The Sunshine Bill

A major CPRE report has found that over half the solar panels needed to hit national net zero targets could be fitted on rooftops and in car parks.

The research, by the UCL Energy Institute, for CPRE, shows that decarbonising the national energy grid requires far less land than feared. Installing solar panels on existing buildings and car parks would enjoy near-universal public support and help minimise objections to large solar farms in the countryside, the research finds. It also reveals that the potential of brownfield sites to generate renewable energy is dramatically underused.

Read the report

The report’s publication marks the launch of CPRE’s new campaign for rooftop renewables and a petition calling on the government to ensure all suitable new buildings have rooftop solar. We’re calling on the government to set a national rooftop solar target of at least 40GW by 2035.

Sign the petition

Countryside under pressure

A series of crises, including energy security, food security, climate change, nature recovery and housing, are placing the countryside under intense pressure. The report concludes that, in order to move the country to renewable energy in time to prevent the worst effects of climate breakdown, ground-mounted solar projects will be needed. However, the potential of rooftop solar offers hope for protecting valuable landscapes. Prioritising rooftop solar can also avoid planning disputes and gradually remove the need for large greenfield schemes.

The government has set a national target of 70GW of solar energy generation by 2035. CPRE’s report analysed the solar capacity of rooftops and covered car parks across England, providing an assessment of the total energy that could be generated.

The key findings are:

• Installing solar panels on existing rooftops and other land such as car parks could provide at least 40-50GW in England by 2035.

• In 2050, with further investment, there is potential to generate 117GW of low carbon electricity from roofs and other developed spaces.

As well as calling on the government to ensure all suitable new buildings have rooftop solar as standard, we want to see regulations updated so that solar capacity is a requirement of planning permission for major refurbishments and new residential, commercial and industrial buildings.

Widespread support

If the government fails to kickstart a rooftop solar revolution, an area of countryside larger than the size of Greater London will be required for ground-mounted schemes. CPRE’s view is that this land could be much better used for either nature recovery, public amenity or low impact food production; or a mixture of these.

Roger Mortlock, chief executive of CPRE, said:

‘We are missing a trick in failing to install more solar panels on roofs and car parks. Rooftop solar has almost universal public support. It’s unobtrusive and largely out of the line of sight, which means fewer objections and a speedier passage through the planning system.

‘Given the urgency of the climate crisis, it’s time to fit renewables as standard on all new development. Homeowners expect it on new homes and it’s crazy to see massive new warehouses with massive roofs waved through without any expectation they install rooftop solar.

‘The planning system is stuck in the fossil fuel age without a plan for net zero. The first step must be all new buildings and major renovations requiring solar panels as a condition of planning permission unless there are strong reasons not to.’

Our recommendations

With the right policies, a decentralised future of renewable energy cooperatives sprouting up in communities across the country, supported by the government, is a realistic option.

The report’s key recommendations to reach the government target of 70GW of solar energy by 2035 include:

• A new rooftop solar target: at least 40GW by 2035 delivered through the lowest cost opportunities on new builds, commercial buildings and car parks.

• Land use framework: a national strategy to balance the competing needs for buildings, carbon sequestration, energy and infrastructure, food security and nature recovery on a finite amount of land.

• ‘Roof first’: local communities can audit solar potential on available south-facing roofs, following the example of Kendal Town Council in the Lake District, and then will be able to prioritise solar panels on suitable brownfield land and avoid best and most versatile agricultural land.

• Grid capacity: work with Ofgem to require Distribution Network Operators across the country to invest in local grid capacity to better accommodate increased generation from solar and heat pumps.

Professor Mark Barrett of the UCL Energy Institute, lead author of the research, said:

‘This study found there is more than sufficient potential solar capacity on rooftops and car parks in urban areas. It’s clear we can get close to meeting the government’s solar energy target without necessitating the development of large solar farms in sensitive rural areas. Urban photovoltaic panels on car parks, and new and large buildings, would be relatively cheap although retrofitting solar panels onto existing homes would be more costly.’Petition

We will be regularly running petitions. This one below is now closed and gained 8705 signatures:

Produce a Farmland Protection Policy to regulate the loss of farmland to solar

Due to the cumulative impact solar developments will have on availability of agricultural land, the Government should produce a regulatory framework in the form of a National Policy Statement on Farmland Protection to avoid losing a critical mass of productive agricultural land to solar.

