The short answer
The government counted 5,142 solar sites in Cheshire East at the end of 2019 and 11,685 at the end of 2025, about 2.27 times as many. Against its estimate of 174,900 households, that is roughly 2.9 sites per 100 households rising to 6.7. The counts cover the whole borough and include non-domestic sites.
The two numbers
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes counts of solar installations for each local authority (local authority solar statistics). For Cheshire East, the count stood at 5,142 at the end of 2019 and 11,685 at the end of 2025. That is an increase of 6,543 over six years, or about 1,091 a year on average, and leaves the borough with roughly 2.27 times as many sites as six years earlier.
The statistics do not split the borough into towns, so these figures cover Congleton together with Crewe, Macclesfield, Nantwich, the other towns and the rural parishes. The annual average also hides the pattern within the period: the two end points tell us how far the count moved, not whether it moved evenly.
A fair way to compare
| End of year | Solar sites | Per 100 households |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 5,142 | 2.9 |
| 2025 | 11,685 | 6.7 |
Raw counts are hard to compare between areas of different sizes, so it helps to divide by households. The department’s household estimate for the borough, 174,900, sits very close to the 2021 Census count of 174,854 (Census 2021). On that basis the borough went from about 2.9 solar sites for every 100 households to about 6.7.
The same household figure is used for both years, which slightly flatters the earlier rate and understates the later one if the number of households has grown. The effect is small next to the change in the count itself, and it does not alter the direction or rough scale of the change.
What a site is, and is not
Each site is an installation recorded in the government’s data. Most are small rooftop systems on homes, but the count also includes systems on schools, offices, farm buildings and other premises, and larger ground-mounted arrays. It is a count of installations, not of households with panels, and it says nothing about their size. A single large array and a single small roof count once each.
That is why this guide does not turn the figures into a share of homes. With non-domestic sites in the count, “per 100 households” is a rate for comparison over time, not a statement that a given share of homes have panels. If anything, the share of homes with panels is a little lower than the rate suggests.
What the count may miss
Official counts are built largely from registers of installations, so a system that never appeared on one may be missing. Small plug-in kits, which from 27 August 2026 count as solar PV under the planning rules, are unlikely to show up in figures for the years covered here. Systems removed when a roof was replaced may linger in a register for a while. None of these is likely to change the broad picture, but they are reasons not to read the counts to the last digit.
The figures also say nothing about how well the systems perform. Two sites of the same size, one on an open south roof and one on a shaded east slope, count the same. For what a roof in Congleton makes, see output.
What lay behind the growth
The statistics record how many systems were fitted, not why. Several things changed in the period that are likely to have played a part. Electricity prices rose sharply from 2022, making it more attractive to generate at home. Installed solar on homes was zero-rated for VAT from 2022, and remains so until 31 March 2027, after which the rate becomes 5% (HMRC). Cheshire East’s Switch Together group-buy has run in rounds; the 2026 round took registrations from 3 August 2026 to 25 September 2026 and has closed (council page). It would be guesswork to say how much each contributed. Interest in panels also tends to spread by example: a household that sees a neighbour’s system working, and hears what the process involved, is more likely to ask about its own roof. That effect is often described, but it cannot be measured from these figures.
Prices are the other side of the picture. The government’s 2025/26 cost figures put the UK median for systems up to 4 kW at £1,595 per kW (DESNZ cost data). Costs in Congleton gives the full figures and a table by system size.
Congleton within the borough
Congleton’s two Census wards, Congleton East and Congleton West, hold 12,838 households between them, about 7.3% of the borough. It is tempting to share out the borough count on that basis, but take-up is unlikely to be even across a borough that ranges from town-centre terraces to detached houses with large gardens. Congleton has more detached houses in its east ward than the borough average, which might favour solar, and an old centre with conservation areas and listed buildings, where some owners face extra steps. 36.6% of households across the borough are detached. Homes by ward sets the two wards side by side, and conservation areas explains the rules in the centre.
What the figures are useful for
They show that solar on buildings in this part of Cheshire has moved from unusual towards ordinary. More buyers will meet houses with panels already fitted, and more neighbours will have been through the process and can describe it: buying a home with solar covers what to ask. They also show the borough moving quickly over a short period, which is worth bearing in mind when reading older advice that treats panels as a novelty.
They are not useful for deciding whether your own roof suits panels. That depends on direction, shade, structure and planning, and on how the household uses electricity. The roof and route check starts on those questions, and choosing an installer covers the firms.
More systems on the same cables
Every one of those sites is connected to the local electricity network, and the network operator keeps a record of each. That is one reason small systems are notified and larger ones need approval before they connect. As more homes on a street add panels and batteries, the operator watches voltages and loads more closely, and larger applications may come back with an export limit. For a household, the practical effect is simply that the paperwork matters: grid connection explains the two procedures.
Where the figures come from
The site counts are from the government’s regional renewable statistics, read on 3 November 2026, and the household figures from the department’s estimate and the 2021 Census on Nomis. How each figure on this site was gathered is explained under data and sources; for the rest of the reading, start from all guides.