One in five South Cambridgeshire households have a renewable energy installation

3 September 2024

Solar panel.

  • 1 in 5[1] households in South Cambridgeshire now have an MCS certified renewable energy installation, including solar panels, heat pumps and battery storage.
  • South Cambridgeshire is the second local authority in England, after South Hams, to reach the milestone
  • South Cambridgeshire has more than 13,000 MCS certified renewable energy installations

According to data from MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme), the UK’s quality mark for small-scale renewable energy, South Cambridgeshire has become the second local authority in England to have over 1 in 5 households with a certified renewable energy installation. This compares with an overall figure of 6.1% of households across England that have an MCS certified installation.

Solar PV is the most popular renewable technology in South Cambridgeshire, with over 11,000 certified solar PV installations recorded since 2008. In fact, solar PV accounts for 82.8% of all certified renewable installations in South Cambridgeshire, revealing how homeowners in the region are tapping into free energy from the sun to power their homes.

Air source heat pumps are the second most popular renewable technology in South Cambridgeshire, accounting for 14.5% of all certified installations in the area. It is a technology that is on the rise, and there have already been more heat pumps installed in South Cambridgeshire in 2024 than across the whole of 2023, showing the increasing number of residents opting for cleaner, greener heating solutions for their homes.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), which is available across England and Wales, is playing a key role in making heat pumps more affordable and accessible. The incentive provides £7,500 towards the installation of a heat pump and requires it to be MCS certified.

Ian Rippin, CEO of MCS, said: “It’s great to see the growing demand amongst homeowners in South Cambridgeshire to generate their own home-grown electricity, lower their energy bills, and decrease their carbon footprint with quality MCS certified installations.

“I look forward to seeing more homeowners across England place their trust in MCS certified contractors and transition to cleaner, greener energy solutions for their homes.”

MCS holds the most comprehensive repository of data on the uptake of small-scale renewable technologies across the UK on The MCS Data Dashboard. For near-real-time updates on renewable installations, you can sign up for free to The MCS Data Dashboard here.

Click here to find an MCS certified contractor near you.

[1]   Uptake figures are estimates based on a flat calculation of “total installations” divided by “total households”.