Live Solar Tracker
GB Solar
Generation
Real-time UK solar output from Sheffield Solar PVLive and NESO embedded generation data — covering rooftop, distributed, and utility-scale solar across Great Britain.
PVLive combines metered and estimated output for GB's ~15 GW of installed solar. Irradiance and cloud cover data from Open-Meteo for 15 tracked sites. Updated every 10 minutes.
Solar Output (PVLive)
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Sheffield Solar PVLive
Embedded Solar
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NESO half-hour data
Avg Irradiance
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W/m² across tracked sites
Avg Cloud Cover
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Across tracked sites
PVLive Output
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MW · Sheffield Solar
Embedded Solar
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MW · NESO
Installed Capacity
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GW total GB solar
Today's Peak
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MW embedded peak today
Season
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Peak forecast
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Tracked Solar Sites — Live Irradiance
Site Detail
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24-Hour Solar Forecast
Estimated MW from irradiance across tracked sites
Today's Embedded Solar (NESO Half-Hourly)
00:0006:0012:0018:0023:30
Day Peak
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MW embedded
Day Average
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MW embedded
Context & Conditions
Season—
Avg site irradiance—
Avg cloud cover—
Forecast peak—
Total tracked sites15 sites
Tracked site capacity—
Understanding UK Solar
Why is solar high/low right now?
Solar output depends on irradiance (sunlight intensity), time of day, cloud cover, and season. Summer peak output in the UK can reach 10–12 GW on clear days. Winter peaks are 2–3 GW at most, even when clear. Cloud cover is the single biggest variable on any given day.
Rooftop vs utility-scale
Only large (utility-scale) solar is metered by Elexon. Rooftop solar and smaller installations (~8 GW of UK total) are "embedded" and estimated rather than metered. PVLive from Sheffield Solar uses a machine learning model to estimate combined output across all scales in near real-time.
PVLive data source
PVLive is Sheffield Solar's near real-time solar generation estimate. It covers all of GB (GSP 0) and is widely used by National Grid ESO. It updates every 30 minutes with ~5-minute lag. NESO embedded solar is the settlement-period counterpart used in grid balancing.
Irradiance & forecast
We use Open-Meteo shortwave radiation (W/m²) at 15 representative UK solar sites to estimate utilisation. The 24-hour forecast models expected output based on forecast irradiance — useful for planning EV charging, heat pump use, or battery dispatch around solar production.