Solar Car Parks to save £ billions in energybills across public and private estates

Solar Car Parks to save £ billions in energy bills across public and private estates

A new report published by Energy Positive Assets (3/3/25) shines a light on the potential for solar canopies over car parks in the UK. Solar Car Parks in the UK: A report on the current state of the UK market and its prospects for growth highlights the scale of the potential for solar in car parks as well as the value of the energy they could generate.

The report synchronises with the government’s UK's new climate plan, which includes initiatives to promote the installation of solar panels in car parks. The "Clean Power 2030" plan, introduced by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband in December 2024, aims to accelerate the development of renewable energy sources, including the installation of solar canopies in outdoor car parks. This initiative seeks to harness the untapped potential of commercial spaces to generate clean electricity, provide electric vehicle charging stations, and offer shelter for vehicles.

To help facilitate this, the government has implemented a new permitted development right, simplifying the process for installing solar canopies in non-domestic off-street car parks in England. Additionally, a call for evidence is planned to assess the feasibility of mandating solar canopy construction in larger car parks.

These efforts are part of a broader strategy to increase the UK's solar capacity to 70GW by 2035, significantly reducing dependence on fossil fuels and enhancing energy security.

It is estimated that the UK has over 8 million car parking spaces. Opportunity for solar canopy installations is still in its infancy but shows strong growth potential, driven by sustainability goals and rising energy costs.

Growth drivers for this new and emerging sector include:

• Energy Cost Savings: Solar panels covering 100 car park spaces will typically generate over £90,000 worth of power per annum, or save £30,000 per annum. This translates to annual savings of £1.5 billion across 5 million parking spaces.
• EV Adoption: With over 1.4 million electric vehicles (EVs) on UK roads and government mandates pushing for 80% of new cars to be zero-emission by 2030, the demand for EV charging infrastructure is increasing.
• Financial Incentives: Solar carports offer strong return on investment (ROI), particularly when integrated with EV charging and battery storage. Additionally, tax relief schemes like the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) and Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), alongside Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), make solar carports financially attractive for businesses and public sector organisations.

Challenges include the high upfront costs – current installations cost an average £10,000 per parking bay – although these can be avoided via leases and Power Purchase Agreements.

Grid constraints will also be a hurdle for bigger installations. Infrastructure upgrades may be necessary for large-scale projects, impacting costs and timelines. Localised micro grids – utilising the generated power on-site – avoid the problems of grid constraints.

Addressing the size of the market, the report provides credible evidence to support the fact that the UK has somewhere between 6 million and 10 million parking spaces; this is broadly split 50/50 between public and private sectors.

Taking the lower figure from this range, 6 million parking spaces, and cutting this by 33% to 4 million (to allow for covered parking; multi-storeys and basement/underground car parks), the report translates this into a potential market size of at least:

• £40 billion of capital expenditure (4 million spaces x £10,000)
• Value of annual power generation in excess of £4 billion per annum (4m parking spaces x kWh x 25 pence per kWh)

There will be additional revenues generated from EV charging, battery applications, and grid services.

These figures frame the potential size of the market. Actual adoption may be slow and ultimately represent a fraction of the whole. Nevertheless, the market is likely to grow to be sizeable and will be measured in multiples of £ billions, not £ millions.

The report concludes that solar car parks represent a significant opportunity for the UK to advance its net-zero goals, promote EV adoption, and optimise underutilised spaces for renewable energy generation. While challenges remain, it seems extremely likely that supportive policies, technological advancements, and evolving business models will establish solar carports as a high-growth, high-return, and sustainable segment of the car parking market.