UK records 189,000 new solar installations for 2023

Independent Advisor Solar says there were 189,826 MCS-certified solar installations in the United Kingdom last year, up 37.5% year on year. The researchers have also identified the 10 regions with the most solar panels installations to date.

April 8, 2024 Patrick Jowett

Image: Vivint Solar, Unsplash

There were 189,826 solar installations deployed under the UK Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) last year, according to a report from Independent Advisor Solar, a team from the Independent newspaper's Independent Advisor service.

The figure is a 37.5% year-on-year increase on 2022, when there were 138,020 installations, the researchers said. The record year was 2013, when there were 245,565 systems installed.

MCS is a mark of quality assurance in the UK renewable energy market. Although certification is not legally mandatory, it often serves as a prerequisite for eligibility in government incentive programs or subsidies for end consumers.

Independent Advisor Solar has also analyzed the UK regions with the most solar panels installed.

In the top spot is the Isle of Anglesey, located off the northwest coast of Wales, where 4.21% of households have solar panel installations, including 1,297 new installations since the start of 2023.

The Welsh county of Ceredigion places second, with 4.12% of households featuring solar panel installations, while Wales’ largest county, Powys, places third with 3.29% of households with solar panel installations.

Overall, Wales’ total solar panel installations have grown from 4,441 in 2018-19 to 17,763 in 2023-24, an increase of 300%.

Wales accounts for five of the top 10 UK regions with the most solar panel installations, while Scotland accounts for four. The only English region in the top 10 – South Cambridgeshire – places 10th, where 2.23% of households feature solar panels.

A spokesperson for Independent Advisor Solar told pv magazine Scotland and Wales appear to outperform regions in England for solar PV installations due to the Scottish Government’s Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, that is committing to deliver at least 4 GW, but up to 6 GW, of solar power by 2030 and the Welsh Government's aim to meet 100% of its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2035.

The research found London to be recording the lowest growth rate in solar panel installations in the UK. The number in the capital increased from 6,978 installations in 2018/19 to 8,434 installations in 2022/23, growth of just over a fifth (21%).

The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the UK's cumulative PV capacity reached 15.6 GW toward the end of last year.

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