British households need more and more power. Many might be missing a trick. As the journey to net zero speeds up, we get to grips with an innovative solution which maximises potential rooftop electricity output.
As the UK accelerates its transition to a low carbon economy, pressure on the national grid is growing. Electricity demand is naturally rising in lockstep with the adoption of electric vehicles and, while the rapid expansion of renewable generation is a good thing, the supply variability poses its own challenges.
The ideal solution to manage this supply and demand issue is local, flexible infrastructure that can generate and manage clean power right where it is needed. Distributed solar energy, particularly in the form of solar carports combined with smart EV charging and on-site battery storage, is just that type of infrastructure. RenEnergy’s new study reveals that service station car parks alone could collectively generate 124 GWh of electricity a year from solar, a £19 million renewable energy opportunity.
Every kilowatt produced and consumed locally helps to relieve strain on the grid. Solar carports can transform otherwise underused parking areas into productive energy assets. And with more than half a million parking spaces already identified as suitable (and additional sites expected as research expands), the UK is within reach of producing enough renewable energy to power hundreds of thousands of homes. And all this without impacting the already limited UK arable estate; approximately 95% of the area now covered by solar farms was once arable land and while at only 0.1% of the overall area of the UK this is projected to grow to 0.39%, and mainly on high quality arable land. Building instead on land already very much covered by concrete and tarmac makes significantly more sense.
By harvesting solar energy in the daytime with the option of storing it, solar carports can power vehicles at any time, or export energy during peak demand. For car park companies, that means lower energy bills, reduced carbon footprints, and a potential new revenue stream through the emerging flexibility markets.
Solar carports can also be digitally managed and networked. As EV adoption accelerates, integrating charging, storage, and solar generation could create local energy “micro systems” that actively support overall system stability. Likely candidates for large-scale solar carport installations include retail parks, schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, and public transport hubs.
For policymakers and businesses alike, the next phase of Net Zero delivery may depend as much on harnessing these distributed, digitally connected assets as on building new generation capacity.
Rewiring the market
To realise the full potential of distributed solar and EV integration, this new market has to be well designed. Like France’s present-day single operator model, the UK’s energy system was once national, but this is no longer the case. Regardless of whether you think that’s a good thing or not, one consequence can’t be argued with – it is fragmented. Generation, transmission, distribution, and retail supply operate completely separately, each with their own incentives and priorities. While this separation has encouraged competition (in a manner – transmission and distribution are regulated geographical monopolies) and improved consumer choice, it also impedes the coherent, long-term planning and investment needed to make the grid more flexible and resilient for the future.
Transmission and Distribution Network Operators , for example, deliver electricity from generators to homes and businesses, but they have limited commercial drivers to prepare their networks for a decentralised future. Their revenues are narrow due to tightly regulated cost controls, leaving little budget left to invest. At the same time, standing charges on consumer bills still reflect the expense of maintaining mid-20th-century infrastructure rather than incentivising progressive upgrades or energy efficiency.
This structure makes transformational change inherently difficult. Redesigning the energy market to value long-term resilience and innovation, rather than focusing solely on cost control, is crucial to making distributed generation an attractive and scalable investment in line with the pace required to reach net zero. For distributed solar, EV charging and storage to grow at a reasonable pace, investors and operators need a new framework that recognises and rewards the value these assets bring.
Outdated infrastructure and regulations
As mentioned, the UK’s existing energy infrastructure is a significant obstacle to the scale-up of distributed solar and EV integration, but so is its regulatory framework. Getting a grid connection for new projects now take upwards of a decade not only due to grid congestion, but also the complexity of planning permissions and the associated consultations that are required.
Meanwhile, persistent transmission bottlenecks between the wind-rich north and the power-hungry south create inefficiencies that ripple across the system. Wind farms are sometimes paid to switch off while gas plants ramp up, resulting in consumers effectively paying for energy twice.
Coordinating investment in grid upgrades alongside more agile regional planning would help eliminate these inefficiencies. Market regulation must also evolve beyond the current short, five-year oversight cycles under models like Ofgem’s RIIO framework. Introducing five-, ten-, and twenty-five-year planning windows would create the stability and confidence needed for sustained, strategic investment in future-ready networks.
Building digital capability and organisational readiness
Delivering a cleaner, smarter energy system will depend as much on digital transformation as on new physical infrastructure. Tools like digital twins and AI-driven analytics can model network behaviour, anticipate faults, and streamline maintenance across infrastructure assets. Open data platforms and strong digital literacy are essential for running a decentralised energy system effectively, yet many utilities continue to struggle with fragmented systems and limited cross-sector collaboration.
A central digital architect – suggested by the Energy Geeks as sitting with the National Energy System Operator (and I concur!) – would help create the foundations with a digital spine to bring much needed shape and structure to the sector, build a clear basis for future investment and drag a lagging industry into the 21st Century.
Central to this challenge is skills development. The sector faces a massive shortage of experienced engineers who are also clued up on data and AI, skills that are critical to achieving net zero.
Fairness and flexibility
The shift toward local generation and flexible consumption should not create a new divide between “energy haves” and “energy have-nots”. While renewables now account for an increasing share of supply, retail electricity prices in the UK are still closely tied to wholesale gas prices, leaving consumers paying more for clean power than they should. This pricing structure has to be reformed if we want the benefits of abundant, low-carbon energy to be shared widely.
The growth of flexibility markets, which reward customers for adjusting their energy use to coincide with periods of good levels of supply, will bring about a fairer, more responsive future. But equitable access and participation must be designed in from the outset. Smart-meter data, dynamic pricing, and automation can enable households across all income levels to share in the benefits of flexible energy systems, ensuring that the transition does not leave lower-income consumers behind. Much of this requires UK Government direction and investment – and somehow without the vagaries, discord and confusion caused by our 5 year political cycle.
The next five years
Clean technologies like solar panels, heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers reduce cost and can even generate revenue. When intelligently connected and managed, these technologies can operate as a virtual power plant, matching the performance of largescale energy providers and delivering up to 60% greater cost efficiency during peak demand periods.
If the UK is committed to realising opportunities such as the £19 million potential of solar carports, there are three things we need to address. First, we need to close the skills gap by developing a workforce that is data and AI-literate, equipped to operate and optimise an intelligent energy system.
Second, we need to encourage innovation by sharing data, which will allow network operators and technology providers to apply digital twins, predictive analytics, and flexibility tools effectively. And third, we need to coordinate regional planning that integrates electricity, heating, and water networks instead of managing them in isolation.
Regulation is critical for this to happen. Ofgem and the government need to adapt price control models to balance short-term efficiency with long-term resilience while providing investors with greater confidence and clarity.
Equally important is continued support for largescale storage, flexibility services, and clear national strategies on grid modernisation and low-carbon heating. An overriding emphasis on cost reduction has historically slowed momentum toward Net Zero. The next phase must focus on building the digital, decentralised, and data-driven system capable of sustaining that goal for the long term.
Image: Chirayu Trivedi / Unsplash
Mark Hewett is Director of BFY Group, a management consultancy specialising in energy, utility and private equity.
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