MCS Installation Statistics: Certified Renewable Installations in UK Homes

When a household in the UK has a solar array, a heat pump, a battery or a small wind turbine installed by a certified installer, that installation is recorded on the MCS database. Those records, published by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, have become the closest thing the UK has to a national count of home renewable installations, and they are the figures behind most of the headlines about record solar and battery uptake. This page sets out what the MCS installation statistics count, the headline totals, how each technology is moving, and the limits of the dataset.

The scheme itself is a certification scheme for microgeneration installation companies and products, aiming to ensure consistent standards and provide confidence to consumers¹. The installation statistics are a by-product of that work: every time a certified installer completes an eligible job, it is registered, and the resulting database feeds both MCS's own dashboard and a range of official government statistics series. Understanding what is in the count, and what is not, is essential before reading any of the numbers.

What is included in the data: technologies and capacity thresholds

MCS is described in official scheme guidance as "a certification scheme for microgeneration installation companies and products"¹. The word microgeneration carries a precise size limit: MCS is the quality assurance body for small-scale renewable technologies of 50kW or smaller⁹, and its product certification covers a defined list of technologies¹⁰. Feed-in Tariff documentation uses the same boundary, referring to "MCS scale (≤50 kW) installations"¹¹.

For heat pumps the limit is expressed differently: MCS does not cover heat pumps installed with a thermal output larger than 45kW, and it does not cover the majority of installations in new-build properties¹². That new-build exclusion matters when reading the figures, because a significant share of solar and heat pump fitting happens during construction rather than as a retrofit.

The battery statistics published by government illustrate the scope rules in practice. They cover domestic and existing installations only: "Commercial and Newbuild data is not included"¹³. The cost recorded against each installation includes the cost of the battery, the cost of installing and connecting it to the electricity supply, and VAT where applicable¹³. So the dataset is a count of certified retrofit work on homes, not of every renewable system in the country.

That is the central limitation to hold in mind throughout this page. Anything installed without a certified installer, anything DIY, anything on a commercial property and most new-build fitting never appears in the MCS numbers. The statistics are a reliable measure of the certified market; they are a floor, not a ceiling, on total home renewable uptake.

More than 2.2 million certified installations and the pace of increase

The cumulative count of MCS certified installations across all technologies has passed 2.2 million since the scheme began, and the pace has never been faster. The highest number of MCS certified installations ever seen in a single month was recorded in March 2026, at 28,861, with July and June following just behind at 28,489 and 28,200 respectively³. Three months in a single year each delivering more than 28,000 certified installations is a scale the scheme had not previously reached.

Solar PV is the largest single contributor to that cumulative total. By November 2025 the count of certified solar panel installations had reached 1.85 million². Add the certified heat pumps, batteries, small wind systems, biomass boilers and solar thermal systems registered over the scheme's life and the total moves beyond 2.2 million.

Two things drive the recent acceleration. One is simply that more technologies are being combined: households increasingly fit a battery alongside solar panels in a single certified job, and each component is registered. The other is the growth in the certified installer base, covered below, which raises the number of jobs the market can physically deliver. The monthly records of 2026 are therefore both a demand signal and a capacity signal.

For a household trying to judge whether now is a normal time to install, the monthly figures give a sense of a market at full stretch: record volumes, but also a large pool of certified installers competing for the work. The UK Home Energy Statistics pillar page places these figures alongside the wider deployment data.

An increase exceeding 500% during one period of leadership

MCS reported in July 2026 that annual certified installations have increased by more than 500% under the leadership of its outgoing chief executive Ian Rippin, and that 2026 was already tracking to be the sixth consecutive record-breaking year for certified installations⁴. Six record years in a row is the clearest single indicator that home renewable uptake is not a spike but a sustained shift.

The installer base has grown alongside the installation count:

• Over 5,250 contractors certified under the scheme as of March 2025, the highest number since MCS began in 2008⁸
• Nearly 6,000 MCS certified businesses delivering installations across the UK by July 2026⁴
• A redeveloped installer Scheme being rolled out to thousands of businesses⁴

Growth in certified businesses matters for households because it widens choice and shortens waiting times, though it also means the certification mark alone distinguishes less between installers: it is a floor on standards, not a mark of excellence.

For anyone reading the statistics to gauge market maturity, the picture is of a scheme scaling up on both sides: more installations, and more businesses certified to carry them out.

Heat pumps: nearly 60,000 certified in 2024 versus a 600,000 goal

Heat pumps are the technology where the gap between current uptake and policy ambition is widest. The British Energy Security Strategy set an ambition of 600,000 heat pump installations per year by 2028⁶, and a parliamentary committee report noted the government's awareness that significantly more trained installers would be needed to deliver that 2028 target⁷. A later committee report recorded that the Climate Change Committee finds current installation rates to be around one tenth of the 600,000 per year target¹⁴.

