Record 9,700 Solar Installations Added Across Yorkshire and the Humber

Government figures show that a record-breaking 9,700 solar installations were fitted across Yorkshire and the Humber during the first half of 2026.

According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the new capacity could generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of up to 16,300 homes. This builds on the 9,300 solar installations fitted during the same period in 2025.

York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith said Yorkshire was leading the way towards a future built on clean, home-grown energy.  

David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said: 

"Thousands of families and businesses across Yorkshire are benefiting from solar, helping to bring down their bills, build our county's energy security and put power back into the hands of local people.
Through my Mayoral Renewables Fund, we’re backing our community buildings so they can tap into solar power and focus their resources on what they do best, bringing people together.”

The installation of solar panels on York Minster has been celebrated as a major milestone as solar deployment reaches record levels across the region. The Reverend Canon Maggie Smith, Acting Dean of York, said the 184 panels installed on the South Quire roof last year showed that tackling climate change and protecting heritage were not mutually exclusive. The solar panel array was officially blessed and switched on in January 2025.

The Reverend Canon Maggie Smith said: 

“As one of the nation’s most significant historic landmarks, the Minster is very clearly demonstrating that tackling climate change and protecting shared heritage can be pursued side by side.
Through this work, York Minster is continuing its leadership role in the city, helping to deliver a cleaner, greener and more resilient future rooted in partnership and committed to achieving net zero by 2035.”

Alex McCallion, Director of Works and Precinct at York Minster, said the £400,000 project was "setting an example and a planning precedent in a restricted heritage environment".

"This system is guaranteed for 30 years; its payback is just under eight years which gives us 22 years of free energy."

The Climate Transition Minister, Katie White stated that the solar revolution currently underway was helping to reduce household bills while addressing the climate crisis.

The minister visited York Minster during August this year when she viewed its array of 184 solar panels on the South Quire roof. This is a major step towards reducing the carbon footprint of one of the largest cathedral estates in the world. The solar array is expected to generate around 70,000 kWh of electricity each year, equivalent to approximately a third of the Minster's electricity requirements, while reducing annual carbon emissions by an estimated 13 tonnes of COâ‚‚.

The Minster has worked closely with City of York Council, Historic England and other key stakeholders to create a set of tailored planning policies that allow historic buildings under its care to be retrofitted to improve their energy efficiency. Other sustainability measures across the estate include a water recycling system for the Minster's new stone-cutting saws, electric vehicle charging points and improvements to green spaces around the Minster.

Yorkshire and the Humber's record-breaking solar installation figures coincided with the region recording its hottest June day, when temperatures rose to 34.4 degrees centigrade on Friday, June 26. Following a blaze in July that significantly damaged the Springwood unit at Malton Hospital, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service established that the fire most likely started at one of the solar panels on the roof. The full cause could not be determined because of the damage sustained during the fire. Following the incident, York Minster confirmed that fire safety is a priority for its own solar array.

Like the rest of the country, Yorkshire has experienced droughts, heatwaves and wildfires throughout this summer. 

Earlier this year, BBC News reported that the government had awarded contracts to a record number of renewable energy projects, including 157 solar developments across England, Scotland and Wales.

Although climate and clean energy groups were pleased with this outcome, some communities faced with large developments have opposed such schemes.

Katie White said that the government wanted solar farms to be part of its Clean Power mission but that did not mean “every single farm should go through”.

"We need to make sure we're working together, listening to people, but land for solar is a good opportunity for the UK and for farmers. And as we've all seen in the summer, we've just had, we want to make sure we're using the sun that is there, but also protecting ourselves against future climate change, which we can all see is happening now. Solar power is increasingly becoming the right choice – from making bills more affordable to strengthening our energy security.”

Other solar installations in Yorkshire include almost 1,000 solar panels fitted across Ripon's The Jack Laugher Centre, the Thirsk and Sowerby Leisure Centre, and the Whitby Leisure Centre in North Yorkshire. A new solar installation has gone live at the Harrogate South wastewater treatment works as part of a broader 28-site renewable energy rollout across the region’s water sites. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (NYFRS) has made savings of more than £40,000 in electricity costs this year following the installation of rooftop solar panels at stations in Thirsk, Selby and York. This has helped free up vital funds as services face the growing challenge of tackling increasingly expensive wildfires. In this year alone, firefighters in England and Wales have responded to 1,132 wildfires, with each incident costing up to £20,000 per hectare to tackle.

John Sutton, from North Yorkshire Police and Fire and Rescue, explained that the new solar panels were making a significant difference to both costs and carbon emissions. During May and June alone, the York station’s rooftop panels generated nearly 12 megawatt-hours of electricity, equivalent to the electricity used by almost 1,200 homes in a day.

A number of major utility-scale solar developments are also progressing across Yorkshire. A major solar and battery storage development, Peartree Hill Solar Farm in the East Riding of Yorkshire received formal Development Consent Order (DCO) consent from the Secretary of State in July this year.

Developed by RWE, it is projected to generate enough low-carbon electricity to power approximately 167,000 UK homes. Clean Air Solar Farm, formerly known as Kingfisher Solar Farm, is a proposed 500MW solar and battery storage development near Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The

Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project is being developed by Perigus Energy in partnership with PS Renewables. The High Cayton Solar Farm, situated at South Stainley near Harrogate, is a 49.9 MW development by Severn Trent Green Power currently under construction for 2026/27. The development is expected to generate approximately 50,000 MWh annually, equivalent to the annual electricity use of around 18,000 homes.

Solar is also becoming accessible to households that may not be able to install a conventional rooftop system. Plug-in solar panels became legal in Great Britain on 27 August 2026, allowing compliant systems to be connected directly to household electricity supplies. These panels have been widely used across Europe for some time now, with Germany seeing about half a million new devices plugged in every year.

Katie White referred to this when she said:

“When the Middle East crisis hit in March, we were keen to look at all the options for consumers, so we've fast-tracked a process to bring them forward to market but the number one thing we've been looking at is safety. We've had an independent third party look at electrical safety, and our standards are going to be higher than the Germans.”

Based on the current energy price cap, the Department for Energy estimates that a typical UK home could save up to £480 a year by installing conventional rooftop solar panels. As of June, this year, more than 2.1 million solar installations have been recorded across the UK.

The record number of installations during the first half of 2026 shows how quickly solar power is expanding across Yorkshire and the Humber. From household rooftops and public buildings to projects such as York Minster and much larger solar farms, the technology is being deployed on a wide range of properties and at very different scales.

The challenge will be ensuring that this expansion is properly managed. Large solar developments will continue to raise questions around land use and local planning, while the growth of rooftop solar makes installation standards, electrical safety and fire safety increasingly important.

Yorkshire and the Humber's latest figures nevertheless suggest that solar is becoming an increasingly established part of the region's energy mix, with installations now appearing everywhere from homes and leisure centres to fire stations, historic buildings and major infrastructure sites.