England’s Clouds Part for Solar as Panels Carpet Fields

Cloudy Britain is emerging as Europe’s hottest market to build solar parks.

Cheaper equipment costs and steady subsidies are attracting developers of large-scale, ground-mounted projects from nations like Germany and Spain that pioneered solar on the continent. Britain may build more big plants -- 2 megawatts or larger -- than any European country, adding as much as 2,000 megawatts of capacity this year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Those panels would occupy about 16 square miles, enough to cover most of central London.