Britain’s roofs have enough space to meet more than 10 percent of Britain’s electricity needs while slashing bills, eco boss Dale Vince has said.
Half of homes in the country are ideal for rooftop solar panels, with only 11 percent being “completely unsuitable”.
Mr Vince, the founder of Ecotricity, said: “There’s enough renewable energy potential on our rooftops to provide more than 10 percent of Britain’s current electricity generation.
“This would cut our reliance on fossil fuels, lower household bills and move us closer to energy independence.
“The benefits of rooftop solar don’t stop there. It’s also better for bills, for efficiency and for connecting to the grid.
“On lower bills, once the upfront costs of installation have been paid, the energy generated is free and the more that’s generated the less that needs to be paid to energy suppliers. Excess energy can even be sold back to the grid.”
There are around 1.2 million UK homes with solar panel installations, recent industry data has showed.
The number of households installing rooftop solar panels reached its highest level in more than seven years in the first months of 2023 when energy-bill payers turned to renewable energy to guard against spiralling costs.
More than 50,700 households installed arrays between January and March, more than double the number in the same months last year and the highest figure since late 2015.
Only 4.4 percent of the UK’s electricity is generated from solar, compared with 35.9 peRcent from gas and 23.3 percent from wind, figures from National Grid show.
Mr Vince said: “We need a government that makes it easier rather than harder to install rooftop solar. A government that helps lower our energy bills and gives us energy security.
“If we’re serious about lowering bills and cutting fossil fuels, then we need a rooftop revolution. We have the technology. We have the rooftops. Now we need a government that gets it.”
