the pace of deployment would need to rise further still. Solar is also now cheaper than wind in the most recent Contracts for Difference auction, undercutting both onshore and offshore.
Installed GW now against the Clean Power 2030 ambition of 45-47 GW.
The industry behind it
The installer base has grown to meet demand. There are now more than 5,250 MCS-certified contractors, the most since MCS began in 2008, of which over 4,000 hold solar PV certification. The wider value chain employs an estimated 25,000-30,000 people across installation, distribution, design and asset management.
Solar was the biggest driver of a record year across all small-scale renewables: MCS certified 369,000 installations in 2025, solar, heat pumps and batteries combined, the equivalent of a new low-carbon system going into a UK home or small business roughly every 90 seconds.
Solar generated a record 6.4% of Great Britain’s electricity in 2025, and now undercuts both onshore and offshore wind on cost in the most recent Contracts for Difference auction.
FAQ & definitions
How many solar installations are there in the UK?
2,026,000 installations of all sizes as of the end of April 2026, totalling 22.3 GW of capacity, according to provisional DESNZ deployment data. The UK crossed the two-million mark in March 2026.
What percentage of UK electricity comes from solar?
A record 6.4% across the full year 2025 (Solar Energy UK / NESO). On sunny days the instantaneous share is far higher, solar hit an all-time peak of about 42% of the grid on 23 April 2026.
How much does a solar system cost in 2026?
A standard 4 kW system costs £5,500-£8,000 fully installed at 0% VAT, or roughly £1,565-£1,785 per kW. Adding a 10 kWh battery typically pushes a combined install to £9,500-£12,000.
Which UK region has the most solar?
By household penetration, the South West of England leads at 8.5%, with Cornwall near 10%. London is lowest at 1.6%. By 2025 install volume, Somerset and Cornwall topped the table.
What is the UK’s solar target for 2030?
The government’s Clean Power 2030 plan targets 45-47 GW of solar capacity – more than double the current installed base of 22.3 GW.
22.3 GW down, 45 GW to go
In 2026 Britain passed two million solar installations, set fresh capacity and generation records, and watched solar overtake wind on cost. The technology once framed as unsuited to a cloudy island now meets a record 6.4% of national electricity, and 42% at its peak.
The open question is pace, not viability. To hit the 45-47 GW Clean Power 2030 target, the UK needs to roughly double an installed base that took fifteen years to build. With 0% VAT, the Future Homes Standard and the lowest generation costs in the mix, the trajectory points upward.
Sources & methodology
- DESNZSolar PV deployment statistics – installation counts, capacity, cost per kW (provisional data to April 2026).
- MCSData Dashboard – certified small-scale installations, regional and local-authority breakdowns, battery and new-build data.
- NESOHistoric GB Generation Mix – instantaneous generation records and grid-share figures.
- OfgemSmart Export Guarantee reporting – SEG registration counts and scheme administration.
- Solar Energy UKAnnual generation analysis – 2025 record generation and share of electricity.
- Carbon BriefSummer 2026 solar generation analysis – monthly records and capacity mix.
- pv magazineDESNZ deployment reporting – two-million milestone and 22.3 GW capacity.
METHODOLOGY: Figures are drawn from the primary bodies named above and cross-checked across reporting where a body’s release was not directly available. Capacity and installation totals use DESNZ provisional deployment data to end April 2026; annual install counts use the MCS Data Dashboard. The 2024 install figure in the “record year” chart is derived from MCS’s reported +32% year-on-year growth. Cost ranges reflect MCS-registered domestic installations in early 2026 and will vary by region, roof type and access.
DISCLAIMER: All prices and payback figures are indicative and not financial advice. Provisional deployment data is subject to revision. Percentages of households with solar are estimates derived from MCS install counts against ONS household figures and differ slightly between sources.
UPDATED: 26 September 2026. Refreshed on the DESNZ monthly deployment release cycle. Reuse permitted with attribution to Solar Love.
