Solar now requires no more upfront capital than coal or gas to produce the same annual electricity, reversing a disadvantage that was as large as five-to-one a decade ago. Batteries and wider grid flexibility still add real system costs, but firm solar-plus-storage is already competitive with new fossil generation in favorable markets. For capital-constrained
Unplugged Nirvana I live in Scotland and just got my solar install up and running a few days ago. While it's obviously still very early days, I'm really happy with how it's all going so far — and with my decision to go for a full panel and battery system. Was I tempted to
Data from MCS shows a record start to the year for certified installations. There were 210,000 installations in the UK between January and June 2026, up 17% on the previous highest start to a year in 2025 and equivalent to one installation every 74 seconds. Solar panels were the biggest driver, with almost 150,000
Solar panel prices have fallen 90 percent since 2010, making solar the cheapest form of energy on Earth. Early German subsidies and Chinese manufacturing scale-up set off a cost spiral that still drives 80 percent of the global solar supply chain today. Energy security, not climate policy, is now the biggest driver of adoption,
Here are four reasons solar energy has seen a meteoric rise in recent years Forty-seven years ago U.S. President Jimmy Carter stood grinning in front of a set of 32 bulky solar panels. It was 1979, and the oil crisis had sent fuel costs skyrocketing. Carter, in response, was making the White House an
Between increasingly extreme weather, rising electricity demands, and the rapid expansion of data centers, energy independence is starting to look less like a talking point for doomsday preppers and more like sound planning. That shift in thinking is driving more homeowners than ever towards solar-plus-battery energy solutions like the industry-leading Tesla Powerwall – but
Every day 5kWh was exported to the grid which saved homes £21 during the seven-day heat in June This summer’s heatwave has increased the EU’s solar output by 17%, research by Ember finds. This included rises of 28% in Italy, 23% in Hungary, 14% in France and 13% in Spain, compared with days measured
British households have earned nearly £100 million from selling their spare solar power through Octopus over the past year, the utility and power group said on the hottest day of the year last week (13 August). More UK citizens than ever are taking advantage of sunny weather and have collectively exported the equivalent of
We spoke with Brian Horne, to find out: how renewable energy powers his zero carbon home what it’s like to live with a heat pump why integrated electric homes are the future Brian is our technical knowledge lead. He led the research into the ‘integrated electric home’ – that’s a home with a heat
Having solar panels installed on a residential property is a significant investment that can deliver years of energy savings, and experienced installation teams guide homeowners through every stage of the process, from initial survey through to final commissioning and grid registration. Knowing what to expect at each stage of a solar installation helps homeowners