We use cookies where necessary to allow us to understand how people interact with our website and content, so that we can continue to improve our service.
We only ever receive anonymous information, and cannot track you across other websites.
View our privacy policy
Across all regions of the UK, people’s support for the construction of a new solar park in their area is overwhelming high (typically over three quarters support), and opposition is low (10% or less). Yet both the public and MPs tend to underestimate support, and overestimate opposition. This figure shows three waves of Climate Barometer polling of the public, between October 2022 to October 2023.
Despite the overwhelming support from the public for the construction of a new solar park in their area, when asked if “other people” would support the new development, even the public underestimates support – and overestimates opposition. While support has hovered around 80% in favour, much lower numbers (39-45%) believe that, in their area, others support, than oppose a new solar farm.
Even so, the public’s guess is closer than MPs: only around 30% tend to believe that in their constituency, “more would support than oppose” a new solar farm.
Wider research suggests that a ‘quiet majority’ effect may explain why people think there is more opposition than there really is to solar energy. In focus groups, More in Common found that many people expressed a reluctance to voice their (majority) support for green energy developments, for fear of seeming confrontational in the face of louder (but minority) opposition.
Played out in community after community, this hesitation to articulate support for solar and other forms of green energy is likely to be creating a false sense of where public opinion really sits.
New data from the spring 2026 wave of the DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker shows that 1 in 10 owner occupiers have already installed solar panels on their home and a further 57% say they would definitely or probably do so in the next few years. This presents an increase from 52% who said the same in spring 2025 but is still slightly below peak values in spring 2023.
When asked about the main reasons for considering solar, those who were likely to install them listed cutting electricity bills (83%), the renewable nature of the technology (72%) and reduced dependence on the electricity grid (51%).
Among owner occupiers who were unlikely to install solar panels, the main reasons for not considering the technology were the installation being too expensive (55%) and the payback taking too long (53%).
When asked what would encourage them to consider getting solar, 3 in 4 owner-occupiers named better financial support for installation (75%), followed by a guarantee scheme to cover any faults or damage (50%) and better financial incentives to sell excess electricity back to the grid (44%). These three incentives remain unchanged as top 3 since spring 2024, emphasising that the high outlay cost remains the largest barrier for those eligible to install solar on their homes.
New data from the spring 2026 wave of the DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker shows owner-occupiers are now more likely to say they already have or are likely to install a heat pump when they next need to change their heating system or boiler.
26% now say they have either already installed an air source heat pump or are very or fairly likely to install one when their heating system next needs upgrading. This is up 6 percentage points from the winter 2021 baseline and equals the previous peak from spring 2025. Change appears to be largely driven by fewer people saying they don’t know enough about the heating technology, now at 21%, which equals values in spring and summer 2025 but is down from 39% in winter 2021.
The share of owner-occupiers who say they are likely to install a ground source heat pump is lower, though an uptick from summer and winter 2025 is also observable here: 17% say they either already have or are very or fairly likely to install the technology next time their heating system needs upgrading, close to the highest point of 18% from spring 2025.
How did climate show up at the 2026 elections?