Solar power in the United Kingdom

Solar power is becoming an important source of electricity in the United Kingdom. In 2025, it made up about 6.4% of all the electricity the country used. On bright, sunny days, solar power can provide more than 30% of the electricity people need at certain times. The most solar power was ever produced in one day was on April 23, 2026, when it reached 15,420 MW at 1:00 PM.

Before 2010, there were not many solar panels in the UK. But then the government started offering money to help people and businesses install solar panels. This was called a feed-in tariff and it was paid for by everyone who uses electricity. Over the next few years, the price of solar panels went down, and the government changed the rules for how much money they would pay. By 2019, the program for new applications closed. By the end of November 2025, the UK had 21.5 GW of solar power installed, which was 13% more than the year before.

Solar panels in the UK usually work about 10% of the time because of the country's weather. For homes with solar panels put up in 2022, it was thought that the panels would pay for themselves in ten to twenty years.

Solar potential

Solar power can work well in the United Kingdom, even though the weather there is often cloudy. The amount of sunlight the UK gets each year is between 750 and 1,100 kilowatt-hours per square metre. Places like London get about 0.52 kilowatt-hours per square metre each day in December but much more, around 4.74, in July. Although the UK does not get as much direct sunlight as some other European countries, its solar power systems still work well. In fact, the southern parts of the UK get about the same amount of sunlight as Germany, which uses solar power for about 10.7% of its electricity. The UK's windier conditions also help keep solar panels cooler, making them work better. Experts say that solar panels do not need direct sunlight to generate power—they can use the available daylight even on cloudy days.

Solar PV installed capacity and generation

Area covered by solar panels

As of September 2024, about 0.1% of the UK’s land was used for solar panels placed on the ground. This area is equal to roughly 52,000 acres.

Solar PV by size of installations

Year end	Capacity (MW)	Generation (GW·h)	Effective capacity factor	% of total electricity consumption
2008	22	17	0.088
2009	27	20	0.085
2010	95	33	0.040	0.01
2011	965	244	0.029	0.07
2012	1,736	1,354	0.089	0.37
2013	2,822	2,010	0.081	0.64
2014	5,378	4,054	0.086	1.2
2015	9,118	7,533	0.094	2.2
2016	11,562	10,395	0.103	3.1
2017	12,690	11,457	0.103	3.4
2018	12,992	12,736	0.112	3.8
2019	13,265	12,418	0.107	3.8
2020	13,579	12,903	0.109	4.1
2021	13,965	12,138	0.099	3.9
2022	14,660	13,921	0.108	4.3
2023	16,238	13,884	0.098	4.7
2024	17,848	14,789	0.095	5.2
2025	21,481	17,180	0.091	6.4

Cumulative installed capacity (MW)
Size	Dec 2018	Dec 2019	Dec 2020	Dec 2021	Dec 2022	Dec 2023	Dec 2024	Dec 2025
0 to	2,650.0	2,735.4	2,783.0	2,870.7	3,065.5	3,309.0	3,566.0	3,921.0
4 to	254.2	307.5	358.7	456.3	772.3	1,322.1	1,766.6	2,336.7
10 to	866.3	947.6	989.3	1,044.9	1,141.2	1,345.3	1,554.6	1,823.8
50 kW to	3,593.4	3,644.4	3,682.1	3,710.0	3,791.9	3,865.1	3,940.3	3,947.9
5 to	4,268.4	4,299.5	4,339.7	4,401.7	4,491.5	4,665.8	4,930.1	5,096.0
> 25 MW	1,526.8	1,611.5	1,680.4	1,905.2	1,977.2	2,153.0	3,246.4	4,540.1
Total	13,173.8	13,560.4	13,847.8	14,403.4	15,254.3	16,675.0	19,018.6	21,680.1
Pre 2009 estimate (for comparison)	14.6

History

In 2006, the United Kingdom had about 12 MW of solar power capacity, which was only a small part of the solar power in Europe. That year, stores like Currys began selling solar panels made by Sharp.

Over the next few years, more solar panels were installed because they became cheaper and the government offered payments to people who used solar power. By the end of 2011, there were 230,000 solar projects in the UK.

By 2016, the UK had over 10,000 MW of solar power. In the summer of that year, solar panels made more electricity than coal for the first time.

A colliery seen behind a solar farm in North Yorkshire in 2017

By the end of 2017, solar power made up about 3.4% of the UK’s electricity. In July 2025, solar power set a new record by making 14.0 GW of electricity.

In 2022, many more homes started adding solar panels. By November 2025, over 244,000 new solar installations had been added that year, and much of the solar power now comes from large solar farms on the ground.

Rooftop solar

As of 2025, about 31% of the solar power in the United Kingdom comes from homes. By 2027, almost all new homes in England will need to have solar panels.

In 2015, the United Kingdom had a lot of solar power on homes, with many families using it. The average home solar system was about 3.25 kW. In 2021, more homes added solar panels than the year before. The time it takes for families to save money from solar panels has gotten shorter because energy prices went up.

Small solar panels on homes have many good points. They do not need extra land, and families can save money and help the environment. It can take from 4 to 20 years to pay for the solar panels, depending on things like how big they are and where the home is. In March 2022, the leader of the money team in the United Kingdom said that taxes on putting in solar panels would go down for five years to help more families use solar power.

