South West Homes Are Fitting Panels Faster Than Ever — Here’s What’s Behind the Numbers
A couple in Budleigh Salterton called us in August after their direct debit went up again, wanting to know whether solar actually stacked up on a bungalow with a fairly modest south-facing roof. It’s a conversation we’re having a lot this year. MCS, the body that certifies small-scale renewable installs, has logged 207,619 certified systems fitted across the UK so far in 2026 — already past the 203,697 that stood as the annual record from 2011 right through to last year, when it jumped to 269,195. On the current run rate, 2026 will beat that too.
March alone saw 28,861 MCS certified installations go in nationally, with June and July close behind. That’s not a fluke month — it’s roofers, electricians and installers like us working flat out through spring and into summer, fitting roof-mounted arrays on terraces in Exmouth and ground-mounted systems on the bigger plots out towards Woodbury and Lympstone. In July, solar supplied 14.4% of Great Britain’s electricity, up from 9.6% the year before, and a new generation record was set in May at 14.4 gigawatts.
For the couple in Budleigh, the numbers that mattered were closer to home: a 4.2kWp roof-mounted system with SolarEdge optimisers on each panel, so shading from next door’s sycamore doesn’t drag down the whole string, paired with a battery so the export they’d otherwise lose in the afternoon gets used to run the house after dark instead. Every install we do gets MCS certified and goes through the proper DNO notification before it’s switched on — that paperwork is what makes the difference between a system that’s compliant and one that just looks the part.
If you’re weighing up solar or battery storage anywhere in the South West, Solar Synergy — Lawson’s Electrical Ltd — will come out and look at your roof properly before quoting. Call 0800 160 1989 or find us at solarenergydevon.co.uk.
