The Anonymous Widower

UK Solar Capacity Up 5.9% Year-On-Year

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Solar Power Portal.

These first two paragraphs give a flavour of the comprehensive solar generation statistics in the article.

The latest data from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has revealed that both domestic and non-domestic solar installations are continuing to rise in the UK.

As of the end of April 2025, the UK has a total of 18.1GW of solar capacity across 1,780,000 installations; this marks an increase of 5.9% (1GW) since April 2025. In April of this year, 20,405 new solar installations with a combined capacity of 82MW were completed, a figure which DESNZ notes is higher than the average figures seen between 2016 and 2021.

The article is full of interesting statistics and deserves a detailed read.

I was surprised that ground-mounted solar to accounted for approximately 59% of the UK’s total solar capacity.

At the end of the article it is pointed out that that between 2010 and 2015, the average time for a project to get approval sat at around 29 weeks; in the past five years, the average wait time for approval has increased to 45 weeks, with the current longest time for a project to go through the Local Planning Authority approval process standing at 177 weeks.

It does appear that project delays are increasing faster than the UK’s solar capacity.

May 30, 2025 Posted by | Energy | , | Leave a comment