Commercial solar for warehouses, factories, offices and farms across the UK
Designed from your half-hourly consumption data, not your roof area. Solar with or without battery storage, bought outright or paid for in other ways where your site qualifies. We handle the DNO application, the planning check and the disruption plan, and we tell you in writing if your site does not stack up.
The number that matters is not the size of your roof
A large roof on a building that uses little electricity in the day produces a lot of power you end up exporting cheaply. A modest roof on a site running refrigeration, machinery or air conditioning through daylight hours can pay back faster than a system three times its size.
So the first thing we ask for is not a roof plan. It is your half-hourly consumption data, which your supplier can provide, or failing that your last twelve months of bills. From that we can see when you use power, how much of a solar system's output you would actually consume on site, and whether the project is worth pursuing at all.
We will tell you if it is not.
A feasibility assessment that ends with "don't do this" has still done its job.
Costs and payback
We publish ranges because a commercial quote depends on roof structure, access, electrical infrastructure and the grid connection available at your site. Anyone giving you a firm figure before a survey is guessing.
| System size | Typical installed cost | Typical payback |
|---|---|---|
| 30 kWp | £18,000 to £24,000 | Typically 5 to 6 years |
| 50 kWp | £30,000 to £40,000 | Typically 5 to 6 years |
| 100 kWp | £60,000 to £80,000 | Typically 5 to 6 years |
| 250 kWp | £150,000 to £200,000 | Typically 5 to 6 years |
Payback is driven mainly by the share of generation you use on site rather than export. A site consuming 80% of its output pays back far faster than one consuming 40%. Your feasibility assessment models this from your actual data.
Tax treatment. Solar equipment is classified by HMRC as a special-rate asset. It does not qualify for full expensing, but qualifying expenditure may attract the Annual Investment Allowance or the 50% special-rate first-year allowance depending on your circumstances. We are not accountants and will not pretend to be. Speak to yours, and we will supply whatever figures they need.
Who we work with
Warehouses and distribution
Large, unshaded roofs and daytime loads from lighting, conveyors, chargers and refrigeration. The classic commercial solar case, and usually the fastest payback in the set.
Manufacturing and industrial
High, steady daytime consumption is exactly what makes solar work. Three-phase supply, roof structure and any export limitation are the technical questions we settle early.
Offices
Smaller loads but predictable ones, concentrated in daylight hours. Often paired with EV charging for staff.
Car dealerships and garages
Showrooms, workshops and forecourts with large roofs, long opening hours and a growing load from EV charging.
Golf, rugby and sports clubs
Clubhouses, kitchens, bars, changing rooms and floodlights, with year-round running costs and evening peaks that battery storage can help cover.
Farms and agricultural buildings
Barn and outbuilding roofs, and high loads from milking, refrigeration, grain drying and irrigation. We have a dedicated page for farm solar, because the questions are different enough to deserve one.
Solar for farmsCare homes, schools, leisure centres and community buildings
Steady occupancy, daytime demand, and often a public-interest case as well as a financial one. Procurement routes vary, and we are used to working within them.
If your building is not on that list, it probably still works. The test is daytime consumption and a usable roof, not the sector.
Battery storage on a commercial site
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ways a battery earns its keepWe fit commercial batteries alongside new solar, add them to solar you already have, or install them on their own. Each one is sized from your half-hourly data and your import and export capacity, not from a brochure.
More on commercial battery storage- 01Using more of your own solar. Surplus generation is stored for later in the day instead of being exported cheaply.
- 02Buying electricity when it is cheaper. Where your tariff allows, it charges in lower-cost periods and runs the site when prices are higher.
- 03Lower peak demand. Discharging at your busiest times can reduce peak demand charges.
Eligible batteries can also earn income in the electricity and flexibility markets, through approved partners. That income depends on market prices, which services the battery qualifies for, and how much of its capacity you keep for your own site. We model it for your site in writing, and we never treat it as guaranteed.
Fire safety, location and the grid connection are assessed for every battery. Adding storage changes your connection, so we handle the network operator's approval as part of the job.
Ways to pay
There is more than one way to pay for commercial solar, and we will tell you which suits your site rather than steering you to one.
Buy it outright. You own the system, you keep all the generation, and you take the tax treatment described above. The right answer for a business with capital available and a long-term hold on the building.
A lower price, with a battery we host. On suitable sites we can reduce what you pay for the solar by including a battery that we host on site and run in the electricity and flexibility markets. The saving comes off your installation price.
Own the battery, share its revenue. You own the battery and receive an agreed share of its net trading revenue. Trading revenue is variable and never guaranteed, and the contract sets out who owns what, who controls the battery, and exactly what you receive.
Funded. On some projects a third party pays for and owns the system, and you buy the electricity it generates. It depends on the site, your tenure and a credit assessment, and it is not available everywhere.
Which of these fits depends on your consumption, your roof or land, your tenure and the grid connection. Your feasibility assessment compares them side by side, in writing.
Planning, grid and paperwork
Three things have to be right before anything goes on a roof. We handle all three.
Planning. Rooftop solar on a commercial or agricultural building often falls under permitted development, but it is not automatic. Systems above 50 kWp need prior approval from the local authority covering siting, design and glare. Panels may not protrude more than 0.2 metres from the roof plane or stand more than a metre above a flat roof. Listed buildings, their curtilage, scheduled monuments and some conservation-area sites are excluded entirely, and some councils have removed the right locally. We check all of this at feasibility stage and tell you what applies. Ground-mounted arrays are a different matter and almost always need a full application.
