Solar energy supplied more power to Great Britain\u2019s grid in July than in any previous month as households turned to rooftop panels to cut their energy bills.<\/p>\n
Solar farms and rooftop panels provided 14.4% of the country\u2019s electricity after some parts of the UK recorded almost twice the average sunshine hours for the time of year.<\/p>\n
The long spells of cloudless weather helped solar to smash the previous monthly record of 12.4%, set in May. The July reading is 50% higher than a year ago, when only 9.6% of generation was from solar, according to data from the National Energy<\/a> System Operator (Neso).<\/p>\n The surge comes after official figures for Great Britain recorded more new solar power installations<\/a> in the first half of this year than in any six-month period since 2011. The data, which includes large, ground-mounted solar farms and rooftop panels, tracked 142,536 solar installations, putting 2026 on track to top last year\u2019s record solar additions.<\/p>\n However, the lion\u2019s share of the new solar installations recorded are on household rooftops, with these smaller solar systems making up slightly less than a third of the country\u2019s total solar power capacity.<\/p>\n More households have fitted solar panels to their rooftops in recent years, hoping to cut their energy bills by generating their own low-cost electricity as fossil fuels have caused bills to rocket, according to energy companies.<\/p>\n The extra solar power helped to meet demand for electricity to run air-conditioning units and fans. Photograph: Chris Howes\/Wild Places Photography\/Alamy<\/p>\n Chris Hewett, the chief executive of Solar Energy UK<\/a> \u2013 a trade association \u2013 said: \u201cFifteen years ago, solar energy was a footnote in the electricity mix. Now it is a major player, delivering homegrown, cheap, clean and reliable energy.\u201d<\/p>\n The extra solar power helped to meet higher-than-usual demand for electricity to run air-conditioning units and fans, providing a rare positive effect of the heatwaves that have led to drought, wildfires and record heat-related deaths<\/a> across Europe.<\/p>\n