Solar power in the United Kingdom

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.

Solar power represented a very small part of electricity production in United Kingdom until 2011. The installed base has increased rapidly in recent years as a result of reductions in the cost of photovoltaic (PV) panels, and the introduction of a feed-in tariff (FIT) subsidy in April 2010. As of November 2016, there was a total installed capacity of 11.429 gigawatts (GW) of solar power. placing the United Kingdom in sixth place internationally in terms of total installed capacity, behind China, Germany, Japan, USA and Italy, and having overtaken France and Spain in 2015. The 48 megawatts (MW) Southwick Estate solar farm, near Fareham, was the largest in the UK at the time of its completion in March 2015. In 2012, the government had said that 4 million homes across the UK will be powered by the sun within eight years, representing 22 (GW) of installed solar power capacity by 2020.

In 2006, the United Kingdom had installed about 12 MW of photovoltaic capacity and represented only 0.3% of total European solar PV of 3,400 MW. By 2016 this was over 10,000 MW. At the end of 2011, there were 230,000 solar power projects in the United Kingdom, with a total installed generating capacity of 750 MW. By February 2012 the installed capacity had reached 1,000 MW.

Due to an EU agreement to generate 15% of electricity from renewables by 2020, in June 2008 a new programme to encourage homeowners to generate their own electricity was announced, which also included a feed-in tariff.

In the summer half-year from April to September 2016, UK solar panels produced more electricity (6,964 GWh) than did coal power (6,342 GWh). Each is about 5% of demand.

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