The number of Scottish homes with solar panels has almost doubled since before the last gas price crisis started following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and electric heat pumps have been installed at about twice the rate of homes in England.

New analysis of Microgeneration Certification Scheme data by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has found Scottish homes pulling ahead of England for the first time in recent years in installing solar panels. There are now 20 per cent more solar PV systems on Scottish homes compared to England.

Solar is not the only net-zero technology that has experienced strong growth. Scotland has installed heat pumps at twice that rate of England too. Deployment in Scotland has accelerated sharply in recent years, rising by more than threefold since 2019, highlighting how quickly net-zero heating has increased in popularity in Scottish homes. This prevalence of heat pumps likely reflects the higher number of off-gas grid homes in Scotland, where heat pumps replace oil or biomass systems.

Some areas in Scotland are racing far ahead on solar, particularly the Highlands and Islands and Argyll and Bute, which recorded one of the highest installation rates in the UK in 2025, second only to Ceredigion in Wales, while Dumfries and Galloway also saw more than 20 new solar PV installations per 1,000 households in a single year.

Similarly, progress on heat pumps is being driven in large part by rural and island communities. Cumulatively, the Hebrides and Orkney now have the highest heat pump installation rates of any local authority areas in Scotland or Wales, with the Hebrides recording over ten times the level of the best‑performing English region.

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