Wales continues to outshine the rest of Britain when it comes to solar PV installations, new analysis has revealed.
MCS statistics show 15,418 new solar panel systems were installed in Wales in 2024, which is 500 installations per 100,000 people – twice the rate recorded in England.
A total of 13,310 solar arrays were installed on homes, and the remaining 2,108 were commercial solar installations.
Isle of Anglesey was the local authority with the highest percentage of households adopting solar last year in all of the UK, with over 3% of homes having panels fitted in 2024.
A total of 979 new installations were carried out in Anglesey, a slight decrease from the previous year.
In fact, six of the ten local authorities with the highest percentage of homes to get solar PV in 2024 were in Wales.
After Isle of Anglesey, Ceredigion saw the second highest percentage of homes installing solar, with 891 installations in total.
Powys, with a total of 1,466 installations, the highest overall number recorded in Wales .
Most new solar panel installations in 2024:
1. Powys – 1,466
2. Carmarthenshire – 1,373
3. Gwynedd – 1,118
4. Pembrokeshire – 1,076
5. Isle of Anglesey – 979
Cardiff and Swansea continue to have relatively low rates of solar uptake, with just 742 and 600 installations respectively in 2024. These local authorities both have among the lowest solar uptake in the country per capita.
The analysis of MCS data by renewable energy experts EnergyEfficiency.ie also revealed that the cost of installing solar panels in Wales has fallen significantly over the past year.
The average cost of a solar installation decreased by around £1,000 over the past 12 months, from £8,956 in January 2024 to £7,961 in the first half of January 2025.
It was a successful year for solar PV overall, as the high installation rate recorded in 2023 was marginally surpassed last year. Only 2011 saw more solar panel installations when an impressive 16,265 PV systems were fitted.
Elsewhere, Scotland also recorded a high rate of solar adoption again in 2024, with 24,338 arrays installed in total, of which 15,409 were domestic installations.
The overall per capita rate for installations was 450 per 100,000 people in Scotland, just behind Wales, however Wales had a higher percentage of domestic installations.
In England, the rate was much lower at just 250 solar arrays per 100,000 inhabitants, totalling 142,791 new PV systems.
The MCS data revealed there were more than 260,000 certified renewable energy installations in UK homes and small businesses last year, including solar PV, heat pumps, and battery storage.
This represented a 7% increase compared to 2023, which was itself a record year for installations.
