Updated: 7 February 2023
The energy price crisis is driving the fastest deployment of solar power for eight years, with Google searches for solar panels reaching their highest ever level, according to industry insiders.
The trade association for the solar industry, Solar Energy UK, has confirmed that national solar capacity now exceeds 15GW, with more solar panels being put on British roofs than ever before. The pace of installations on residential rooftops rose by almost three times year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022, while more commercial-scale rooftop solar PV was installed than any quarter since 2019.
In August, just over 3,000 installs were being carried out in the UK every week – up from 1,000 a week two years ago. Some installers have reported tenfold increases in enquiries, while searches on Google for solar panels hit their highest ever level during August.
Record demand despite price rises
The figures show that the worsening energy price crisis has made solar an increasingly attractive investment, despite supply chain pressures causing price rises for the first time. For the residential and large commercial sector, prices have increased in line with inflation by 10-15 per cent in recent months.
“Rooftop solar power is as good an investment as it has ever been. The broader fossil-fuelled price crisis means that this is true even though rooftop solar’s ten-year price decline appears to have halted,” said Chris Hewett, chief executive of Solar Energy UK.
“Solar Energy UK’s Lighting the Way forecast showed the UK could – and needs – to deploy 15GW of rooftop solar by 2030 – and we are heading in the right direction. In a time of economic crisis, growth in UK solar has more than doubled in 12 months, and the trend will continue. This is cheap, clean, home-grown energy, providing lower bills, secure jobs and getting Britain off the hook of Russian gas.”
A recent report by the UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) concluded that the UK’s warehouse rooftops alone could provide all the space required for the 15GW of capacity Solar Energy UK says is required by 2030.
Doing so would cut electricity costs for the warehousing sector by 40-80 per cent and save £3 billion per year, but would require a reform of planning rules to be achieved, the report states.