Grid connection. Any commercial system above 16 amps per phase needs approval from your distribution network operator before installation, under what is called a G99 application. Where the local network cannot accept your full export, we design an export-limitation scheme to G100 to keep the project viable. We do not promise a fixed approval timescale, because the network operator controls it and it depends on the local grid. We do prepare the application properly so it is not sent back.
Compliance and documentation. Every installation is MCS certified and commissioned with full electrical testing. You receive commissioning documentation, single-line diagrams, test results, an O&M manual and everything your insurer or landlord will ask for.
Working around your operations
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A commercial installation happens above a working business. We plan for that.
- 01Site-specific risk assessments and method statements before any work starts
- 02Public and employer's liability cover of £10 million, certificates supplied
- 03Controlled access, exclusion zones and coordination with your facilities or site team
- 04Out-of-hours or low-occupancy working where the site needs it
- 05One short, planned interruption for the electrical connection, agreed with you in advance
The installation goes on the roof. Your operation carries on underneath it.
After the installation
See our commercial O&M serviceCommercial solar is an electrical asset operating at dangerous DC voltages on an exposed roof for twenty-five years. It needs looking after, and most installers walk away once it is commissioned.
We do not. We offer planned maintenance agreements covering inspection, electrical testing, thermal imaging, cleaning and performance reporting, with the documentation your insurer expects.
We also maintain systems we did not install. If you have inherited an array with no service history, that is a common situation and a good reason to get in touch.
Certified
MCS certified for solar PV and battery storage. This is the certification that matters most: it is normally required for your system to qualify for Smart Export Guarantee payments, and it means our installations are inspected against a national standard.Certificate NIC-601172 · check the register
RECC member. The Renewable Energy Consumer Code sets rules on how we sell, quote and estimate savings, and gives you a route to redress if we get it wrong.Registration 00075024 · check the register
NICEIC registeredRegistration NIC-601172 · check the register
CHAS accredited. CHAS assesses how a contractor manages health and safety, so a business or farm can check our standards before we set foot on site.Membership 29017638 · check the register
IWA insurance-backed guarantee. Our workmanship guarantee is insured through IWA, so it stays valid if we ever stop trading, and deposits on home installations can be protected from the point of sale.Member until April 2027 · check the register
Warranties
- Panels
- Up to 25-year product and 30-year performance warranty (about 89% output at 25 years on our most-used panels)
- Inverters
- 5 to 10 years, longer with an extended warranty
- Workmanship
- 2 years as standard and up to 10 years, insurance-backed through IWA
Questions businesses ask
How much do commercial solar panels cost?
Commercial systems are usually costed per kWp rather than as a flat figure, and typically fall between £600 and £800 per kWp installed, which is how we price our own work. As a benchmark, published industry figures put a 50kW system in the region of £45,000 and a 250kW system around £165,000, with payback commonly quoted at three to five years. We will give you a modelled figure for your specific site and consumption.
Do I need planning permission for solar on a commercial building?
Often not, because many commercial rooftop installations fall under permitted development, but there are real exceptions. Listed buildings, conservation areas, and installations above certain size or height thresholds can all require an application, and ground-mounted arrays are more likely to need permission than rooftop ones. We check this as part of the feasibility work rather than leaving it to you.
What payback period should a business expect?
Typically five to six years, though it depends far more on how much of the generation you use on site than on the size of the array. A business operating through daylight hours, with steady daytime load from refrigeration, machinery or air conditioning, sees the shortest payback. A site that is empty during the day sees the longest.
Will installation disrupt our operations?
It shouldn't. Most of the work happens on the roof, and we schedule around your operations rather than the other way round. There will be short planned interruptions for the electrical connection and commissioning, and we agree those with you in advance.
What happens if we sell or vacate the building?
For a purchased system, it stays with the building and normally adds value. Where a battery is hosted or a funded arrangement is in place, the contract sets out what happens, and it is usually assignable to the new owner or occupier, subject to their agreement. It is worth flagging any plans to sell or move early, because it affects which way to pay makes sense.
Do you work with leased premises?
Yes, though it needs the landlord's consent and enough remaining lease term to make the numbers work. This is a common situation and not an obstacle in itself. We can help frame the conversation with a landlord, since a solar installation generally improves the building's EPC rating, which is in their interest too.
What size roof or energy use makes this worthwhile?
There is no fixed minimum roof size or electricity spend. The more useful test is your daytime electricity consumption rather than roof size, because a large roof on a low-usage building generates a lot you end up exporting cheaply. Send us a recent bill and we will tell you honestly whether it stacks up.
Who is the biggest solar installer in the UK?
Several national companies install at much higher volume than we do, and if scale alone is your criterion you should talk to them. What matters more for a commercial project is who surveys your specific roof, who handles the DNO application, who you ring when an inverter fails in year four, and whether they are still trading then. Those are fair questions to ask any installer, us included.
Find out whether your site stacks up
Send us your half-hourly data or your last twelve months of bills, and a photo or address for the building. We will come back to you within two working days with a view on system size, indicative cost and payback, whether a battery makes sense, which ways to pay suit you, and whether it is worth a site visit. If it is not, we will say so.
The form takes text only, so send bills, data files and photos on WhatsApp.