UK on Track for a Record 300,000 Solar Installations in 2026

Solar installers in the UK are on track for their busiest year on record. 2025 saw 269,195 home solar installations according to MCS certification data cited by Solar Energy UK. Industry tracking through 2026 has the year on pace to reach around 300,000 if the current rate holds, which would beat that record by a wide margin.

What’s actually pushing the number up

No single announcement explains a jump like this. It looks more like several separate pressures landing on homeowners in the same year:

• The price cap keeps rising. Ofgem’s confirmed 4% increase for October 2026 is the latest of several moves this year, and each one makes the electricity a solar system lets you avoid buying worth more. See our breakdown of the October cap rise.
• Panel prices are turning upward. After roughly two years of getting cheaper, panel prices have started climbing since China removed a VAT export rebate on photovoltaic products in April 2026. See why solar panel prices are climbing again for what that means for a quote today versus one next year.
• The VAT relief has a deadline. Installed solar and battery equipment currently qualifies for 0% VAT, a relief due to run until 31 March 2027 before reverting to 5%. Anyone weighing up solar this year has a real reason not to leave it until next year. See whether solar panels are still worth it in 2026 for the fuller case.

Put together, waiting has stopped being the obviously safe option it looked like a couple of years ago, when panel prices were still falling and the price cap was more stable.

How big the UK market still is against the target

Around 1.5 million UK homes have solar installed, about 6% of households, adding up to roughly 21.5GW of installed capacity across homes, businesses and solar farms. The government’s target is up to 45GW of solar capacity by 2030, meaning the UK needs to more than double what’s currently installed within four years. A record year for home installations is a start, not a finish line, and it’s one reason schemes like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and the solar VAT relief are being kept in place rather than wound down early.

What a record year means if you’re getting quotes

More demand across the industry usually means two things worth planning around rather than worrying about: installer books filling up further ahead, and more variation between quotes as some installers get busier than others. It’s a good year to check who you’re actually hiring rather than assuming every installer has spare capacity on the same timeline. See how to check your installer is MCS certified before signing anything.

Get matched with vetted installers to get a quote based on your own roof rather than a national average.

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