UK installed more than 2.5GW of solar in Q1 2015

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

The UK solar industry connected 2.53GW of new solar capacity to the grid in the first quarter of 2015, according to the latest figures obtained by Solar Intelligence.

The astonishing amount of new capacity completed in the first three months of the year almost eclipses what the UK industry managed to install in total in 2014 – itself a record-breaking year for UK PV deployment.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The data has been obtained from combining the latest data fields from the regulator Ofgem, new site accreditation registers and council planning databases with the extensive bank of in-house surveys and interviews carried out by PV Tech's publisher Solar Media since the start of 2015.

The 2.53GW of new capacity means that the UK now has 8.16GW of solar capacity as of 31 March 2015.

UK Q1 2015 figure.jpg

Figure: New analysis undertaken by the Solar Intelligence team confirms that the UK added 2.5GW in Q1 2015, taking cumulative solar PV deployed in the UK to 8.1GW at the end of March 2015. 94% of new solar PV capacity added in Q1 2015 was from renewable obligation-funded, ground-mount solar farms.

During the past few months the Solar Trade Association and UK Solar have been highlighting that the 8GW mark was indeed passed at the end of Q1 2015, in contrast to data from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) that was putting solar PV deployment at just 6.5GW at the end of March.

Our Solar Intelligence team is currently undertaking new research to understand exactly what the time lag is for renewable obligation based projects getting counted on DECC’s monthly deployment figures, and an article will appear on this in the next few days once we have consulted with all relevant stakeholders in the UK. However, another good marker for the 2.53GW figure is that this appears to be within 10% of unofficial estimates that DECC has been using for their own internal modelling purposes.

According to Finlay Colville, head of market intelligence at Solar Media’s new Solar Intelligence group: “Given the strong correlation with the trade organisations’ figures, it would now appear that Solar Media’s coverage of the UK solar industry is providing the most accurate and up-to-date deployment data on the UK solar industry.

“The developers and EPCs that enabled 2.5GW of solar PV within just three months should be given massive credit in helping the UK move towards its target to increase renewable energy contributions. The fact that 2.5GW was deployed with almost no media backlash also shows that the industry is conducting its affairs in a very professional manner.”

Solar Media's new division Solar Intelligence launches its first ever report on 1 July, 2015. The Large-scale Ground Mount UK database allows you to access raw data on the top-500 companies active in the UK Large Scale Ground Mount Sector. To pre-order or find out more about the report go here.

Note: if you pre-order before 1 July you can save £300 on the report paying only £995, reduced from the standard price of £1,295 from 1 July

Read Next

September 15, 2025
Advances in edge-based artificial intelligence are helping make solar and storage interoperable by tackling the data challenge, writes Andrew Foster.
September 15, 2025
Italy’s latest renewable energy tender has received 12GW of bids, of which the majority, 10GW, came from solar PV.
September 15, 2025
Sunrun has priced a securitisation of leases and power purchase agreements, taking its non-recourse debt capital raised in Q3 above US$1.5 billion. 
September 15, 2025
Norwegian energy firm Statkraft has agreed to divest a portion of its renewable energy portfolio to Serentica Renewables.
September 15, 2025
UNSW spin-out company Lab360 Solar has been awarded funding from ARENA to bring its drone-based PV inspection technology to market.
Premium
September 15, 2025
The UK government and solar industry have jointly published a long-anticipated roadmap detailing how to maximise the country’s solar potential. Chris Hewett, CEO of Solar Energy UK takes a closer look at the details.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines