Solar Panels for Charities and Community Buildings

Why solar suits charities and community buildings

• Lower running costs. Solar you use on site replaces electricity you’d otherwise buy, freeing money for your services.
• Busy days. Day centres, offices, foodbanks, nurseries and clubs with daytime sessions use the most of their own generation.
• Evening use? A battery stores midday surplus for evening classes, matches and events.
• Visible commitment. Funders, members and volunteers increasingly ask about carbon. A roof full of panels is an easy answer.
• Low maintenance. Panels have no moving parts. We set up remote monitoring, and ongoing servicing and maintenance is available.

0% VAT on solar for charity buildings

From 1 February 2024, the VAT relief for energy-saving materials was extended to buildings used solely for a relevant charitable purpose. That means:

• solar panels and batteries installed in a qualifying building are zero-rated until 31 March 2027, then charged at the reduced 5% rate
• the building must be used by a charity other than for business, or as a village hall or similar providing social or recreational facilities for the local community
• a building used for business activities, such as a charity shop or space let commercially, generally won’t qualify
• a charity that simply lets another organisation use its building for free isn’t using it for a relevant charitable purpose

We’ll ask you for a short letter confirming how the building is used, and we keep it on file. If your building is part business, part charitable, talk to your accountant before we quote.

Grants and funding for charity solar

Funding rounds open and close through the year, so we’ll check what’s live for you.

• Great British Energy Community Fund. For community-owned clean energy in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Registered charities, community benefit societies, co-operatives, CICs and development trusts can apply, and the project must be at least 50% community owned. Funding comes in feasibility, development and capital stages. In our region, the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub helps groups prepare applications.
• Local community funds. East Riding of Yorkshire Council runs several wind farm community funds, which accept applications from community groups, charities, parish councils, schools and faith groups for projects in each fund’s area. Energy-efficiency and environmental projects are among the eligible themes.
• Sports clubs. Hessle Sporting Club’s solar was funded by the FA (the Football Association). The FA’s Greener Game programme, run with E.ON Next, offers accredited 2 and 3 grassroots football clubs free energy audits and, for some clubs, upgrades such as solar panels and batteries. Application windows open periodically, so we’ll check what’s open for your club.
• Energy Redress Scheme. Funded by payments from energy companies, it runs funding rounds for charities and community energy groups. Some streams fund project development rather than installation.
• Christian charities and churches. Benefact Trust’s building grants can include solar PV and battery storage. See solar panels for churches.
• Community energy and PPAs. A community energy group or funder can sometimes pay for the system and sell you the electricity at a lower rate, over a term of 5–25 years. See funded solar with a PPA.

Exported electricity can also earn Smart Export Guarantee payments from a supplier that offers an SEG tariff. See our solar panel grants hub for every sector.

We run your grant application with you

Grant forms take time most organisations 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, with figures your trustees can sign off. If the grant pays in stages, we’ll work to that schedule.

Typical costs and payback

Most community buildings need a modest system. As a guide from our commercial work, a 30 kWp system typically costs about £17,000–£21,000 before VAT, and battery storage about £350–£450 per kWh installed. For a qualifying charity building, the VAT on top is currently 0%. Payback depends on how much of the electricity you use on site and what you pay per unit. We’ll model it from your bills, set it out clearly for your trustees, and say so if solar isn’t the best use of your money.

How we deliver it

1. Free desktop look at your roof and bills.
2. Site survey: roof condition, structure, shading and the electrical supply.
3. Proposal: expected generation and an itemised quote, the evidence most grant applications ask for.
4. G99 grid application to the network operator where the system size needs it. We submit and track it.
5. Installation around your sessions, matches and bookings.
6. MCS handover: MCS certificate, handover pack and 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.

See our certifications and our main commercial solar service.

Related case study

Grant-funded solar PV for Hessle Sporting Club. We designed a 21.6 kWp system of 48 Aiko 450 W panels above the club’s pitched roof, feeding a Solis 20 kW three-phase inverter. It was funded by the FA (the Football Association), with payments released in stages. It was commissioned and MCS certified in April 2025, and it’s estimated to generate 15,432 kWh a year. We work with charities and community groups across Hull and East Yorkshire, York and North Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and the wider North.