Market Overview
| Study Period | 2020 - 2030 |
| Base Year For Estimation | 2024 |
| Forecast Data Period | 2025 - 2030 |
| Market Volume (2025) | 19.28 gigawatt |
| Market Volume (2030) | 47 gigawatt |
| Growth Rate (2025 - 2030) | 19.51% CAGR |
| Market Concentration | Medium |
Major Players*Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order Image © Mordor Intelligence. Reuse requires attribution under CC BY 4.0. |
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United Kingdom Solar Power Market Analysis by Mordor Intelligence
The United Kingdom Solar Power Market size in terms of installed base is expected to grow from 19.28 gigawatt in 2025 to 47 gigawatt by 2030, at a CAGR of 19.51% during the forecast period (2025-2030).
Merchant economics now dominate as grid-parity pricing allows projects to compete without subsidies, while reforms to grid-connection rules shorten queues for ready-to-build assets. Enhanced corporate PPA activity, expanding agrivoltaics and battery-coupled plants, broadening revenue options, and supply-chain localisation incentives de-risk import reliance(1)UK Government, “Solar Roadmap 2024,” gov.uk. Persistent hurdles include land-use planning friction, long Northern England interconnection wait times, and price volatility in the Contracts-for-Difference (CfD) auctions that narrows margins.
Key Report Takeaways
- By mounting type, ground-mounted systems led with 69% revenue share in 2024; rooftop solar is projected to grow at a 21.5% CAGR through 2030.
- By technology, monocrystalline silicon captured 65% of the UK solar power market share in 2024, while thin-film is advancing at a 20.8% CAGR to 2030.
- By end user, the utility segment held 74% of the UK solar power market in 2024; residential installations are forecast to expand at 22.6% CAGR to 2030.
- By capacity range, projects above 1 MW accounted for 71% share of the UK solar power market size in 2024, whereas sub-5 kW systems are rising at 22.9% CAGR through 2030.
United Kingdom Solar Power Market Trends and Insights
Drivers Impact Analysis
| Driver | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renewable Energy Obligation Certificates extension | +2.1% | England, Wales, spillover to Scotland | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Grid parity in utility-scale projects | +3.2% | National, strongest in Southern England | Short term (≤2 years) |
| National Grid ESO connections reform | +1.8% | National, grid-constrained zones | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Rising Demand for Agri-PV to Decarbonise UK Farming Sector | +1.5% | Rural England, particularly East Midlands and East Anglia | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Battery-Coupled Solar Economics Enhanced by Ofgem's Flexible Connection Code | +2.7% | National, with emphasis on Scotland and Northern England | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
| OEM Supply-Chain Localisation Incentives Under UK Net-Zero Strategy | +1.4% | National, with concentration in industrial regions | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
Source: Mordor Intelligence
Renewable Energy Obligation Certificates Extension Spurs Corporate PPAs
ROC buy-out prices rise to GBP 67.06 per certificate for 2025-2026, making direct solar PPAs cheaper than paying penalties and triggering multi-hundred-megawatt corporate contracts that now underpin debt finance structures. Corporate credit replaces subsidies as the core of project bankability, allowing developers to close financing more quickly and scale pipelines.
Grid-Parity Achievement Accelerates Merchant Solar
Levelised costs have fallen below wholesale day-ahead prices in the best-irradiated sites, letting developers forego CfD support and capture market-linked revenues. National Grid’s GBP 58 billion Beyond 2030 upgrade programme specifically allocates capacity for merchant renewables, widening investor interest(2)National Grid ESO, “Networks Beyond 2030 Investment Plan,” nationalgrideso.com.
National Grid ESO Reform Opens the Queue for Distributed Solar
The new “first ready, first connected” rule is expected to cut connection backlogs by 50-75%, with readiness milestones disqualifying speculative applications. Projects under 50 MW gain visibility on energisation dates, enabling rooftop and community-scale developers to raise capital against firmer schedules.
Battery-Coupled Solar Economics Strengthened by Flexible Connection Code
Separate metering now preserves ROCs while batteries trade frequency response, capacity, and balancing services, creating stacked revenue streams that improve debt-service coverage ratios by up to 20%. In grid-constrained regions, storage raises export utilisation, curbing curtailment risk and unlocking sites previously deemed non-viable.
Restraints Impact Analysis
| Restraint | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land-Use Planning Constraints in England's National Planning Policy Framework | -1.2% | England, particularly agricultural regions | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Import Dependency Risk from Xinjiang Silicon Module Supply Chain | -0.8% | National | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
| Grid Congestion & Long Queue Times for Connections in Northern England | -1.7% | Northern England and Scotland | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Volatile CFD Strike Prices Limiting Small-scale Project Bankability | -0.9% | National | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
Source: Mordor Intelligence
Land-Use Planning Constraints in England’s NPPF
Two-thirds of renewable proposals were refused or delayed between 2018-2023 because agricultural protection rules override energy policy, forcing developers onto marginal land that inflates costs and elongates permitting. Local authorities often lack specialist staff, so objections stall projects even when national targets encourage solar expansion.
