Solar panels have been a grey area in regard to light considerations at planning, with a general view that they ‘don’t count’. However, a 2019 court ruling now sets the precedent that they should be a material consideration in the decision whether to grant planning applications.
William Ellis McLennan vs Medway Council and Ken Kennedy [2019]

A right to light is a type of easement, which means it is the right of one landowner to make the use of another nearby piece of land (not owned by them) for the benefit of their own land. In the specific case of rights of light, this benefits the buildings on the dominant land, allowing them to receive light into those buildings through windows, skylights and glass roofs (or similar) across the neighbouring servient land.