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Alternatives to ground mounted solar panels

Under its Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, the government aims for 95% of Great Britain’s (GB) electricity to be generated from clean (non-fossil-fuel) sources by 2030. To help achieve this, the government aims to increase solar power capacity to between 45 gigawatts (GW) and 47 GW by 2030. As of February 2026, there was 22GW of solar power capacity in the UK.

Ground mounted solar farms are currently the most common form of large-scale solar generation. However, there are concerns about their impact on agricultural land.

Alternatives to traditional ground mounted solar include:

• Agrivoltaics: Combining solar panels with agricultural production, such as crops or grazing livestock.
• Floating solar: Installing panels on bodies of water, which can improve panel efficiency and reduce water evaporation.
• Rooftop solar, car parks and brownfield sites: Utilising existing structures and previously developed land.
• Space-based solar: An emerging technology that collects solar energy in orbit around the earth.

When choosing between different solar deployment types, policymakers face trade-offs regarding land use, speed of deployment, and cost.

Please note that while Clean Power 2030 targets are for GB, land and agriculture data is often UK-wide.