U.K. Subsidies Trigger Solar Boom Under Gray Skies

The U.K., known for rain and gray skies, enjoyed record installations of solar panels in July after the government guaranteed prices for electricity from renewable energy up to 10 times market rates.

Photovoltaic panels with the capacity to generate 4.6 megawatts were fitted last month, the energy regulator Ofgem said on its website. That’s more than in all of 2009, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which forecasts the nation’s solar market will increase 12-fold this year.