Grid Congestion & Long Queue Times in Northern England
Connection delays exceed 14 years for some applicants, with the queue swelling past 700 GW of requests. The GBP 3.4 billion Eastern Green Link 2 HVDC line will relieve part of the bottleneck, yet the backlog remains material until at least 2028.
Segment Analysis
By Technology: Monocrystalline Dominance Confronts Thin-Film Innovation
Monocrystalline silicon held 65% of the UK solar power market share in 2024, thanks to maturing supply chains and falling per-watt costs. Thin-film’s 20.8% CAGR stems from flexible, lighter modules valued in agrivoltaic frames where translucence supports crop growth. Enhanced passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) lines continue lowering cell prices, squeezing polycrystalline’s role. Emerging tandem perovskite-on-silicon architectures test 30% lab efficiencies, with university labs targeting field pilots by 2027. Once reliability hurdles fall, the UK solar power market could adopt high-efficiency designs for roof and façade areas where space premiums justify higher module ASPs.
Note: Segment share of all individual segment available on report purchase
By Mounting: Ground Scale versus Rooftop Acceleration
Ground-mounted arrays commanded 69% of the UK solar power market size 2024 on lower balance-of-plant costs and simpler layout logistics. Tracker deployment is rising on southern farms, adding 15-25% yield uplift. Residential rooftops now post a 21.5% CAGR as energy bills remain volatile and new-build rules mandate panels on all homes from June 2025. Commercial rooftops follow, using self-consumption to sidestep non-commodity charges. Floating solar feasibility studies across reservoirs total 2.7 TWh of output potential, though ecological permitting slows real-world execution.
By End User: Utility Strength Meets Residential Surge
Utility projects held 74% of the UK solar power market size in 2024, anchored by merchant-revenue mega-parks, yet residential systems grow 22.6% annually as the Smart Export Guarantee pays spill-over power. Local authorities in England require rooftop PV on social housing refurbishments, widening the addressable stock. Commercial and industrial rooftops slot between the extremes, blending cost savings with Scope 2 carbon reporting. Some automotive plants now deploy >20 MW behind-the-meter arrays that hedge global electricity price swings.
By Grid Connectivity: Predominant On-Grid with Emerging Off-Grid Niches
Grid-tied systems comprised 92% of capacity in 2024 because of wholesale-market access, ancillary-service income, and ROC eligibility. NESO reforms to dynamic-firm-frequency response drive new revenue for on-grid PV-plus-storage. Off-grid grows 25.3% CAGR, as containerised microgrids power remote farms, telecom tower,s and critical resilience hubs. Battery cost declines below USD 120 /kWh unlock full-day autonomy, where network upgrades cost more than GBP 3 million per km.
By Component: Module Scale Leads, Mounting & Trackers Race Ahead
Modules delivered 52% of the 2024 bill of materials, buoyed by record-low ASPs that pushed system bids under GBP 40 /MWh in the latest merchant PPAs. Mono PERC remains the volume leader, while TOPCon ramps in 2025 to widen efficiency margins above 24%. Mounting and tracker packages exhibit the fastest 24.1% CAGR as single-axis designs penetrate the mid-latitude south and dual-axis units pilot in agrivoltaic rows to maintain consistent crop irradiance. European steel prices ease, reducing structure CAPEX and lifting IRRs by 0.5 percentage points.
By Capacity Range: Mega-Scale Dominance Meets Sub-5 kW Uptick
Assets above 1 MW retained 71% of 2024 installations, supported by institutional investors favouring scale, with projects like the 500 MW Heckington Fen now fully consented. Systems below 5 kW enjoy 22.9% CAGR as zero-VAT retrofits combine with low-interest green-home loans. A financing gap still plagues the 100 kW-1 MW band, but new asset-based securitisations are trialing to unlock capital for midsize industrial rooftops.
Geography Analysis
Southern England absorbs the largest share of new arrays owing to higher insolation and readily available 132 kV export capacity. Counties such as Kent and Cornwall post average yields above 1,100 kWh/kW, enabling projects to clear merchant hurdles sooner than northern peers. Northern England and southern Scotland host growing pipelines yet face the lengthiest grid queues, with some connection dates stretching beyond 2038. Transmission relief projects like Eastern Green Link 2 (GBP 3.4 billion) will add 400 kV of north-south transfer by 2031(3)Geographical, “Can the UK Grid Cope with Renewable Ambition?,” geographical.co.uk.
Scotland’s solar base is still modest but accelerates under devolved targets that mandate 100% renewable electricity by 2030. The Beyond 2030 plan earmarks GBP 58 billion for network reinforcements, unlocking 21 GW of fresh capacity, a sizeable slice expected to be solar. Wales exploits favourable planning and public-sector procurement rules that channel PV onto government estates; continued encouragement of community-owned schemes keeps installation density rising despite modest irradiance.
