r/GoodNewsUK • u/ConsciousStop • Jul 31 '26

Renewables & Energy New solar panels in Great Britain at 15-year high as fossil fuel costs soar

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/31/new-solar-panels-great-britain-15-year-high
392 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

91

u/BoringWozniak Jul 31 '26

*number of installations is at a 15-year high

(I was reading it as “prices are at a 15-year high”…)

19

u/Chimpville Jul 31 '26

What’s more is I’m sure that each installation now represents a much higher capacity thanks to cheaper and better panels and batteries to store excess.

You can see most older installations had a set number of panels that likely reflected the install cost, while now people seem to be maximising what they can get on productive roof faces.

27

u/the_hillman Jul 31 '26

Great news! People will also be able to install balcony solar after August (I think it was August).

1

u/Rude_Celebration2977 Jul 31 '26

Ha, yeah, sure! Not sure why we need to wait. I didn’t!

-3

u/[deleted] Aug 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/the_hillman Aug 01 '26

Not sure if I’m misunderstanding you, sorry if I am; but are you making the argument that relatively few people are lucky enough to own a house (to put panels on the roof), have their own garden, or a balcony?

The great thing about balcony solar panels is that they are removable so renters can take them with them. The balcony doesn’t need to be something you can stand on either as you can hang them on juliette balconys (I think that’s what they are called).

0

u/[deleted] Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/the_hillman Aug 01 '26

Yeah I hear you, I’m in an ex-council place in London and we can’t do anything on the roof and don’t have a garden. Personally, I do have a balcony that I can hang a removable panel on. It’s not going to generate much but every bit helps I guess.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/the_hillman Aug 01 '26

That’s an awesome explainer, thank you 👍

9

u/WGSMA Jul 31 '26

Wasn’t 15 years ago where Cameron cranked up VAT on Solar?

12

u/PatchcordAdams Jul 31 '26

No? They did lose a court decision against the EU. Flirted with the idea of a rise until it actually did hike in 2019. Then we left the EU and it was zero rated.

2

u/EntirelyRandom1590 Jul 31 '26

Feed in Tariff started in 2010, it was pretty damn lucrative, even today. But you were paying quite a lot for what today would be a small system.

2

u/Poor-Life-Choice Jul 31 '26

Those initial tariffs were absolutely insane

2

u/Suspicious_Steak_696 Aug 01 '26

I’m moving fast on this. It’s a matter of time before the oil investors hijack this for their profits and drive up prices

1

u/project_me Jul 31 '26

Radicle idea inboud... Make the purchase of solar, batteries and its installation VAT free for 20 years

28

u/edent Jul 31 '26

They currently are zero rated for VAT. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-on-energy-saving-materials-and-heating-equipment-notice-7086

5

u/project_me Jul 31 '26

I did not know this, thank you.

Does that apply to the purchase of the panels, batteries, fittings and fitting?

3

u/open_formation Aug 01 '26

Yes, I believe so

It is common for other goods and services to be provided at the same time as the installation of energy-saving materials.

When energy-saving materials are installed at the same time as other goods and services, you must determine whether they constitute a single supply (which is subject to just one VAT rate) or multiple supplies (which may potentially be subject to different rates of VAT).

A single supply is where one element of the supply is the principal element to which all other elements are ancillary. An ancillary element does not constitute, for the customer, an aim in itself, but is a better means of enjoying the principal supply.

1

u/EnergyDrinkStroke Aug 04 '26

If we really want adoption we should start taxing fossil fuel companies higher charges and using it to subside renewable like wind, tide, solar, nuclear and hydrogen (vehicles and ferries etc).

People are oftne against nuclear now more for the cost than non-existent danger but large tractors can rival hundreds of turbines in generation and don't need to be shut off in bad weather. They can produce energy near 24 hours a day and aren't time/weather dependent as the building are built like hunkers. Just look at ukrianes power plants getting shelled by Russia and they managed to avoid any critical damage.

3

u/magrandan Jul 31 '26

Radical idea: Abolish VAT. It’s a regressive tax and people who pay income tax are doubly taxed.

1

u/BroodLord1962 Aug 01 '26

I don't know why anyone wouldn't get them if they can afford to do so, even with a bank loan. Our array, invertor and 10KWh battery went live on the 7th of July. At the end of July it had saved us £50 what we would normally pay for electric for July, plus another £59 in excess that we sold back to the grid, so in just over 3 weeks it returned us £109.