The Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) has confirmed Wales installed a record number of residential and commercial solar panels and heat pumps through 2023.
Wales saw more than double the amount of certified renewable installations in Wales than the previous year, bringing the total number of Welsh homes and businesses with renewable energy to over 100,000.
Almost one in ten households in Wales have MCS-certified renewable installations as of 2023, the highest proportion of any country in the UK.
Solar panels accounted for the majority of new renewable energy, with 14,730 MCS-certified installations across the country, representing a 12-year high and the highest level since Feed-In Tariff grants were cut in 2011.
One of the most notable increases was that of heat pump installations. The 147% rise between 2022 and 2023 is primarily credited to UK government grants like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) introduced in 2022.
Grants available for homeowners via the Welsh government’s Nest scheme have also helped with the rollout of renewables. Although the Nest scheme is due to end in March 2024, a new scheme is set to replace it the following month.
David Cowdrey, director of external affairs at the MCS Foundation, said that this considerable increase in renewable energy technologies is “good news” for Welsh homes and energy bills but warns that the overall goal has yet to be reached.
Cowdrey said: “While the upward trend is encouraging, we need to install many more heat pumps much faster to meet climate change targets. Government policies like mandating heat pumps in all new-build homes and reducing the price of electricity so that heat pumps are guaranteed to be cheaper to run than a gas boiler will help to increase uptake.”
You can read the full article on our sister site, Solar Power Portal.