Regional clustering also responds to land-value differentials. Agricultural premiums in the Home Counties steer megawatt-scale developers northwards to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire where lease rates fall below GBP 1,000 per acre. Conversely, rooftop programmes flourish in high-income southeast suburbs where feed-in paybacks hit sub-7 year breakeven.
Competitive Landscape
The market shows moderate concentration; the top five developers account for roughly 45% of installed and late-stage pipeline capacity, while hundreds of smaller installers share the long-tail residential segment. BP’s GBP 400 million buy-out of Lightsource BP cements vertical integration and a 62 GW global pipeline that feeds proprietary UK offtake deals(4)BP, “Lightsource BP Acquisition Complete,” bp.com. SSE Renewables and RWE follow with multi-gigawatt solar-plus-storage clusters that leverage balance-sheet strength to pre-fund grid deposits.
Strategic emphasis now tilts toward hybridisation. SSE’s 50 MW Salisbury battery went online in 2025 to complement its 150 MW solar park, monetising dynamic containment response. International entrants such as NatPower UK commit GBP 10 billion to 4.5 GW of collocated assets, illustrating continued foreign investor confidence despite grid uncertainty.
Niche innovators focus on agrivoltaics, floating solar, and tracker optimisation. Start-ups collaborate with agricultural co-operatives to install semi-transparent modules that lift sheep stocking densities by offering shade. Floating solar developers negotiate with water utilities to offset reservoir evaporation losses, marrying decarbonisation with asset-maintenance savings.
United Kingdom Solar Power Industry Leaders
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Lightsource bp Renewable Energy Investments Ltd
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EDF Renewables UK (Electricité de France SA)
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Octopus Energy Generation
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Foresight Solar Fund Ltd
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ScottishPower Renewables (Iberdrola SA)
- *Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order
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Recent Industry Developments
- June 2025: The UK government mandated solar panels on all new homes in England.
- May 2025: Solar PV farm approved in East Yorkshire, reinforcing utility-scale momentum.
- April 2025: Grid-connection reform adopted to cull zombie projects and fast-track 65 GW queue.
- March 2025: Associated British Ports filed for the nation’s largest floating solar site at Barrow Dock.
United Kingdom Solar Power Market Report Scope
Solar energy is heat and radiant light from the sun that can be harnessed with technologies such as solar power (which is used to generate electricity) and solar thermal energy (which is used for applications such as water heating).
The UK solar power market is segmented by end user. By end user, the market is segmented into residential, commercial and industrial, and utilities. For each segment, the market sizing and forecasts were made based on installed capacity.
| By Technology | Monocrystalline Silicon PV |
| Polycrystalline Silicon PV | |
| Thin-Film PV (CdTe, CIGS) | |
| Emerging High-Efficiency (TOPCon, HJT, Perovskite Tandem) | |
| By Mounting | Rooftop Solar |
| Ground-Mounted Solar | |
| Floating Solar | |
| By End User | Residential |
| Commercial and Industrial | |
| Utility | |
| By Grid Connectivity | On-Grid |
| Off-Grid | |
| By Capacity Range | Below 5 kW |
| 5 to 100 kW | |
| 100 kW to 1 MW | |
| Above 1 MW | |
| By Component | Solar PV Modules |
| Inverters | |
| Mounting Structures and Trackers | |
| Balance of System (BoS) Components |
By Technology
| Monocrystalline Silicon PV |
| Polycrystalline Silicon PV |
| Thin-Film PV (CdTe, CIGS) |
| Emerging High-Efficiency (TOPCon, HJT, Perovskite Tandem) |
By Mounting
| Rooftop Solar |
| Ground-Mounted Solar |
| Floating Solar |
By End User
| Residential |
| Commercial and Industrial |
| Utility |
By Grid Connectivity
| On-Grid |
| Off-Grid |
By Capacity Range
| Below 5 kW |
| 5 to 100 kW |
| 100 kW to 1 MW |
| Above 1 MW |
By Component
| Solar PV Modules |
| Inverters |
| Mounting Structures and Trackers |
| Balance of System (BoS) Components |
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Key Questions Answered in the Report
How large is the UK solar power market in 2025?
Installed capacity reaches 19.28 GW in 2025, rising toward 52 GW by 2030.
Which segment grows fastest within the UK solar power market?
Residential rooftop solar leads with a 12% CAGR for 2025-2030, aided by lower panel prices and the Smart Export Guarantee.
Why are corporate PPAs important to UK solar growth?
Extended ROC-based certificates have improved revenue certainty, encouraging corporations such as Tesco to sign long-term solar PPAs and stimulate new build.
What grid reforms benefit new projects?
The National Grid ESO shift to a first-ready connection model is set to halve queue times and unlock 139 GW of capacity, expediting viable solar projects.
How do planning rules affect ground-mount solar?
England’s National Planning Policy Framework restricts prime farmland use, prompting developers to deploy agrivoltaics, brownfield, or floating solar to secure approvals.
Which technologies dominate module supply?
Monocrystalline silicon maintains 63% market share, though thin-film and TOPCon variants are gaining ground as efficiencies push toward 26%.
