UK Solar Car Park Mandate Dropped: What Owners Do Now

What the government decided on 21 May 2026

On 21 May 2026 the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) recorded the outcome of the first section of its 2025 call for evidence on solar and car parks. After analysing the responses, it concluded that the policy on solar canopies on car parks will not be taken any further at this point. The gov.uk page gives no reasons. There is no mandate in force, so there is no deadline, no size threshold and no penalty to plan around.

“At this point” is the department's own wording. It does not rule out a return, but the page announces no follow-up on canopies.

What had been proposed

The call for evidence opened on 7 May 2025 and closed on 18 June 2025, covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its first section asked about requiring solar canopies on new outdoor car parks, subject to exemptions, and about existing car parks above a size threshold, in public and private ownership. The page does not give the threshold.

The launch announcement illustrated the idea with an 80-space car park that it estimated could save around £28,000 a year in electricity bills. That was an illustration used to launch the consultation, not an outcome, and it is not a forecast for any particular site. The announcement also said solar carports are already mandatory in some other countries, such as France and Slovenia.

What the decision does not change

• A voluntary scheme is still open. In England, installing a solar canopy over an existing non-domestic off-street car park can be permitted development under Class OA (summary below).
• The tax position is unchanged. Solar is special-rate plant. The £1m Annual Investment Allowance usually gives 100% relief in year one for a business under the limit, and full expensing does not cover solar. See capital allowances on a solar carport.
• The rates position is unchanged. In England, on-site renewable generation plant and storage is exempt from business-rates valuation from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2035. See business rates on a solar carport.
• Grid rules are unchanged. A car park array above 16 A per phase (3.68 kW single-phase, about 11 kW three-phase) needs a G99 application and the distribution network operator's approval before it connects.
• EV charging was handled separately. DESNZ published its response to the EV-charging section on 26 November 2025.

Class OA in brief (England)

Class OA of Part 14, Schedule 2 of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 permits installing, altering or replacing a solar canopy on an area lawfully used as off-street parking, other than for a dwellinghouse or block of flats. It is not permitted if any part of the canopy exceeds 4 metres above ground level, if any part is within 10 metres of the curtilage of a dwellinghouse or block of flats, or if the site is a scheduled monument or within the curtilage of a listed building.

Before starting, the developer applies to the local planning authority for a determination on whether prior approval is needed for the canopy's siting, design and external appearance, in particular the effect of glare on neighbouring occupiers. Where run-off falls on a permeable surface, it must be directed to a permeable area within the parking area. Works must be completed within three years, and the canopy must be removed when it is no longer needed. Outside England the route is different: ask the local planning authority. The height limit also shapes the design; see solar carport design: tilt, orientation and height limits.

What to do if you manage a car park

1. Screen the site. Daytime demand, contiguous bays, grid, planning route, ground, lease and tax decide most cases: the seven-point screen.
2. Check the ground and structure. Will your car park take the weight of a solar carport?
3. Ask the network operator early. The connection offer can carry a cost, a curtilment condition or a queue position.
4. Price it. The cost guide sets out what drives a canopy's price per kWp.
5. Model the tax and rates. The two pages linked above are the starting point.
6. Understand why so few car parks have solar. Why don't more UK car parks have solar panels? ranks the barriers.

For the wider picture, see the car park solar panels guide.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and last checked

Last checked 20 October 2026.

• gov.uk: Solar on car parks and electric vehicle charging, call for evidence and outcome (Section 1 outcome dated 21 May 2026)
• gov.uk: Better deal for motorists and businesses with solar car parks (7 May 2025)
• legislation.gov.uk: GPDO 2015 Schedule 2 Part 14 Class OA
• legislation.gov.uk: S.I. 2023/1279, the order that inserted Class OA
• gov.uk: Annual Investment Allowance
• gov.uk: Check if you can claim full expensing or 50% first-year allowances
• Energy Networks Association, Engineering Recommendations G98 and G99 (thresholds as summarised in NIE Networks guidance)

Related reading: EV canopy costs and design · commercial solar carports · why full expensing does not cover solar.