CPRE Sussex Director’s column written for The Argus, 4 November 2025

Our view: Building a rooftop solar revolution.

When we talk about solar energy people often imagine fields of panels marching across the countryside. But there is huge potential for solar power in our towns and cities.

For the past two years CPRE Sussex has been campaigning for a “rooftop solar revolution”. By turning rooftops and car parks into mini power stations, we can generate renewable energy, help to cut electricity bills and carbon emissions.

The climate emergency is the biggest threat to the future of the countryside.  We need to get off fossil fuels quickly in ways that benefit Sussex residents, without trashing nature.

Mapping rooftop solar

Last year modelling from the University of Southampton revealed the huge potential for rooftop solar in Sussex.  The project, commissioned by CPRE, mapped and analysed every rooftop in Sussex and Hampshire to assess its potential for PV solar installation.

It revealed almost half of rooftops (45%) in Sussex and Hampshire have sufficient sunlight for solar PV installation to be effective. A publicly available map allows local authorities, building owners, community groups and the solar industry to identify potential solar “hotspots”.

Existing solar projects

There is already so much happening across Sussex which demonstrates just how effective rooftop solar can be. In 2017, the University of Sussex installed 3,144 solar panels, producing more than 4GWh of renewable energy for the campus. It was the biggest project of its kind in an academic institution at the time.

Elsewhere in the county, Freedom Leisure centres, Eastbourne Hospital and Shoreham Port have all added rooftop solar – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Sussex has more than 5.2MW of larger roof-mounted installations already operational with lots more planned.  At the small scale, we have around 160MW of PV capacity already installed on domestic and other small roofs.

At the same time, brilliant local pioneers like Brighton Energy Co-op, BHESCO and Energise Sussex Coast are bringing local people together and running community-owned solar-powered systems.

What needs to happen next

We need a more joined up approach to seize the potential of rooftop solar and help power the UK on sunshine. We need to see central government:

• Commit to a national rooftop solar target of at least 40GW.
• Ensure solar PV or thermal panels are standard for all new buildings.
• Update policy to drive deployment of community-owned energy schemes.
• Invest in grid capacity to better accommodate increased generation from solar.
• Set clearer principles for ground-mounted solar including a ‘rooftop first’ approach and prioritising brownfield sites.
• Provide financial support to help homeowners and small businesses with the upfront costs of solar panels.

Local councils can play their part too.  They should:

• Develop local area energy plans that seek to maximise available rooftop solar.
• Incorporate energy performance policies into local plans.
• Maximise the deployment of rooftop solar on their own buildings, including council-owned housing stock.

The rooftop solar opportunity

We’re not pretending we can power the country from roofs alone. Or that it’s practical to meet our solar targets at the speed we need to simply by retrofitting rooftop panels.

We do need well-located, sensibly-scaled, high-biodiversity, wind and solar farms, with benefits for – and ideally owned by – local communities.  But the scale of the rooftop opportunity is surprising.

By maximising the amount of solar we put on rooftops and car parks we can keep as much land free as possible for wildlife, leisure, farming, flood protection and so much more.

Find out more

Read more about the potential for rooftop solar in our latest Argus column here.

Join the rooftop solar revolution here.