Solar panel planning trends
Solar panels take ten times their 2016 share of planning applications, and the solar panel planning index, at 1,029, is the highest since 2016.
Solar panel applications since 2016
Solar panel applications in every 10,000 planning applications, over the 12 months to each month
How this is measuredAbove the 2023 high
Councils received 11,756 solar panel applications in 2023, almost five times the 2,391 of 2020. Counts eased to 10,081 in 2025 while all applications fell. The solar panel planning index stands at 1,029, just above its August 2023 level of 1,013.
Highest in the South West
From 2023 to 2025 the South West received 289 solar panel applications in every 10,000, against 228 across the UK. The East of England followed on 267. Northern Ireland was lowest, on 108. Cornwall has received 1,125 since 2016, more than any other council.
Q3 2026 against a year earlier
Councils received 2,737 solar panel applications in Q3 2026: 266 in every 10,000 applications, against 224 in Q3 2025, a share of all applications 19% higher than a year earlier.
Solar panel applications each quarter
2,737 in Q3 2026, against 2,447 a year earlier.
Out of every 10,000 applications
As a share of every application: 266 in every 10,000 in Q3 2026, against 224 a year earlier.
Where solar panel applications concentrate
By region
Solar panel applications in every 10,000 planning applications, 2023 to 2025
Councils with the most
Applications since 2016
-
Cornwall
South West · 146 in every 10,000 1,125 -
North Yorkshire
Yorkshire and Humber · 142 in every 10,000 957 -
Dorset
South West · 178 in every 10,000 864 -
Wiltshire
South West · 151 in every 10,000 855 -
Somerset
South West · 128 in every 10,000 731 -
Dumfries and Galloway
Scotland · 355 in every 10,000 589 -
South Downs National Park
South East · 179 in every 10,000 570 -
Leeds
Yorkshire and Humber · 96 in every 10,000 567 -
South Norfolk and Broadland (shared register)
East of England · 188 in every 10,000 527 -
Babergh and Mid Suffolk (shared register)
East of England · 184 in every 10,000 511
Latest solar panel applications
- Crawshay Court, Eagleswell Road, Llantwit Major Energy efficiency retrofit works, comprising of 25 flats. Improvements to the thermal performance (via external wall and roof insulation, new windows, enhanced air-tightness), replacement of the mechanical ventilation system, conversion of the existing flat roof to a pitched roof and introduction of solar panels, general aesthetic improvements, a small single-storey extension to the rear, minor internal remodelling of the lounge area, and works to the external landscaping, including provision of visitor parking bays.
- 2 - 16 Coombe Road Brighton Prior approval for installation of photovoltaic solar panels to roof.
- The Hathaway Academy Hathaway Road Grays Essex Installation of solar photovoltaic carport canopies over the existing off-street parking area at Hathaway Academy, with a total generating capacity of approximately 68 kWp
- Grimsbury Community Centre 5 Burchester Place Banbury Installation of 20no in-line photovoltaic roof panels (existing unauthorised)
- 22 Oakfield Lane, Keston Part demolition at front and rear and erection of two storey front and rear extensions, garden patio and steps. Roof alterations comprising of increase in height of main roof ridge with solar panels and elevational alterations. Detached single storey ancillary outbuilding with decking for a gymnasium, home office and landscaping
- 15 Frithside Street Fraserburgh Aberdeenshire Alterations and Change of Use from Offices (Class 2) to 4 Flats (Class 9) and Installation of Solar Panels
Questions
How many solar panel planning applications are there in the UK?
Councils have received 62,949 since January 2016, 10,481 of them in the 12 months to September 2026. Their share of all applications is the highest since 2016.
Which councils get the most solar panel applications?
Cornwall, North Yorkshire and Dorset have received the most since 2016.
Are solar panel applications rising or falling?
Below the 2023 peak on the count, at its highest on share. Councils received 10,481 in the 12 months to September 2026, against 11,756 in 2023, but the solar panel planning index reached 1,029, the highest since 2016, because total applications have fallen.
Why are there fewer applications than solar installations?
Most domestic rooftop solar in England is permitted development and needs no planning application. Those rights widened on 21 December 2023 to cover flat roofs and remove the 1 megawatt limit on non-domestic rooftop systems.
About Plota
Plota is the UK's most visited planning search, according to Similarweb. It shows every new planning application from every UK council, read daily from 390 planning registers, with past applications back to 2016 from more than 420 registers, including those of councils since merged. It also covers planning committee decisions, HMO licences and premises licences.
How this is measured
What needs an application
Most domestic rooftop solar in England needs no application, and those rights widened in December 2023, so these figures follow schemes that still need permission, not installations.
Methodology
- What is counted: planning applications to UK councils whose description names solar panels or a close variant of the words, by the date each council received them. These are planning applications, not completed schemes; the largest energy and infrastructure projects are consented nationally rather than by councils, so they sit outside these counts.
- How matches are checked: we read the 200 most recent solar panel applications and 20 from every year since 2016 to confirm each one belongs.
- Topic counts leave out, by design, works to trees and applications that only discharge conditions, amend an earlier permission or approve reserved matters, which follow a scheme already counted. Everything else is counted.
- A share is the number out of every 10,000 applications over the previous 12 months. Each topic is a number in every 10,000 planning applications, so trends compare when overall planning activity changes; the share still moves when either the topic's count or the total does. The solar panel planning index sets the 2016 share at 100, so 200 means twice as common as in 2016.
- Source: the planning registers of every UK council, January 2016 to September 2026, read on 9 November 2026.
- Planning is seasonal, so each quarter is compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Year on year: each topic's and theme's share of all applications in Q3 2026, against Q3 2025, at every council we hold. A share is the number in every 10,000 applications. Shares compare across councils and years; raw counts do not.
- Left out of the topic shares: Birmingham's applications from June to September 2026: a validation backlog at the council since June 2026: of 685 reference numbers it issued in September, its register lists 288. The same months a year earlier are left out too, so every comparison covers the same councils.
- Download the data (CSV): every topic and theme, each quarter since 2016.
Sources
- Domestic rooftop solar in England is generally permitted development; from 21 December 2023 flat roofs were brought within it and the 1 megawatt limit on non-domestic rooftop systems was removed blog.planningportal.co.uk