Solar power in the United Kingdom

Solar power has a small but growing role in electricity production in the United Kingdom.

There were few installations until 2010, when the UK government mandated subsidies in the form of a feed-in tariff (FIT), paid for by all electricity consumers. In the following years the cost of photovoltaic (PV) panels fell,^[1] and the FIT rates for new installations were reduced in stages until the scheme closed to new applications in 2019.^[2]

As of 2023^[update], over 14.4 gigawatt (GW) had been installed, a third of which was rooftop solar.^[3] Annual generation was 14 TWh in 2022 (4.3% of UK electricity consumption) and peak generation was more than 10 GW.^[3] PV panels have a capacity factor of around 10% in the UK climate. Home rooftop solar panels installed in 2022 were estimated to pay back their cost in ten to twenty years.^[4]

^ Cite error: The named reference uk12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Feed-in Tariffs (FIT)". Ofgem. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference Mar2023GovStatsSheet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Are solar panels worth it?". Architectural Digest. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.

[uk12-1] Cite error: The named reference uk12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] "Feed-in Tariffs (FIT)". Ofgem. Retrieved 17 January 2024.

[Mar2023GovStatsSheet-3] Cite error: The named reference Mar2023GovStatsSheet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[4] "Are solar panels worth it?". Architectural Digest. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.

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Top-left: solar panels on the BedZED development in the London Borough of Sutton. Bottom-left: residential rooftop solar PV in Wetherby, Leeds. Right: the CIS Tower was clad in building-integrated PV and connected to the grid in 2005.