The growth rate, however, is real:

• Government-supported heat pump installations rose by 46% in the 12 months ending September 2024 compared with the previous 12 months¹⁵
• They rose by 41% in the 12 months ending June 2024¹⁶
• Scotland recorded 7,355 annual heat pump installations in 2024, tracked separately in the Scottish Government's Heat in Buildings progress report¹⁷

These are official quarterly deployment statistics, and they count installations supported by government schemes rather than the whole market. Nation-by-nation figures of this kind matter because heat pump uptake varies sharply across the UK, and a UK-wide average conceals it.

For households, the heat pump numbers say two things at once. The market is growing fast from a low base, which means equipment, installers and maintenance networks are all expanding; but the distance to the 2028 target means grant support and installer recruitment are likely to keep changing quickly. The detailed figures are on the heat pump installation statistics page.

Battery storage: numbers almost double in a year

Battery storage is the fastest-moving line in the MCS data. In the first six months of 2026 there were 36,000 certified battery installations, almost double the same period in the previous year⁵. That follows a strong 2025: by the end of September 2025, certified battery storage installations had increased by 122% compared with the equivalent period the year before, bringing the total to 59,000 installations². Earlier data points show the same trajectory from a smaller base: January 2025 was a record month with more than 2,600 installations, a 176% increase compared with January 2024⁸.

The official statistics series on domestic retrofit batteries, published on 28 May 2026, confirms the direction: MCS certified installations of domestic retrofit electric batteries have been increasing¹³. The same publication shows how young this market is. In November 2023, the series recorded 841 installations, of which 831 were in the sample, with 6,900 kWh of total capacity across the sample¹³. From a few hundred installations a month to tens of thousands a half-year is a change of kind, not just of degree.

Two features of the battery data deserve attention. First, the statistics are published as "Official Statistics in development", a status used for new series that are still being improved, and their status is under regular review¹⁸. Second, the data has been revised: figures for September 2023 to March 2025 were revised because more data was added to the MCS installation database, and future figures may be revised again as more complete data arrives¹³. Revisions are a normal part of a live database, not a sign of error, and the reading energy statistics page explains how to treat them.

For a household weighing a battery, the numbers show a market in rapid mainstream growth rather than an early-adopter niche. The full dataset is on the home battery installation statistics page.

Solar PV, solar thermal and other certified technologies

Solar PV dominates the certified installation count. There were almost 150,000 solar panel certified installations in the first six months of 2026, up 17% on the previous highest start to a year, which was 2025⁵. By September 2026, a total of 207,619 MCS certified rooftop solar installations had been recorded in the year to date³. The cumulative total reached 1.85 million certified solar panel installations by November 2025².

New builds are a growing part of the solar story even though most new-build work sits outside the retrofit statistics. Since MCS started collecting data for new builds in October 2023, there have been 139,425 certified solar PV installations on new builds, a 32% share of total solar installations over that period².

The other certified technologies are smaller but tracked. MCS product certification covers solar thermal (solar heating), small wind turbines, biomass and micro CHP alongside solar PV and heat pumps¹⁰. For the closed Feed-in Tariff era, Ofgem's quarterly statistics remain the record of the number of solar photovoltaic, wind and micro combined heat and power installations registered on the MCS database¹⁹, and those figures are covered on the Feed-in Tariff installation statistics page. Public sector schemes continue to specify MCS standards: a Welsh solar panel installation scheme requires that solar PV systems are installed and certified by MCS certified contractors working to the latest published MIS3002 standards²⁰.

The solar PV deployment statistics page carries the wider capacity and deployment data, which includes systems outside the MCS size limits.

The regional picture: certified contractors across the four nations

The regional spread of certified installers and installations is uneven, and the MCS Data Dashboard is where the nation-by-nation contractor counts are published. The headline contractor figures are UK-wide: over 5,250 certified contractors as of March 2025⁸, rising to nearly 6,000 certified businesses by July 2026⁴.

Official heat pump deployment statistics give a sense of how installations distribute. In the 12 months ending June 2025, the largest proportion of Government-supported installations took place in the South West (15%) and South East (15%), followed by Wales (13%)²¹. In the second quarter of 2025 alone, Wales recorded 1,493 Government-supported installations²¹. Northern Ireland's position is different: the same quarterly tables record 0 Government-supported installations there in 2025 Q2²¹, reflecting the fact that the Boiler Upgrade Scheme operates in Great Britain, so Northern Ireland households access support through different routes.

The practical consequence for households is that the depth of the certified installer market varies by nation and by region. A household in an area with few certified contractors may face longer waits and less price competition than one in a saturated area. The MCS data by local authority page breaks the installation counts down to local level, and the renewable installations in Northern Ireland page covers that nation's separate picture.

