2023 was a record year for solar with 190,000 installations being carried out, but growth still lags behind government targets for the low carbon technology.
Growing demand for solar technology among UK homeowners keen to generate electricity to ameliorate their energy bills has been a driving factor behind the solar boom. As energy bills continue to burden households, an increasing number are seeking energy generation and efficiency solutions.
Additionally, UK heat pump installations reached a record of almost 40,000 in 2023, an increase of 25 per cent compared to the previous year. MCS has identified a surge in demand for heat pumps following the government’s increase in grants available through the boiler upgrade scheme from £5,000 for an air-source heat pump to £7,500. Grant applications increased by 50 per cent following this change.
Partnering green tech to push progress
In spite of a 12 year high for rooftop solar installations, and a record year for heat pumps, the UK is still off-target for 600,000 heat pump installations a year by 2028. Just over 200,000 heat pumps have been installed in the UK since 2008, a long way off this annual target.
Furthermore, the UK needs to reduce its reliance on gas as an energy source to progress with net zero targets, and ban the development of new oil projects.
Battery storage could provide a solution and further increases for solar and heat pump installations. Of the UK’s 4,700 certified batteries, 4,400 were installed last year as more homeowners turned to energy storage solutions to enhance the efficacy of their solar systems.
Chris Hewett, chief executive of the trade association Solar Energy UK, said: “The solar industry is on a roll, particularly as we start to conclude work on the government-industry solar taskforce, whose road map for delivering 70GW of capacity is due to be published in a couple of months.”
“It is also very gratifying to see such growth in the deployment of heat pumps and battery energy storage systems, which partner so well with rooftop solar energy systems by maximising the savings and decarbonisation that they offer.”
As the market for rooftop solar and heat pumps continues to expand, partnering green technologies could be the answer to achieving targets and ensuring households get the most out of the tech they invest in.
