The latest data from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz) have shown that the UK has now installed a total of 18GW operational solar PV capacity.
From the end of February 2025, 1,735,000 solar installations have been completed throughout the country to make the total of 18 GW. The solar capacity of the UK has increased by 6.8%or 1.1 GW since February 2024.
Last month, 80 MW saw Solar -PV capacity added, with a total of 20,427 installations that took place. According to Desnz commentary, this volume is remarkably higher than the average figures that are seen between 2016 and 2021.
In 2024, a total of 191,000 solar installations came online, a slight decrease compared to the 197,000 of 2023. However, this number is still high compared to the average number of annual installations between 2016 and 2022, which is 63,000 per year.
Domestic solar installations form the majority of installations per volume, but are only good for 30% of the total capacity of the country. In February 2025, 73% of the new diagrams were installed on a residential building, which adds a total of 58 MW capacity.
From the end of December 2024, an estimated 43% of the capacity (7.71 GW) came from on the ground mounted or standing solar installations, a figure with two operational solar farms that have established contracts for difference (CFDS), the charity and triangular days PV energy plaice. Moreover, Desnz estimates that about half of the solar capacity that is currently categorized as “non-accredited” is mounted, which means that solar energy mounted on the ground will access around 55% of the total British solar capacity.
Domestic Zonne -Zonne -Energy
The news is hot on the heels of an announcement by the Microgeneneration Certification Scheme (MCS), which showed that January was a record year for internal installations for renewable energy.
The MCS, which certifies renewable energy products and installers, noted that between January 2024 and January 2025, 200,010 PV installations for home solar energy were carried out, as well as 22,667 storage systems for home batteries. The increasing popularity of solar installations can be attributed to falling costs, with the average costs of a house sun installation that falls from an average of £ 9,238 in January to £ 7,561 in December and the average of the year at £ 8,198.
Moreover, according to research by Solar Media Market Research, it is expected that it is expected to add new solar capacity between 3 GW and 3.5 GW in 2025. Approximately 20% of the 2.3 GW of solar energy that was used in 2024, originating from residential installations on the roof, with commercial roof installations that still contribute 20%.
