The latest statistics from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) revealed that the UK’s solar capacity grew by 8.5% (1.3 GW) over the previous year, a capacity spread across over 1.5 million domestic and commercial solar installations.
In 2023, 196,782 new solar projects came online. This represents the second-highest number of new solar projects in any given year, topped only by 2011’s 208,586 installations.
However, the document’s commentary notes that the amount of new capacity installed in 2023 was only the fifth highest on record as most of the new installations were small in size.
In June 2024, 15,807 new installations were completed, accounting for 65MW of capacity. While this is a lower number than May’s 16,333 number, it is much higher than the average figures seen between 2016 and 2021, and just higher than the median number of monthly installations over the past 12 months (15,000).
Domestic solar
The bulk of solar PV installations in the UK are domestic, with just over 1.4 million domestic solar installations currently operational in the UK out of the almost 1.6 million total installations. However, these only account for 30% of total solar capacity in the UK. In June 2024, 78% of new schemes were installed on a residential building, adding up to a total of 48MW.
Where do we go from here?
These statistics provide a useful baseline by which to measure the success of the new Labour government’s plans to invigorate the solar sector.
A new report from the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC) has declared that accelerating the rollout of solar is key to hitting the UK’s 2030 clean energy targets, thanks in part to the speed at which solar farms can be deployed and the relative ease of scaling up solar projects, and has urged the new government to deliver on its promises to the sector.
For its part, the new government has already taken steps in this arena: the recent relaunch of the Solar Taskforce was met with praise by the wider solar industry, and just ten days after taking power, the Labour government granted Development Consent Orders (DCOs) for three major solar projects that had previously had decisions delayed, in some cases repeatedly, by the previous energy minister.
Meanwhile, the newly-appointed Secretary of State for DESNZ Ed Miliband has been working to quell fears of solar farms posing a threat to food security, making statements to the House of Commons on the subject and engaging with the leader of the National Farmer’s Union (NFU). This follows statements from his predecessor, Claire Coutinho, that urged councils to deny solar farm applications on agricultural land, which stirred up fears of food insecurity in the public eye.
