More solar power systems have been installed on roofs in 2023 so far than over the whole of 2022, according to statistics from renewable energy standards body MCS, setting a new annual record.

A total of 138,336 solar photovoltaic installations have been registered since December, up from 137,926 registered over 2022, itself a record for the post-subsidy industry. The figures refer to installations with a capacity of 50kW and below, deployed on the likes of homes, schools and small businesses. A typical domestic installation has a capacity around 4kW.

Trends indicate that the UK could even surpass the all-time record of 203,120 installations, set during the height of the Feed-in Tariffs regime in 2011, and the rush illustrates how quickly the industry has grown, with more than half of the capacity installed over the past four and a half years being installed over the past 13 months.

“In the face of the cost-of-living crisis and energy crisis, it is reassuring that consumers have the confidence to turn to home-grown energy. Small-scale solar provides home and business owners with energy independence and security against ever-increasing electricity costs. There is still more work to be done to make the transition to low-carbon technology even easier for UK consumers, but 2023 is already the most successful year in our history for solar installations on the roofs of homes and businesses. This remains a critical step in our shared national journey to net zero,” said MCS chief executive Ian Rippin.

Share Story: