Solar power has a small but growing role in electricity production in the United Kingdom.
There were few installations until 2010, when the UK government mandated subsidies in the form of a feed-in tariff (FIT), paid for by all electricity consumers. In the following years the cost of photovoltaic (PV) panels fell,[1] and the FIT rates for new installations were reduced in stages until the scheme closed to new applications in 2019.[2]
As of 2023[update], over 14.4 gigawatt (GW) had been installed, a third of which was rooftop solar.[3] Annual generation was 14 TWh in 2022 (4.3% of UK electricity consumption) and peak generation was more than 11 GW.[3] PV panels have a capacity factor of around 10% in the UK climate. Home rooftop solar panels installed in 2022 were estimated to pay back their cost in ten to twenty years.[4]
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