Cheltenham Renewable Energy & Solar Panels
Solar panels and other renewable electricity in Cheltenham: how many installations there are, how much power they produce, and the solar farms and battery sites planned nearby.
- 3,590 renewable installations at the end of 2025
- 14.5 MW of capacity
- 12,875 MWh generated in 2025
- 12 larger sites running within 12 miles
How Much Renewable Energy Does Cheltenham Have?
Almost all of Cheltenham’s renewable electricity comes from solar panels, most of them on the roofs of homes, schools and businesses. A compact town with little open land has almost no room for wind or solar farms of its own, so the larger projects sit in the countryside around it, particularly across the boundary in Tewkesbury borough.
This page shows how many renewable installations there are in Cheltenham, how much they can generate and how that has grown each year since 2014, and how the town compares with the rest of Gloucestershire. The map below shows every larger project within 12 miles of the town centre, from rooftop schemes and hospital batteries to solar farms, whether it is already running, approved or still in planning.
For how energy efficient the town’s homes are, see Cheltenham home energy ratings, and for how much gas and electricity they use, see Cheltenham gas and electricity use. If you drive electric, our EV charging points page maps where to charge in town.
Renewable Installations in Cheltenham
At the end of 2025 Cheltenham had 3,590 renewable electricity installations, 3,589 of them solar panels: about 67.9 for every 1,000 homes. Together they can produce 14.5 megawatts (MW) at full output, 3.2 times the 4.5 MW of 2014. In 2025 they generated 12,875 megawatt hours (MWh), equal to about 2.9% of all the electricity used in Cheltenham in 2024.
| Technology | Installations | Capacity (MW) | Generated (MWh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onshore Wind | 1 | 0.01 | Not published |
| Solar PV | 3,589 | 14.46 | 12,875 |
Renewable Capacity by Year
Installed capacity (MW) at the end of each year
| Year | Installations | Capacity (MW) | Generated (MWh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3,590 | 14.46 | 12,875 |
| 2024 | 3,256 | 12.14 | 8,887 |
| 2023 | 2,898 | 10.51 | 7,759 |
| 2022 | 2,523 | 8.43 | 7,331 |
| 2021 | 2,349 | 7.51 | 5,760 |
| 2020 | 2,267 | 6.39 | 4,388 |
| 2019 | 2,227 | 6.89 | 6,045 |
| 2018 | 1,994 | 6.28 | 6,100 |
| 2017 | 1,973 | 6.12 | 5,479 |
| 2016 | 1,953 | 6.0 | 5,227 |
| 2015 | 1,896 | 5.51 | 4,630 |
| 2014 | 1,579 | 4.48 | 3,516 |
How Cheltenham Compares With Gloucestershire
With 67.9 installations for every 1,000 homes, Cheltenham ranks 5th of Gloucestershire's 6 districts. Figures are at the end of 2025.
| District | Homes | Installations | Per 1,000 Homes | Capacity (MW) | Solar (MW) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest of Dean | 37,200 | 5,214 | 140.2 | 135.9 | 131.9 |
| Tewkesbury | 40,900 | 5,131 | 125.5 | 67.9 | 62.6 |
| Stroud | 52,400 | 5,679 | 108.4 | 97.3 | 73.1 |
| Cotswold | 40,600 | 3,423 | 84.3 | 104.3 | 99.3 |
| Cheltenham | 52,900 | 3,590 | 67.9 | 14.5 | 14.5 |
| Gloucester | 55,400 | 3,579 | 64.6 | 28.2 | 15.9 |
Solar Farms and Other Projects Near Cheltenham
Renewable electricity and battery storage projects of 150 kilowatts or more within 12 miles of the town centre, from the July 2026 planning database. 6 are in Cheltenham itself; the rest are in the neighbouring districts, mostly Tewkesbury borough.
| Status | Projects | Capacity (MW) |
|---|---|---|
| Operational | 12 | 114.3 |
| Under construction | 1 | 1.0 |
| Approved | 53 | 463.3 |
| In planning | 10 | 153.5 |
| Refused, withdrawn or ended | 12 | 126.1 |
All Projects Within 12 Miles
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is a Megawatt?
- A megawatt (MW) is 1,000 kilowatts (kW), and measures how much power an installation can produce at full output. The average installation in Cheltenham is 4.0 kW.
- A megawatt hour (MWh) is the energy produced by running at 1 MW for an hour. The average Cheltenham home used 3,169 kWh of electricity in 2024, about 3.2 MWh.
Why Is Almost All of Cheltenham's Renewable Energy Solar?
- Rooftop solar panels fit on homes and businesses in a built-up town. Wind turbines, solar farms and biomass plants need open land, which a built-up town mostly doesn't have.
Does This Include Solar Panels on Homes?
- Yes. The installation and capacity figures count every registered installation, including panels on house roofs. The project map only includes larger projects, of 150 kW or more, that have been through the planning system.
What Do the Project Statuses Mean?
- Operational: built and generating or storing power.
- Under construction: being built.
- Approved: has planning permission but hasn't been built yet. Some approved projects are never built.
- In planning: an application or appeal is waiting for a decision.
- Refused, withdrawn or ended: refused, withdrawn, abandoned, or with permission that has run out, or a plant that has since closed.
Why Are Batteries Included?
- Battery storage sites don't generate electricity, but they store it when there's plenty, such as on a sunny afternoon, and release it when it's needed, which lets the grid use more solar and wind power. The planning database records them alongside renewable projects.
How Can I Find Out About a Planning Application in Cheltenham?
- Our Cheltenham planning applications page lists recent applications to Cheltenham Borough Council, with a map.
How Often Is This Page Updated?
- We check for new figures every month. Installation and capacity figures are published once a year, in September, and the planning database every three months.
About This Data
Data from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's Regional Renewable Statistics and Renewable Energy Planning Database (July 2026), published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Electricity use is from its subnational electricity consumption statistics. Last updated 31 October 2026, checked monthly. Distances are measured from the Promenade in the town centre. Generation figures that would reveal the output of a single site are not published.