Why UK Solar Carport Plans are Paused While EV Infrastructure Takes Priority

The government has chosen not to move ahead immediately with a national mandate for solar carports on UK car parks, instead fast-tracking planning and regulatory changes to speed up electric vehicle (EV) charging deployment. This keeps EV charging infrastructure as the primary policy focus for transport decarbonisation, while decisions on mandatory solar canopies are deferred for further consultation and design work.

What the Solar Carport Mandate Was Aiming to Do

In May 2025 the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero launched a “solar on car parks and electric vehicle charging” call for evidence, asking whether large new or existing outdoor car parks should be required to install solar PV canopies. The idea mirrored France’s recent rules on solarising large parking areas and aimed to turn UK car parks into distributed power plants supplying both on-site EV chargers and the wider grid.

Analysts estimate that equipping just a fraction of UK car parks with solar canopies could unlock several hundred megawatts of decentralised PV capacity, contributing to national clean-power targets while reducing peak-time grid demand from rapid chargers. For site owners and operators, solar carports also promise reduced long-term energy costs, more resilient power for EV charging hubs and additional protection and amenity for customers.

How EV Charging Policy Has Taken Priority

In its late-2025 outcome to the call for evidence, the government delivered a partial response that focused heavily on EV charging rules and left the core question of a solar carport mandate unresolved. Ministers emphasised that a “responsive and enabling planning system” for EV chargepoints is now the priority, particularly given the commitment to reach at least 300,000 public charge points across the UK by 2030.

Key next steps include expanding permitted development rights (PDRs) for EV chargepoints and associated infrastructure, simplifying variation applications for sites that already have parking permission, and treating EV infrastructure as a critical national priority in planning and street-works regimes. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is expected to cut some street-works permitting costs from around £1,000 to as low as £45 and slash connection wait times from months to days, directly supporting faster charger rollout.

Why the Government is Cautious About Mandating Solar Carports Now

Industry responses to the consultation welcomed the concept of more solar in car parks but raised practical concerns about a one-size-fits-all mandate. Energy UK, among others, noted that car parks differ widely by size, usage patterns, and grid connection constraints, and that some locations face significant physical or economic barriers to installing canopies.

There is also recognition that widespread solar-carport deployment interacts closely with ongoing reforms to grid connections, distribution-network reinforcement and spatial energy planning. Mandating canopies before these issues are resolved could, in some cases, lead to stranded assets or long connection delays, especially for high-power charging hubs and e-HGV depots that already push the limits of local networks.

Implications for Solar Deployment and Car Park Owners

Delaying a formal mandate slows what could have been a major new demand driver for commercial-scale solar PV in the UK, including solar carports integrated with battery storage. However, policy signals from the consultation and parallel planning reforms still strongly encourage voluntary solar-carport projects, particularly at large retail, workplace, and transport-hub car parks.

For car park owners and landlords, this creates both a window of flexibility and a competitive opportunity: early movers can design bespoke solar-plus-EV-charging solutions that suit their sites, rather than retrofitting later to meet a prescriptive standard. Partnering with experienced renewable-energy installers such as Atlantic Renewables allows owners to model expected yields, EV-charging loads, and on-site storage options to optimise returns and grid impacts.

If you operate a commercial car park or multi-site estate, Atlantic Renewables’ engineers can help assess whether a solar carport and integrated EV-charging solution makes economic sense today, independent of whether a future mandate is introduced.

What This Means for EV Drivers and Net Zero

For EV drivers, the government’s choice to prioritise charging policy should mean more visible near-term improvements in access, reliability and charging speeds. The UK’s EV charging expansion plan for 2025 alone features over 30,000 new public chargepoints, with at least half of new public units expected to be rapid or ultra-rapid chargers, plus stronger coverage on key motorways and in rural areas.

From a net-zero perspective, the delay in mandating solar carports is a missed chance to lock significant extra renewable generation into everyday infrastructure at pace. However, aligning grid, planning, and EV-charging reforms first could enable a more robust, scalable solar-carport policy in the next phase, better integrated with smart charging, local flexibility markets and energy-storage deployment.

Opportunities for Integrating Solar Carports with EV Charging

Even without an immediate mandate, the direction of travel is towards car parks functioning as local energy hubs that blend solar PV, battery storage and managed EV charging. Well-designed systems can minimise grid-connection costs by using on-site generation to cover much of the charging demand and can provide valuable flexibility services to distribution networks.

By working with Atlantic Renewables, businesses can design canopies and PV layouts that maximise generation while maintaining vehicle circulation, accessibility, and safety. Solar carports can be deployed in phases, starting with the most heavily used areas and high-dwell-time bays, then expanded as EV uptake and local grid capacity evolve.

Get in touch

If you are exploring how solar carports and EV charging could work on your site in light of the UK government’s delayed mandate, please get in touch with Atlantic Renewables. Our team of experts can design and install integrated solar PV, battery storage and EV-charging systems tailored to your car park, helping you cut emissions, control energy costs and future-proof your estate.