The UK installed a new rooftop solar panel every 2 minutes in 2025
Key Points
- The UK installed 269,000 solar systems in 2025, a record and 37% up on the prior year, equal to a new rooftop installation roughly every two minutes.
- About 255,000 installations (95%) were rooftop solar on homes, businesses and other buildings.
- April 2026 saw nearly 23,000 new installations, with nine of the ten strongest deployment months on record falling in the past year.
- Solar PV installation costs fell by up to 9%, and solar generated a record 18,314 gigawatt hours of electricity in 2025.
- The UK passed 2 million total solar installations in March 2026.
The UK completed a new rooftop solar installation roughly every two minutes throughout 2025, the strongest year for solar deployment on record.
Government data published on Thursday (28 May) shows 269,000 installations were completed across the country last year, the highest annual total ever recorded and 37% more than the year before.
Around 255,000 of those were rooftop systems, meaning at least 95% of all new solar went onto homes, businesses and other buildings.
April 2026 figures published the same day confirm the pace has not slowed, with nearly 23,000 new installations recorded in the month and more than one in two of those being rooftop solar on homes.
Nine of the ten best-performing months for solar deployment ever recorded have now occurred in the past year.
The milestone follows the UK passing two million total solar installations for the first time in March 2026, counting homes, community projects and solar farms nationwide.
Cheaper to install
The growth has been matched by falling costs.
Annual government figures published alongside the deployment data show the cost of buying and installing solar PV fell by up to 9% over the year, with the median cost of the smallest domestic systems down 9% and mid-sized installations down 8% compared with the previous period.
Solar also generated an estimated 18,314 gigawatt hours of electricity in 2025, beating the previous record of 14,067 gigawatt hours set in 2024.
The government has framed the surge as part of a wider push to cut Britain’s exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets following the outbreak of the war in Iran, which it describes as the country’s second fossil fuel crisis in five years.
“As we face a second fossil fuel crisis in 5 years, Britain is taking back control of their energy by generating more clean power than ever before,” said Ed Miliband, Energy Secretary. “Record-breaking solar growth means greater energy security, lower exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets which we can’t control.”
The deployment figures sit alongside several government measures aimed at expanding access to solar.
These include the consenting of Springwell Solar Farm, the largest power-producing solar farm in UK history, and a rollout of low-cost plug-in solar panels that households can fit on balconies or outdoor space, which the government expects to reach shops within months. Solar panels are also set to be fitted on new homes in England as standard.
Businesses and public services are driving a growing share of the total.
Numatic International, the maker of Henry the Hoover, has launched a solar park expected to supply around 20% of its Somerset factory’s electricity demand.
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has installed rooftop solar expected to cut its bills by around £9,500 a year, while Wren Kitchens is building what is set to become the UK’s largest factory rooftop solar array.
The figures build on Great British Energy’s solar scheme, with a further 100 schools and colleges due to receive rooftop solar this year.
