The UK is set for a rooftop solar ‘revolution’ as the government confirms that all new build homes will have solar panels ‘by default’ under the Future Homes Standard, to be published this autumn.
Under the Future Homes Standard, building regulations will be amended to ‘explicitly’ promote solar, subject to practical limits. There will be flexibility in place for new homes surrounded by trees or with a lot of shade overhead.
This expands the ambit of solar for new build homes from that of the previous administration’s plans for PV panels to cover equivalent to 40% of the building’s floor area or none at all. The new administration proposes to bring forward ‘rigorous’ proposals to install a reasonable amount of solar coverage even if the developers cannot meet the 40% coverage.
“Under this proposal, it would be a functional requirement of the Building Regulations that new homes, with rare exceptions, are built with renewable electricity generation. In the vast majority of cases, we expect this would be solar panels,” stated the government.
According to the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, new homes will also come with low-carbon heating as the government targets to bring down energy bills and the cost of living for young families and new house buyers.
Overall, the Labour Government wants to power 1.5 million new homes under its Plan for Change with renewable energy and low-carbon heating.
“Solar panels can save people hundreds of pounds off their energy bills, so it is just common sense for new homes to have them fitted as standard. So many people just don’t understand why this doesn’t already happen. With our plans, it will,” said Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
He added, “Today marks a monumental step in unleashing this rooftop revolution as part of our Plan for Change, and means new homeowners will get lower bills with clean home-grown power.”
Welcoming the announcement, Octopus Energy Zero Bills Director Nigel Banks said, “People deserve lower energy bills, and adding solar panels to a house as it’s built is an incredibly effective way to slash costs from day one. With the right smart tech and storage added to the mix, some households won’t have to pay a penny for energy.”
These plans are aligned with Prime Minister Keir Starmer-led government’s target of installing up to 47 GW of solar PV capacity by 2030 including rooftop solar (see UK Targets Up To 47 GW Solar PV Installed Capacity By 2030).
UK’s Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook said, “The Future Homes Standard will ensure new homes are modern and efficient with low-carbon heating, while our common-sense planning changes will now make it easier and cheaper for people to use heat pumps and switch to EVs so they can play their part in bolstering our nation’s energy security.”
At the end of 2024, UK’s total installed solar energy capacity stood at 20 GW, comprising 4.2 GW on homes, 4.2 GW on commercial scale rooftops, and 11.5 GW ground mounted. Solar Energy UK had earlier this year shared projections for the solar capacity of the country to expand to 90 GW in 2035 with 15.3 GW on homes, 15.3 GW at commercial scale and 59.3 GW of solar farms.
