Paid and Members-Only Energy Market Reports

Most of the energy market numbers a householder sees in the news, from European heat pump sales to solar deployment figures, come from one of two worlds. The first is the world of official statistics: free, accredited publications from government departments and the regulator that anyone can download. The second is the world of commercial and members-only reports: titles sold by research firms such as BSRIA, and datasets held by trade associations such as the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) and Solar Heat Europe, which reserve the detail for paying members. This page explains what sits behind each paywall, what it costs where a price is published, and where the same findings can be read for nothing.

The headline answer is reassuring. Almost every number that matters to a UK household, including the solar PV deployment statistics, the heat pump installation figures and the quarterly energy prices series, is published free as accredited official statistics¹. What money buys is depth and timing: country-level breakdowns, earlier access, and analysis built on commercial data rather than administrative records. Even the small fees that do exist in the public system are modest: Northern Ireland legislation sets a fee of £1.70 for entering certain non-domestic energy performance data into the register², and Scottish regulations set £12.10 for entering data for buildings other than dwellings³.

Understanding subscription and paid-for energy market reports

A paid market report is a commercial publication: a research firm or trade body collects data from manufacturers, installers and distributors, analyses it, and sells the result. BSRIA's World Heat Pump markets 2026, published in April 2026, is a typical example, a global survey of heat pump sales sold as a commercial title. A members-only report works differently: the data is gathered by a trade association from its own members, and access is a benefit of membership rather than a product with a shelf price.

Neither model is a scam or a secret. The data behind these reports is often unavailable anywhere else, because manufacturers report their sales confidentially to the association or researcher on the understanding that only aggregated figures are published. That confidentiality is precisely what makes the full dataset valuable, and why the headline numbers are released free while the detail is not.

What a householder loses behind the paywall is usually granularity: sales by country, by technology type, by manufacturer group. What a householder does not lose is the headline, because associations publicise the topline figures to promote their industry. EHPA, for example, reported in August 2026 that around 2.9 million domestic heat pumps were sold across 21 European countries in 2025, and that over half of households in Norway, Finland and Sweden own a heat pump, all released openly in its market data pages.

It is worth noting that even public bodies charge for some data services, so a fee is not itself a sign of a commercial operation. The Energy Performance Certificate system, which is statutory, carries the register fees quoted above². And the value of good market analysis is real: a Public Accounts Committee report found that customers of the six largest energy firms were paying £1.4 billion more per year than they would be in a fully competitive market, a finding that came from sustained scrutiny of market data⁶.

The organisations behind the reports quoted to consumers

The publishers fall into three groups, and knowing which group a number came from tells you a lot about whether you can read it yourself.

The first group is government. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes the accredited official statistics: Quarterly Energy Prices, described as a quarterly statistical publication on energy prices⁷, the Household Energy Efficiency headline releases⁸, and the Energy Trends series, which includes electricity generation by Major Power Producers data published monthly⁹. These are free, and their status as accredited official statistics is stated on each release¹.

The second group is the regulator and its contractors. Ofgem publishes consultation analysis and survey findings, including the Energy Consumer Satisfaction Survey, a survey of domestic energy consumers in Great Britain commissioned jointly with Citizens Advice¹⁰. It also runs research such as the Consumer First Panel work on attitudes to the energy market and price cap¹¹. Reports it commissions from third parties are published on its website; one home energy information, advice and guidance report was completed by Energy Systems Catapult¹².

The third group is independent analysts and trade bodies. The Climate Change Committee publishes reports on energy prices and bills, including its assessment of the impacts of meeting carbon budgets on household, commercial and industrial sector energy bills¹³. EHPA and Solar Heat Europe publish the European market reports, and BSRIA sells global market studies. For a fuller map of who publishes what, see who publishes UK home energy data.

Typical report prices and the reasons most are free

Here the honest answer is that most of the numbers a householder needs cost nothing, and the prices of the commercial titles are not published.

Official statistics are free by design. Quarterly Energy Prices has been published free since at least the June 2016 edition, described simply as a quarterly statistical publication¹⁴, and the December 2025 edition carries accredited official statistics status¹. The Energy Trends and prices release of 30 June 2026 includes retail price data and EU comparative data for May 2026, all downloadable at no charge¹⁵. Consumer protections are free too: the Energy Ombudsman is free of charge¹⁶, an independent electricity meter test is free¹⁷, and Ofgem provides a free service to check whether you are owed money on your energy bill¹⁸.

