19 February 2025
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MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme), the UK’s quality mark for small-scale renewable energy, has revealed the top five performing areas in Scotland for certified renewable energy installations, including solar PV, heat pumps and battery storage.
The top five areas in Scotland for renewable installations are:
- Orkney Islands
- Na h-Eileanan Siar
- Stirling
- Argyll and Bute
- Aberdeenshire
Orkney Islands leads the way as the top performing local authority in Scotland for renewable technology installations, with 30% of households having a certified renewable installation, including solar PV, heat pumps and battery storage. This brings Orkney Islands’ all-time certified installation count to 2,790.
Na h-Eileanan Siar follows closely as the second top-performing local authority, with 28.72% of households having a renewable technology installation. This brings the total installation count in Na h-Eileanan Siar to 3,705.
Stirling and Argyll and Bute, neighbouring local authorities, secure the third and fourth spots. In Stirling, 21.94% of homes have a renewable technology installation, with 9,194 installations all-time. Argyll and Bute have 18.44% of homes with renewable installations, totalling 7,540 installations all-time.
Aberdeenshire rounds out the top five, with 18.28% of households with a renewable installation, totalling 21,482 all-time renewable installations in the local authority.
Looking at Scotland as a whole, the latest data from MCS reveals that more than 35,000 small-scale renewables were installed in 2024. This brings the nation’s all-time certified installation count to over 240,000, which accounts for nearly 9.7% of households in Scotland with an MCS certified renewable installation. Solar panels are the leading technology in Scotland, with 180,000 certified installations all time, and 24,000 in 2024 alone.
Ian Rippin, CEO of MCS, said: “Almost 1 in 10 homes in Scotland now benefit from a certified renewable energy installation – that’s far ahead of England (which is at 6.53% uptake) and only just behind Wales (10.05%). Looking at the top five regions in Scotland, you can see that those in rural areas are leading the way when it comes to using renewable technologies to power and heat their homes.
“As the transition towards net zero gathers pace and more households take advantage of home-grown energy, MCS product and installation standards will play a key role in building consumer confidence.”
Io Hadjicosta, Climate and Energy Policy Manager at WWF Scotland said: “It’s great to see the number of heat pumps installed in Scotland continue to rise, especially in rural areas and the islands. Currently 1 in 3 Scottish households are in fuel poverty, while our reliance on fossil fuel heating is driving up damaging carbon pollution. That’s why we need to see a Heat in Buildings Bill introduced as soon as possible, so more people can make the switch to cleaner heating, freeing households from unstable fossil fuel prices and making the most of our abundant homegrown renewables.
“These results from MCS show that with the right grant support and regulation, people can have the certainty they need to make the switch to cleaner, greener forms of heating.”
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.
Uptake figures are estimates based on a flat calculation of “total installations” divided by “total households”.
https://mcscertified.com
