The UK Solar Roadmap, published in June 2025, is a government-industry comprehensive plan designed to rapidly expand solar energy deployment across the UK, supporting the government's Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and longer-term net-zero 2050 goals. The roadmap targets increasing the solar capacity from around 18 GW today to between 45 and 47 GW by 2030—more than doubling current installations. This expansion includes both domestic and commercial rooftop solar systems as well as large ground-mounted solar farms, aiming to make solar a cornerstone of Britain’s clean energy future.

Ambitious Solar Capacity Growth

Central to the roadmap is a target of 45-47 GW of total solar capacity by 2030, enough to power up to nine million homes. This includes an ambitious plan to grow small-scale rooftop solar installations from about 1.8 million now to around 9 million by 2030, greatly increasing solar presence on residential and commercial buildings. Large-scale solar farms will play a vital role in replacing fossil fuel generation, enhancing grid stability, and boosting energy security.

Over 70 Practical Actions for Delivery

The roadmap identifies more than 70 specific actions spread across various key thematic areas to realize this goal. These areas include:

• Grid connection and network reforms: Measures to streamline and expedite grid connections for solar projects, addressing current procedural delays for both rooftop and ground-mount installations. This includes reforms to reduce red tape for smaller-scale projects and fairer allocation of network upgrade costs.
• Supply chain strengthening and innovation: Efforts to build a resilient, diverse, and sustainable solar supply chain, encouraging UK manufacturing in components such as transformers, inverters, brackets, and battery. Support for innovation in next-generation technologies like perovskite solar cells is also included.
• Skills development and workforce growth: Strategies to expand the installer and technician workforce to meet rising demand, supporting job creation in the solar sector expected to reach around 35,000 by 2030.
• Planning and regulatory reforms: Simplification of planning rules, including reclassification of certain overhead power line projects and exploration of support mechanisms for new types of solar installations like floating solar on water bodies.
• Community benefits and environmental enhancements: Introduction of mandatory community benefit funds paid by solar developers to ensure local socio-economic benefits and biodiversity improvements arise from solar projects.

Grid and Network Improvements

Addressing grid constraints is seen as crucial. Current connection delays for larger-scale solar installations and battery storage projects are a notable bottleneck. The roadmap includes commitments to allow projects most likely to proceed to “jump the queue” and revises application requirements for smaller solar projects to reduce unnecessary regulatory hurdles. Approaches to address the uneven costs of network upgrades ("postcode lottery") are being reviewed to foster equitable solar deployment across regions.

Enhancing Supply Chain Sustainability

While UK manufacturing of conventional silicon solar panels remains economically challenging, the UK aims to grow domestic production of solar-related components and advanced technologies. The government is supporting companies scaling up production capacity and innovation. The roadmap also commits to ethical sourcing, endorsing the Solar Stewardship Initiative to avoid use of materials linked to forced labor or modern slavery practices.

Role of Rooftop Solar and Commercial Deployment

Rooftop solar is emphasised as a key driver of the solar expansion, especially on commercial and industrial buildings such as warehouses and retail spaces. There is recognition that awareness among homeowners and businesses of solar benefits—like reducing energy bills, improving property energy ratings, and supporting decarbonisation—needs to be improved. Financial solutions and reforms are planned to make rooftop solar more accessible and attractive. Solar car parks and floating solar farms are also identified as emerging scalable opportunities for landowners and developers.

Future Homes and Energy Efficiency Integration

The roadmap ties into broader UK energy efficiency policies, including the Future Homes Standard set to require solar installation on most new builds from late 2025 onwards, ensuring new residential construction contributes to the solar capacity growth and net-zero objectives.

Governance and Collaborative Implementation

A Solar Council, evolving from the Solar Taskforce that developed the roadmap, will oversee progress and coordinate government and industry efforts. The plan respects the roles of devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with ongoing collaboration to ensure solar benefits are realised UK-wide.

Economic and Environmental Benefits

Scaling solar power is positioned as a critical lever for energy security, protecting consumers from volatile fossil fuel prices, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and driving job creation in the low carbon sector. By 2030, solar generation could contribute significantly to displacing natural gas generation and reduce import costs, supporting UK energy independence.

In summary, the UK Solar Roadmap sets out a detailed, multi-faceted strategy to more than double solar capacity by 2030 through concrete government and industry actions covering grid reform, supply chain development, workforce growth, planning improvements, and community engagement. This roadmap is key to delivering affordable, secure, and clean energy consistent with the UK’s climate and energy commitments.