The MCS Data Dashboard: where the figures appear

The primary publication is the MCS Data Dashboard, launched in 2022 as an interactive online tool providing near-real-time updates on MCS certified installations for small-scale renewables across the UK²². The data is freely available for everyone to view and use²². The dashboard is divided into two sections: Installation Insights and Scheme Insights²², which between them cover both the installation counts and the state of the certified installer base.

Alongside the dashboard, government publishes official statistics series built from the same database. The domestic retrofit battery statistics were published on 28 May 2026 as official statistics in development¹³, with an earlier edition published on 29 May 2025¹⁸. Data are sourced from the Microgeneration Certification Scheme database¹³, so the official series and the dashboard share a single origin: what certified installers register.

Anyone using the figures should note the revision practice:

• Some data has been revised for September 2023 to March 2025 because more data was added to the MCS installation database, and the published figures may be revised again following receipt of more complete data from MCS¹³
• The battery summary tables include only financial years from 2024/25 onwards, due to the small number of MCS certified installations in earlier years¹³

Certification, complaints and the reality of consumer protection

The statistics count certified installations, so it is worth being clear what certification does and does not give a household. MCS's roles include setting and maintaining technical standards, certifying installers and products against those standards, issuing MCS certificates for completed eligible installations, and assisting certification bodies to review and address consumer issues²³. Ofgem's guidance directs households to contact MCS for issues with the installation process, the installer, or the MCS certificate or product²⁴.

The complaints route runs through the installer first. Certified installers must acknowledge a complaint within two working days and respond effectively, and must signpost customers to the MCS complaints process if they are unhappy with the outcome²⁵. If the complaint is not resolved, the MCS Administrator will advise how to make a complaint about the installer²⁶. MCS is the single point of contact for complaints about certified installers or installations once the installer has had the chance to resolve the matter²⁷. The scope is broad, covering:

• System performance and design, and quality of work
• Incomplete or delayed installation, commissioning and handover
• Installer conduct, damage to property and mis-selling
• Contractual issues, product issues and breaches of the customer commitment²⁷

Two time limits apply. For MCS certified installations, a complaint must be made no more than two years after the date the system was commissioned²⁴. Separately, MCS cannot consider a complaint where the installation was completed over six years ago, or five years in Scotland, due to requirements under the Consumer Protection Act 2015²⁷. And if an installer has ceased trading, MCS can still review the complaint and advise what options are available²⁷.

The limits of protection are equally important. MCS requires installers to provide a design-stage prediction of system efficiency, not to verify actual performance, and it does not require remediation of systems that are underperforming relative to their design²⁸. Certification is a standards and consumer-protection framework, not a performance guarantee. MCS also aims to put consumer protection at the heart of the scheme²⁹, and it recognises that vulnerability can be permanent, transitory or temporary, assessing each consumer's circumstances at the moment of interaction²⁹.

How certification links to grant eligibility

Certification is not only about standards: it is the gateway to most government support. To be eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, installers must be MCS certified and must meet the MCS standards²³. Ofgem's annual report on the scheme states the same requirement plainly:

The requirement runs both ways: the installer must hold certification, and the installation must be certified to qualify for the funding¹⁰.

This is why the installation statistics and the grant statistics tell one story. A certified installation is what makes a household eligible for support; the growth in certified installations is therefore partly a record of grant take-up, and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme statistics page sets out the voucher and application data behind it.

There is also a consumer-code layer. A requirement for companies wanting to gain MCS certification is that they are members of a CTSI Approved Consumer Code of Practice scheme in the first instance³³, which gives households an additional redress route beyond MCS itself. For a household planning any installation with a grant attached, the practical sequence is: confirm the installer's certification for the specific technology, confirm membership of an approved consumer code, and only then contract, since an uncertified job forfeits the grant.

The implications of the figures for households wanting independence

Read as a whole, the MCS installation statistics describe a country whose homes are acquiring the means to generate, store and manage their own energy at a pace that doubles within a few years. More than 2.2 million certified installations, six consecutive record years, batteries nearly doubling year on year and solar running at record monthly rates together describe a mass shift towards household energy independence, not a niche movement.

The statistics also show where dependence remains. Every certified installation recorded here still typically sits inside a home connected to the grid, buying electricity when its own generation falls short and exporting when it surpluses. The battery figures show households buying the means to time that exchange, not escape it. And the dataset itself has limits a householder should not forget: DIY and uncertified installations, commercial properties and most new-build work are all outside the count, so the true extent of home energy independence is larger than these figures show.

For someone planning their own installation, the numbers offer three practical readings:

• The installer base, at nearly 6,000 certified businesses, is large enough for genuine comparison of quotes in most areas⁴
• The growth rates mean equipment and practice are maturing fast, but also that the market is busy, with record months indicating queues
• The certification rules mean the grant system, the complaints system and the statistics all hinge on the same thing: using an installer certified for the technology being installed

The market data and energy independence page draws these threads together across the whole dataset.