This summer’s heatwaves have sparked a surge in solar interest across the UK. We’ve seen demand for home solar panels jump sharply, and households on export tariffs have earned close to £100 million from selling spare power back to the grid over the past year.
Solar enquiries up 34% during the hottest months
More than 400,000 households are now exporting energy through Octopus tariffs, pushing 825 GWh into the system — roughly the output of a medium-sized gas plant. Battery installations have also rocketed, with households keen to store cheap power and sell it when prices peak.
We’ve been tracking how energy tariffs reward solar owners, and the numbers show just how worthwhile it can be right now.
What the experts are saying
Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Octopus, said: “Over 400,000 UK households on Octopus tariffs are already generating their own clean energy, and that number just keeps climbing.
“The more we make use of our homegrown green energy sources, the less we rely on fossil fuels, and the more secure our energy system becomes.”
Rooftop solar alone supplied a record 14.4% of Britain’s electricity demand this year, according to National Energy System Operator data. If you’re thinking about panels or batteries, now’s a good time to compare deals and see what you could earn.
