Some 269,000 solar installations were completed across the UK in 2025, a 37% increase on the previous year, in what was the strongest year to date for solar deployment in the country, according to the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Some 95% of these were rooftop solar systems – or around 255,000 installations – which means that a new rooftop solar array was installed every two minutes throughout the year.
Continued momentum
This momentum has continued into 2026. April saw some 23,000 solar installations, while nine of the 10 best-performing months to date all occurred in the past year.
More than half of the installations for the month were on the roofs of homes, indicating how ‘households are increasingly choosing to generate their own power’, the government said in a statement.
The government linked the acceleration in demand to growing concerns around energy security following the conflict in the Middle East, as well as falling installation costs. Recent data indicates that the cost of acquiring and installing solar photovoltaic systems has decreased by up to 9%.
‘Taking back control’
“As we face a second fossil fuel crisis in five years, Britain is taking back control of their energy by generating more clean power than ever before,” commented energy secretary Ed Miliband. “Record-breaking solar growth means greater energy security, [and] lower exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets which we can’t control.
“This is what our clean power mission looks like: backing homegrown energy, giving people more control over their bills, and building a stronger, more resilient energy system for the future.”
According to the government, households adopting rooftop solar could save up to £480 per month on energy bills, while plans are underway for the rollout of low-cost ‘plug-in’ solar panels in stores later this year.
Larger scale initiatives, meanwhile, include the granting of approval for the Springwell Solar Farm, described by the government as the ‘largest power-producing solar farm in UK history’. Read more here.