Where fees do appear in the public system, they are small and specific: the £1.70 and £12.10 register fees for entering energy performance data². Commercial reports are different. BSRIA does not list a price for World Heat Pump markets 2026; it is quoted on enquiry. Trade associations generally do not sell their statistics at all, they bundle them with membership.

Why is so much free? Because official statistics are funded from public money and governed by a code that requires publication, and because trade associations want their headline numbers quoted in the press. The detailed wholesale cost analysis behind the price cap, collected from 11 suppliers representing 96% of the retail market, is published in full by Ofgem as part of its consultation work¹⁹. The scale of the interventions these documents describe is public knowledge: the Energy Price Guarantee was set at a level of £2,500¹⁹, and in Northern Ireland, where prices were not capped, suppliers had the flexibility to set their tariffs independently to reflect their operating costs²⁰.

Who can join and what membership offers

Membership of a trade association is the usual route to the full datasets. EHPA membership is open to heat pump manufacturers, component suppliers, utilities and national associations; Solar Heat Europe membership similarly spans the solar thermal industry. What membership buys is the country-level sales data, the detailed outlooks, working group access and, often, the data before it is publicly released. Neither body publishes a membership fee on the material available here; fees are set by company size and category and quoted on application.

The official world works differently, and it is worth understanding the contrast. When Ofgem consults, it actively seeks responses from consumer groups and charities, energy suppliers and industry bodies, and other stakeholders and the public²¹. Participation in consultations is free and open, and the documents themselves are published for anyone to read.

Two features of the official system show what membership of the data world really means in practice. First, obligations are apportioned by market share: under the Feed-in Tariff levelisation process, each supplier's share of the cost is based on its share of the Great Britain electricity market, taking into account any contribution already made²². Second, the consumer voice is built in rather than sold: the Energy Consumer Satisfaction Survey is commissioned by Ofgem and Citizens Advice together¹⁰, and the Consumer First Panel research on attitudes to the price cap is published openly¹¹.

Heat pump and solar market outlooks: the leading reports

Two titles dominate the European headlines. EHPA's market data, updated in August 2026, reported around 2.9 million domestic heat pumps sold across 21 European countries in 2025, with sales growth in 14 of the 18 countries analysed, and heat pump ownership above half of all households in Norway, Finland and Sweden. Solar Heat Europe published its Solar Thermal Market Outlook in September 2026 and made it available free on its website, an example of a flagship title that carries no paywall at all.

The UK policy context gives these reports their significance. The Warm Homes Plan states a UK-level ambition to deliver more than 450,000 annual heat pump installations in existing and new buildings by 2030⁵, and aims to triple solar panel installations across the UK by 2030. Whether the market is on track is exactly what the paid and members-only data answers, which is why journalists and analysts cite it so heavily.

Government modelling shows how the official side of the market is projected. An options assessment for raising minimum standards for heat pumps applies an annual technological progress of 1% to the energy efficiency of products in the model up to 2035, stable thereafter²³. On that basis, standard-temperature air source heat pumps reach a projected seasonal efficiency of 166.6% (SSHEE unit) by 2027²³. These modelled figures sit alongside the measured sales data in the trade reports, and the two should not be confused: one is a projection, the other a count of units sold.

For solar, the free official series is comprehensive. The Solar PV deployment statistics carry accredited official statistics status, as the April 2021 edition did when published on 27 May 2021²⁴, and the current Energy Trends release includes solar photovoltaics deployment data for the UK up to the end of May 2026¹⁵. The next edition, covering December 2026, is confirmed for release on 28 January 2027 at 9:30am⁴. For the European picture, see European heat pump market statistics and European solar thermal market statistics.

BSRIA's independent testing that underpins the figures

BSRIA occupies a distinctive position: it both sells commercial market studies and carries out independent testing of the products those studies count. Its World Heat Pump markets 2026, published in April 2026, is the commercial side. The testing side underpins the performance claims that heat pump marketing rests on, and BSRIA does not publish a standard price list for that work; charges are quoted per project.

Public funding has pushed the measurement agenda forward. Under the Heat Pump Ready programme, the government awarded a BEIS grant of £475,162.00 to Guru Systems for verification tools covering installation, commissioning and maintenance in the heat pump market, £233,887.58 to Build Test Solutions for work on the role of measured building performance in heat pump specification and system design, and £468,656.00 to Switchee for digitising the customer journey of heat pumps in social housing²⁵. All three projects are about replacing assumptions with measurements, the same discipline BSRIA applies in its test chambers.

