Coventry Building Society has revealed that the rate of new solar panel installations on UK homes has reached a seven-year high, with more solar panels installed during the first eight months of the year than the entirety of 2022.

The society’s analysis found that 13,520 solar panels were installed on homes throughout August, taking the total number of installations for the year to 115,326. This has surpassed the 111,713 installations throughout the whole of 2022.

The number of installations has not been this high since 2015, when the total for the year was 179,137 – this was just before a cut on subsidies was introduced in 2016.

The highest year on record was 2011, when 200,589 panels were installed – this was following the launch of the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme in 2010.

The total number of solar panels on UK homes now stands at 1,232,500 – which is a 15.3% increase from August 2022, when there were 1,068,867 panels installed.

Coventry Building Society currently offers customers the chance to borrow additional funds at a lower rate if they are using at least half of the money on energy saving home improvements. The maximum additional borrowing is £25k, and the deal is available for both residential and buy-to-let customers.

Jonathan Stinton, head of intermediary relationships at Coventry Building Society, said: “Whether people are looking to reduce their energy bills or their carbon footprint, renewable energy solutions are becoming increasingly important to people. There’s been a definite surge in the popularity of solar panels over the past two years and given their benefits it’s likely that the demand is only set to continue.

“Of course the upfront cost is a potential barrier, which is why it’s important for homeowners to know that there are deals available which can help. The green mortgage market is ever evolving, and homeowners can be reassured that lenders are investing in innovation and research to help make renewable energy options more accessible to everyone.”