Solar installations in London's boroughs are lagging well behind those in other UK local authority areas, according to new analysis.
In a league table of local authorities compiled by consultancy WSP Group, London boroughs occupy all the bottom ten places.
Languishing in last place is Westminster, where data reveals only one in every 2,500 households has a solar installation. Tower Hamlets and the City of London are close behind, with installations in only one in every 1,250 households.
Top of the list is Mid Devon, where one in 12 households has a solar installation, followed by Wrexham and South Hams.
The data reveals that the highest rates of installation are in the South West, where the sun is stronger, with 12 out of the top 25 local authorities located in this region.
But solar is also proving popular in parts of Britain with relatively low levels of sunshine – Dumfries & Galloway in Scotland, for example, has an installation rate of 246 households per 10,000, or roughly one in every 40. This puts it at 55th place out of 760, despite enjoying some of the UK’s lowest levels of sunshine.
WSP said the Dumfries & Galloway example also highlights another trend in the figures: that installation rates do not correlate closely with affluence. Despite ranking so high on the league table, Dumfries & Galloway has relatively low per-capita income; London boroughs such as Westminster and Chelsea, despite being the wealthiest parts of the UK, are also at the bottom of the ranking.
Overall the report calculated that just 1.5% of UK households have solar systems installed.
“If solar panels are to be one of our green energies of the future, then there’s still plenty to do,” it concluded.
