The UK bucked the trend as solar installations across Europe dropped by a third last year.

In Europe only 7GW of solar capacity was installed in 2014. The UK made up 2GW of that figure and here installations were actually up by 50%. Overall the global solar market grew slightly to about 40GW, mainly due to an upturn in China, Japan and America.

The figures released by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA), showed there was a 36% drop in Europe from 11GW of installations in 2013, to just 7GW last year.

Only the UK showed any increase and here solar capacity rose from 1.5GW to 2.3GW.

The CEO of EPIA, James Watson said: “It’s great to see a thriving solar market in the UK, as it proves solar energy’s versatility to be a success in a country famous for its ‘mild’ climate.

“At a time, solar power has lower cost than retail and often even commercial electricity, it is hard to understand why governments are not pushing much harder to tap the technology’s potential as the European Union is looking for sustainable and secure energy supply.”

The figures were based on the EPIA’s annual survey of global solar markets. The full results as well as a forecast for this year will be published in June.