Adding solar panels to a home can change how the house looks. Sometimes, people need special permission to put solar panels on certain types of houses or in special areas. But for most homes, families can add solar panels without getting special permission, as long as they follow some rules about how tall the panels can be.

Large-scale solar farms

The first solar park in Wales started working in 2011 at Rhosygilwen in north Pembrokeshire.

On July 13, 2011, the building of the biggest solar park in the United Kingdom finished in Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire. This solar park could make about 4,860 MWh of electricity each year. There are other big solar farms in the UK too.

The first large solar farm in the United Kingdom started building in November 2012 in Leicestershire.

By June 2014, Wales had 18 big solar farms already working, with 34 more being planned or built.

No.	Name	Capacity (MW)	County	Country	Status
1	Botley West Solar Farm	840	Oxfordshire	England	Proposed
2	Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park	800	Nottinghamshire	England	Proposed
3	Springwell Solar Farm	800	Lincolnshire	England	Approved
4	Meridian Solar Farm	750	Lincolnshire	England	Proposed
5	Whitestone Solar Farm	750	South Yorkshire	England	Proposed
6	One Earth Solar Farm	740	Nottinghamshire	England	Proposed
7	High Grove Solar Farm	720	Norfolk	England	Proposed
8	Cottam Solar Project	600	Lincolnshire	England	Approved
9	Droves Solar Farm	500	Norfolk	England	Proposed
10	East Pye Solar	500	Norfolk	England	Proposed
11	Gate Burton - Solar & Energy Storage Park	500	Lincolnshire	England	Approved
12	Green Hill Solar Farm	500	Northamptonshire	England	Proposed
13	Heckington Fen Solar Park	500	Lincolnshire	England	Approved
14	Kingsway Solar Farm	500	Cambridgeshire	England	Proposed
15	Leoda Solar Farm	500–600	Lincolnshire	England	Proposed
16	Light Valley Solar	500	North Yorkshire	England	Proposed
17	Lime Down Solar	500	Wiltshire	England	Proposed
18	Sunnica Energy Farm (East and West)	500	Cambridgeshire	England	Approved
19	Tillbridge Solar Farm	500	Lincolnshire	England	Approved
20	West Burton Solar Project	480	Lincolnshire	England	Approved
21	Beacon Fen Energy Park	400	Lincolnshire	England	Proposed
22	East Yorkshire Solar Farm	400	East Riding of Yorkshire	England	Approved
23	Future Energy Llanwern	400	Newport	Wales	Proposed
25	Longfield Solar Energy Farm	400	Essex	England	Approved
26	Steeple Renewables Project	400	Nottinghamshire	England	Proposed
27	Cleve Hill Solar Park	373	Kent	England	Operational since 2025 (July)
28	Maen Hir Solar	360	Isle of Anglesey	Wales	Proposed
29	Amlwch / Llyn Alaw	350	Anglesey	Wales	Proposed
30	Mallard Pass Solar Farm	350	Lincolnshire	England	Approved
31	Kingfisher Solar Farm	320	East Riding of Yorkshire	England	Proposed
32	Peartree Hill Solar Farm	320	East Riding of Yorkshire	England	Proposed
33	EcoPower Suffolk	250	Suffolk	England	Proposed
34	Fenwick Solar Farm	237.5	South Yorkshire	England	Proposed
35	Shepway Energy Park	200	Kent	England	Proposed
36	Helios Renewable Energy Project	190	North Yorkshire	England	Approved
37	Byers Gill Solar Farm	180	County Durham	England	Approved
38	Little Crow Solar Park	150	Lincolnshire	England	Approved
39	Oaklands Farm Solar Park	138	Derbyshire	England	Approved
40	Wentlooge Renewable Energy Hub	125	Gwent	Wales	Proposed
41	Stonestreet Green Solar	99.9	Kent	England	Approved
42	Hedgehog Grove Solar Farm	98	Essex	England	Proposed
43	Llanwern Solar farm	75	Newport	Wales	Operational since 2021
44	Shotwick solar farm	72	Flintshire	Wales	Operational since 2016
45	West Raynham Solar Farm	49.9	Norfolk	England	Operational since 2015
46	The Grange solar farm	49.9	Nottinghamshire	England	Operational since 2021
47	Larks Green Solar Farm	49.9	Gloucestershire	England	Operational since 2023
48	Melksham Solar Farm	49.6	Wiltshire	England	Operational since 2016

Government programmes

The Energy Saving Trust helps people get money from the government to put solar panels on homes. In 2008, it said a typical home solar system cost between £5,000 and £8,000 and could save £150 to £200 each year.

In 2025, the government said most new houses will need solar panels. They want 45–47 GW of solar power by 2030.

Feed-in tariff

Main article: Feed-in tariffs in the United Kingdom

In 2010, the government said they would pay people for solar power they made. But in 2011, they changed the rules, making it harder for big solar farms. The rules kept changing after that.

Smart Export Guarantee

On 10 June 2019, new rules started in 2020 to pay homes for extra solar power they send to the electricity grid. Big energy companies must offer this to their customers.

Contracts for Difference

The Contracts for Difference started in 2013. At first, solar power could not join, but in 2020 the government changed this so solar power could compete.

Future

Smaller solar power systems that are not directly linked to big power lines are expected to grow in the future. New solar farms and battery storage might help provide power for more things, like electric vehicles.