What it is and how it works

Panels on the roof turn daylight into direct current. An inverter converts it to the alternating current your building runs on, and it feeds your distribution board before anything is drawn from the grid. Whatever you do not use at that moment goes out to the network.

That last sentence is the whole commercial case. Power you use yourself displaces the full price you pay per unit, standing charges and levies included. Power you export earns an export rate, which is lower. So a commercial system is designed around your daytime load, and the roof area is a constraint rather than the target.

We start from your half-hourly data, which your supplier can provide. It shows when the building actually draws power, how flat the base load is, and how much of a given array you would use on site.

Cost, VAT and capital allowances

We quote a fixed price after the survey, itemised so you can see the panels, the inverter, the electrical work, the access or scaffold, and any roof work separately. We do not publish payback figures, because they depend on your own tariff and your own load.

VAT. The 0% rate for energy-saving materials covers residential accommodation and buildings used solely for a relevant charitable purpose. It does not cover commercial premises, so a commercial installation carries VAT at the standard rate. A VAT registered business usually recovers it in the normal way.
Capital allowances. Solar panels are special rate expenditure. A company can claim a 50% first-year allowance in the year of purchase and add the balance to the special rate pool, which writes down at 6% a year. The Annual Investment Allowance, £1 million a year, is open to companies, sole traders and partnerships of individuals, and covers most plant and machinery. Take your accountant’s view on which applies to you.
Export income. The Smart Export Guarantee obliges licensed suppliers to pay for exported power from installations up to 5 MW. The rate is set by the supplier you choose.

Figures reviewed 20 September 2026.

Planning and the network connection

Two separate approvals, and they run on different clocks.

Planning. Solar on the roof of a non-domestic building in England is permitted development. The cap of 1 MW was revoked on 21 December 2023. The limits that remain are dimensional: no more than 0.2 m beyond the plane of a pitched roof, no more than 1 m above the highest part of a flat roof excluding chimneys, and nothing within 1 m of the external edge of the roof. Equipment that is not microgeneration, which in practice means above 50 kW, needs prior approval from the council covering design, external appearance and the effect of glare on neighbours. The council has 56 days. Listed buildings, scheduled monuments and anything in their curtilage sit outside the right and need a full application.

The network. Your distribution network operator has to accept the connection. On a small system that is a notification. On a larger one it is an application with a formal offer, and it can come back with conditions, a cost, or a limit on what you may export. We handle that application and tell you what the answer means before you commit.

Solar with the rest of the building

Solar is usually the first move, not the only one. A commercial battery holds what the roof makes past the point the building stops using it. Workplace EV chargers turn a fleet or a staff car park into daytime load that soaks up generation. Air conditioning runs hardest on exactly the days the roof produces most. If more than one of those is on the list, our design and consultancy work prices them as one scheme, so the switchgear, the cable routes and the roof are only touched once.

Pros and cons

Pros

A business that runs in the daytime uses most of what the roof makes, which is where the value is
Protects part of your electricity cost from the price you would otherwise pay each year
Roof-mounted solar on a commercial building is usually permitted development in England
Companies can claim a 50% first-year allowance on the spend, and most businesses can use the Annual Investment Allowance instead
Spare power can be sold back under the Smart Export Guarantee
The same roof can later feed a battery, EV chargers or air conditioning

Cons

The 0% VAT rate for energy-saving materials does not apply to commercial premises, so VAT is charged at the standard rate
The value depends on your daytime load, so a building that is busy at night gets less from the same array
Above 50 kW you need prior approval from the council, which adds time before we can start
Your network operator has to approve the connection, and on a larger system that approval comes before we order anything
Older roofs may need survey or strengthening work first, which is a cost before any panel goes up
Export prices are set by suppliers and move, so income from what you send back is not fixed

Who it suits

Offices, workshops and warehouses that draw their load between 8am and 6pm
Buildings with a large, unshaded flat or south-facing roof and a steady daytime demand
Sites already planning EV chargers, air conditioning or a battery, where one design covers the lot
Farms, schools and care homes with steady daytime use and roof space to spare
Owner-occupiers, and landlords willing to agree the roof use with their tenants

What is included in a Bespoke installation

A site survey covering the roof structure, the existing supply, the switchgear and where cables can run
Analysis of your half-hourly consumption data so the array is sized to the load, not the roof
The planning position in writing, including prior approval where the system is above 50 kW
The network operator application and any conditions that come back with it
Supply and installation of panels, inverters, isolation and monitoring
Commissioning, handover, the operation and maintenance file, and the Smart Export Guarantee paperwork

Frequently asked questions

Do commercial solar panels get 0% VAT?

No. The zero rate for installing energy-saving materials applies to residential accommodation and to buildings used solely for a relevant charitable purpose. HMRC's notice is explicit that the standard rate applies elsewhere, so a commercial building is charged VAT at the standard rate. If your business is VAT registered, that VAT is usually recoverable in the normal way. Ask your accountant about your own position.

Do we need planning permission for solar on a commercial roof?

Usually not for the panels themselves. Solar on the roof of a non-domestic building in England is covered by permitted development, and the 1 MW ceiling that used to apply was removed on 21 December 2023. Equipment above 50 kW falls outside the microgeneration definition and needs prior approval from the council on design, external appearance and glare, which the council has 56 days to determine. Listed buildings and scheduled monuments are excluded altogether.

What can we claim back against tax?

Solar panels are special rate expenditure for capital allowances, designated that way from 1 April 2012 for corporation tax and 6 April 2012 for income tax. A company can claim a 50% first-year allowance on special rate spend and carry the rest into the special rate pool, which writes down at 6% a year. Most businesses can instead use the Annual Investment Allowance, which is £1 million a year and covers most plant and machinery. Which route suits you is a question for your accountant, not for us.

Can we sell the power we do not use?

Yes, through the Smart Export Guarantee. Licensed suppliers must offer an export tariff to installations up to 5 MW in Great Britain, and solar PV qualifies. You need an export meter, and the rate depends on the tariff you sign. We set up the metering and hand you the paperwork at commissioning.

How big a system should we fit?

We size it from your half-hourly consumption data rather than from the roof area. The value is in the power you use yourself, so an array that matches your daytime base load usually beats a bigger one that exports most of what it makes at a low price.