Agricultural land is a finite resource. We believe there is currently a policy conflict where Government seeks to protect and enhance our domestic production to maintain food security whilst also encouraging the growth of solar energy production. New ground-mounted solar developments must be subject to increased regulation to ensure that they do not undermine UK food security, which could result in increasing food costs.

To view the results, please click here.

Countryside ahead on rooftop solar but England’s full potential overlooked

8th April 2024

New CPRE analysis reveals that homes in the countryside are leading the way on solar power generation. 48 of the 50 English parliamentary constituencies with the highest domestic solar generation capacity are in rural areas, while all 200 of those with the lowest are in towns and cities.

Analysis of local authority data showed that rural constituencies have enough domestic solar panels to generate 12.5 megawatts (MW) energy every year – as opposed to 4.5 MW in urban areas. However, both figures are far too low, and it’s clear that the transformative power of rooftop solar continues to be overlooked. The huge amount of cheap, low carbon electricity that rooftop solar can provide will save people money, and is progress we cannot afford to stall – for the sake of our countryside and planet.

Lessons to learn

Together with our analysis of government data, our new report on the economics of rooftop solar clearly shows that with the right initiatives in place, the rooftops of homes, warehouses and car parks across the nation could become clean power stations, cutting carbon emissions, slashing energy bills and protecting our countryside.

The report argues that lessons should be learned from countries including Germany, where cash incentives for installing solar panels are as much as double those offered in the UK. In Japan, homeowners can have solar panels installed for free in exchange for contributing energy to the grid.

Read our new rooftop solar report

It isn’t all about roofs, however. Since 2023, it has been a legal requirement for a canopy of solar panels to be installed on all new car parks in France. CPRE research has shown that installing solar panels on the UK’s car parks and new buildings could generate 31 gigwatts (GW), as much energy as ten new nuclear power stations and more than seven times the amount currently produced by rooftop solar and solar farms combined.

CPRE planning and policy lead Jackie Copley said:

‘We’re calling for a rooftop solar revolution. It’s unacceptable that developers are not required to include solar panels on all new homes. The time for change has come.

‘The government must set a target for generating at least 60% of the UK’s solar energy from rooftops and make it easier and cheaper to install panels on existing homes and commercial buildings.’

Taken together, all suitable roof space and car parks in the UK could generate a whopping 117 GW, substantially more than the government’s total solar target of 70 GW by of 2050.

A rooftop revolution

With enough roof space in England to meet more than half of our solar energy targets, rooftop solar is a common sense solution that continues to be overlooked. If you want to help, sign our rooftop solar petition.

We all have a duty to make the best possible use of our land. The UK’s outdated and expensive energy system is using more and more of the space we need for food, wildlife and wellbeing. The time for change has come.

Taken together, all suitable roof space and car parks in the UK could generate a whopping 117 GW, substantially more than the government’s total solar target of 70 GW by 2035.

Lighting the way: international policies for making rooftop solar a reality

In 2023, CPRE published research by members of the UCL Energy Institute, which found that there is potential for up to 117 gigawatts (GW) of low carbon electricity to be generated from rooftops and other developed spaces across England. This is substantially more than the government’s target for 70 GW of solar energy by 2035.

To explore how this enormous opportunity can be realised at speed, CPRE commissioned WPI Economics to analyse approaches being taken internationally to deliver rapid growth in rooftop solar capacity. The findings of this research show that other major economies are pursuing a range of innovative policies to accelerate the deployment of rooftop solar and a bold and ambitious government here could turbocharge our installation rates by adapting these policies to a UK context. You can download and read the full report on this page.

Added 8 April 2024 

https://www.cpre.org.uk/resources/lighting-the-way-international-policies-for-making-rooftop-solar-a-reality/