Solar Panel Grants and Finance for Businesses

Why businesses are investing in solar

• Daytime demand. Machines, lighting, chillers, compressors and offices run while the sun is up, so most of the generation is used on site.
• Owned roofs earn nothing. A large warehouse or factory roof is often the best-placed asset a business has for generating its own power.
• Price certainty. The power your panels generate isn’t exposed to future price rises.
• Batteries and EVs. Storage and EV charging can be added to make more use of what you generate.

Is there a government grant for business solar?

There’s no national grant that any business can apply to for solar panels. Support is local and changes often.

• Hull and East Yorkshire. The HEY Growth Hub publishes a handbook of current business support in the region.
• Elsewhere. Councils and combined authorities run their own schemes from time to time. Many business energy grants paid for by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund ended when that fund finished in March 2026, and the York and North Yorkshire Business Sustainability Programme has closed.
• Public sector, schools and community groups have different routes. See our solar panel grants hub.

We’ll check what’s live for your area when we quote.

We run your grant application with you

Grant forms take time most businesses don’t have, so we take on the heavy lifting. We run the grant application with you and do the legwork: technical details, quotes, generation forecasts and paperwork. We’ll check which funds you’re eligible for, gather the evidence funders ask for and keep the application moving. If the grant pays in stages, we’ll work to that schedule.

Tax relief: capital allowances

Solar panels count as special rate plant and machinery for capital allowances.

• Annual Investment Allowance (AIA): deduct the full cost from profits in the year you buy, up to the £1 million AIA limit. Sole traders and partnerships of individuals can use it as well as companies.
• 50% first-year allowance: companies can claim 50% of qualifying special rate spending in the first year, for example on spending above the AIA.
• Writing down allowance: anything not claimed goes into the special rate pool at 6% a year.
• Hire purchase: if you buy under a hire purchase contract, you can generally claim AIA once you start using the system, but not on the interest.

Full expensing itself applies to main rate assets, so for solar the relevant reliefs are the AIA and the 50% first-year allowance. Your accountant will confirm what applies to you.

Business rates, VAT and export payments

• Business rates: in England, eligible plant and machinery used for on-site renewable generation and storage, including rooftop solar and batteries, is exempt from business rates until 31 March 2035. Check with your rating adviser.
• VAT: commercial installations are charged at 20%. VAT-registered businesses can usually reclaim it in the normal way.
• Smart Export Guarantee (SEG): systems up to 5 MW in Great Britain can be paid for electricity exported to the grid by a supplier that offers an SEG tariff. Suppliers set their own rates. You’ll need an export meter and an export MPAN, which we arrange as part of the G99 process.

Finance options

• Outright purchase. The best long-term return if you have capital available, with the reliefs above.
• Business finance, hire purchase or leasing. Spreads the cost so repayments can sit alongside your bill savings. See solar finance.
• Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). We work with PPA providers who fund the system. You pay a fixed or index-linked rate for the power it generates, over a term of 5–25 years, with little or no upfront cost. See funded commercial solar with a PPA.

If you lease your building, you’ll need your landlord’s consent. A PPA can sometimes work for both landlord and tenant.

Typical costs and payback

System size	Typical installed cost (ex VAT)
30 kWp	about £17,000–£21,000
50 kWp	about £28,000–£37,000
100 kWp	about £50,000–£65,000
150 kWp and above	about £420–£650 per kWp

Commercial battery storage typically costs about £350–£450 per kWh installed, including the hybrid inverter. Fibre-cement roofs, premium panels, scaffolding and roof safety systems push the price up. Payback depends on how much generation you use on site and what you pay per unit, so we model it from your half-hourly data and show it in your proposal.

How we deliver it

1. Initial call: we look at your bills and, ideally, half-hourly data.
2. Desktop design: an initial layout and estimate, often before we visit.
3. Site survey: roof, structure, shading, electrical supply and access.
4. Proposal: final design, expected generation, costs and payback, which is also what lenders, PPA providers and grant panels ask for.
5. G99 application: submitted and tracked by us with the network operator, typically adding 8–12 weeks before installation.
6. Installation and commissioning: MCS compliant and planned around your shifts.
7. MCS handover and aftercare: MCS certificate, handover pack and remote monitoring, with ongoing servicing and maintenance available.

Accreditations

• CHAS Elite accredited for health and safety.
• MCS certified (NIC-601602) and a RECC member.
• NICEIC accredited.
• 24-month insurance-backed workmanship warranty.

Related case studies

• 257 kWp industrial rooftop solar for Integra Buildings, Paull: JA Solar 555 W panels on a profiled trapezoidal roof, feeding two 110 kW inverters.
• 300.06 kWp across an Indurent industrial estate, Peterborough: 668 panels and three UKPN G99 connections on an occupied estate.
• Rooftop solar for a manufacturer in Rotherham.
• 47.08 kWp on a new-build care home in Clifton, York.

We install across Hull and East Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Sheffield and Rotherham and the North East. For roof types, planning and the full service, see commercial solar and warehouse and industrial solar.