The shift from modelled to measured data is visible in the official system too. Scotland's response to its EPC reform consultations notes that the new Home Energy Model simulates energy performance for each half-hour of the day, as compared to each month for the predecessor SAP methodology²⁶. Half-hourly simulation is only meaningful if the underlying performance data is real, which is what independent testing supplies. The gap between the two worlds is covered in measured versus modelled home energy performance.

Certification is the third leg of this system, and it is not a market report. The Solar Keymark is a voluntary third-party certification mark for solar thermal products, owned by CEN/CENELEC²⁷. Its stated purposes are to provide market surveillance authorities with reliable technical information, to ensure that a certified product will provide good performance, resistance and durability, and to fulfil additional requirements to assure constant quality²⁷. It filters out many lower-quality products available on the market, can be used in subsidy schemes, and is increasingly recognised worldwide²⁷. A certification mark tells you about a product; a market report tells you about an industry.

From market reports into official UK statistics

Commercial and association data does not stay behind the paywall; it feeds into the official numbers through several channels.

The first channel is direct collection. The Energy Trends and prices statistical release of 30 June 2026 includes retail price data and EU comparative data for May 2026, and solar photovoltaics deployment data for the UK up to the end of May 2026¹⁵. The EU comparative data in the official series is the same European picture the trade associations sell in more detail. Quarterly Energy Prices, a quarterly statistical publication on energy prices⁷, has carried this comparative material since at least the August 2017 release⁹.

The second channel is commissioned research. The home energy information, advice and guidance report was completed by Energy Systems Catapult and published by government¹². The Household Energy Efficiency Statistics headline releases include further analysis and geographical breakdowns of ECO measures, ECO delivery costs, estimated carbon and energy savings from measures installed, and the supply chain⁸, a structure consistent since at least the October 2022 edition²⁸. The Energy Consumer Satisfaction Survey, commissioned by Ofgem and Citizens Advice, feeds the regulator's understanding of the retail market¹⁰.

The third channel is the advisory bodies. The Climate Change Committee's report on energy prices and bills considered the impact of meeting carbon budgets on household, commercial and industrial sector energy bills¹³, following on from its December 2011 report on household energy bills²⁹. Its 2017 report noted that some energy-intensive manufacturing sectors face higher costs from climate policies but that those deemed most at risk are largely compensated for those costs²⁹. These assessments draw on the same market data the commercial reports package.

The fourth channel is legislation and consultation. The Energy Bill introduced powers to oblige intermediaries such as private landlords, across the UK including heat networks, to pass through the benefit of energy price support to end users³⁰, a policy built on market cost analysis. Ofgem's price cap consultations publish the underlying supplier data openly¹⁹.

Free ways for householders to access the findings

Almost everything, in the end. The free route to each headline number is as follows.

• Heat pump sales and installations: EHPA's headline European figures are published free; UK figures are in the free accredited official statistics, including Boiler Upgrade Scheme statistics.
• Solar deployment: the free solar PV deployment statistics, with the December 2026 edition confirmed for 28 January 2027 at 9:30am⁴.
• Prices and bills: Quarterly Energy Prices, free and accredited¹, and Ofgem's plain-language guides to how your electricity or gas bill is calculated, covering wholesale costs, network costs, operating, debt and industry costs, policy costs, VAT and payment method¹⁸.
• Energy efficiency schemes: the free Household Energy Efficiency Statistics releases with ECO breakdowns⁸.
• Consumer experience: the Ofgem and Citizens Advice satisfaction survey findings¹⁰ and the Consumer First Panel research¹¹.
• Advice: in Northern Ireland, the Consumer Council NI and Northern Ireland Energy Advice give free, independent and impartial energy advice to all domestic householders³¹, and nidirect publishes guidance on low carbon heating³¹.

Two cautions on reuse. First, a figure lifted from a paid report is still the publisher's material: the fact may be free to state in your own words, but the chart, table or wording generally is not, and licensing terms should be checked with the publisher before reproducing them. Second, a figure from an official statistics release is covered by the Open Government Licence, which is why the official series, not the commercial reports, is the safer source for anything a household, community group or installer wants to republish. For the wider picture of what the data says about household energy independence, see what the data says about household energy independence, and for the full landscape, the UK home energy statistics guide.