Solar Energy UK
20 January 2026
The solar energy and battery storage industry will play a major part in delivering Westminster’s plan to revolutionise how we heat and power our homes.
Through a combination of grants and loans, the £15bn Warm Homes Plan is set to roll out upgrades to five million homes, slashing energy bills and taking a million families out of fuel poverty by the end of the decade, says the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Solar Energy UK understands that more will be made available via the devolved administrations.
Gemma Grimes, Director of Policy and Delivery at Solar Energy UK, said: “Installing solar panels can slash hundreds of pounds off household energy bills each year, especially when combined with a battery energy storage system and a heat pump. With the loans and grants provided through the Warm Homes Plan, a huge proportion of the UK population will share in the benefits. Almost two million smaller-scale installations have been made already, on homes and businesses – the industry stands ready and able to deliver millions more by 2030.”
Already, around 1.6m UK households have gone solar, enjoying massive savings on their bills. A large proportion of these are paired with battery energy storage systems – able to store solar power for use when most needed, or in the winter charge up with cheap power overnight. Around 300,000 businesses, village halls, schools and other such buildings also have small-scale (50 kilowatts or less) solar systems fitted, plus tens of thousands of large commercial-scale installations on the likes of warehouses, supermarkets and factories.
A record 257,000 small-scale solar installations were completed last year, according to standards body MCS, 70% of which were on homes. The figure represents growth of 32% compared to 2024, or seven times more than 2020.
Combined with the Future Homes Standard and Future Buildings Standard, which will make rooftop photovoltaics the default for new construction, the Warm Homes Plan will unlock even further growth for the solar and battery sector. The Government expects that the number of solar homes will be tripled by 2030.
The government-backed low or zero-interest loans will be available for solar, batteries, heat pumps and insulation alike, making access to a menu of bill-cutting technologies affordable for us all. Low-income households would have the cost covered in full. New rules will also ensure that landlords invest in upgrades to cut renters’ and social tenants’ bills, too.
The loans echo a successful policy in Scotland, which saw a huge increase in take-up – with relatively greater increases in adoption in poorer areas than richer ones, according to a recent academic study.[1] For every £1 spent, it created £2.72 in societal value.
“Reducing household expenditure on energy is of critical national importance. But the Warm Homes Plan will do so much more. Every solar installation, every battery storage unit, every heat pump brings us closer to a clean, low-cost energy system; removing our reliance on pricey and polluting natural gas. That means better energy security, tens of thousands of high-quality, high-skill, well-paid and future-proof jobs, while cutting our contribution to climate change and the burden of cold homes on public health and the NHS,” said Grimes. “We look forward to engaging with the new Warm Homes Agency on delivering the plan, together with local leaders across the country,” she added.
More broadly, the Warm Homes Plan aligns with last summer’s Solar Roadmap, the overarching plan intended to deliver almost 60 gigawatts of solar generation capacity by 2030, up from around 24GW now.[2] It also follows April’s Warm Homes Skills Programme, intended to establish a ‘clean power army’ of skilled professionals.[3]
[1] Ending Scotland’s solar loans was ‘a big mistake’ – Solar Energy UK
[2] Roadmap seizes ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity of the solar revolution – Solar Energy UK
[3] Solar sector backs warm homes programme – Solar Energy UK
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