Solar panels for commercial property — FAQs

Through the structure, not the meter. Begin with the power the landlord already pays for and consumes — common-parts lighting, lifts, HVAC, the car park and EV chargers — which solar offsets directly, with no split incentive. To reach the tenant's load, sell solar to them under a behind-the-meter or sleeved PPA priced below grid, supported by a green-lease addendum. If you want no capital outlay, lease the roof to a developer for rent plus a tenant power discount. And across all of it, the EPC uplift protects rent and capital value. We design the ownership and lease structure first and the system second — which is what a generalist solar installer does not do.

As of June 2026 the only legally binding minimum is EPC E: since 1 April 2023 it has been unlawful to continue letting commercial property in England and Wales below EPC E, even to a sitting tenant. The Government's interim response of 18 June 2026 proposes raising this to EPC B by 2031 — but only for privately-rented non-domestic buildings over 1,000 m² and only where cost-effective; smaller buildings would remain at EPC E with no set deadline. The earlier 'EPC C by 2027' milestone has been scrapped, and the EPC B target will only take effect once secondary legislation passes through Parliament. Solar typically lifts a commercial EPC by one to three bands, which is why it is one of the most cost-effective compliance levers.

Generally no. Under the RICS Service Charges in Commercial Property professional standard (2nd edition, in force 31 December 2025), the initial capital cost of installing new plant or equipment — which is what rooftop solar is — is not recoverable through the service charge unless it is expressly justified and agreed. Recovery normally runs through a landlord–tenant PPA, a green-lease contribution capped at the tenant's own savings (per the BBP toolkit), or rent. We structure the recovery route at the outset so it stands up.

No. Rooftop solar and co-located battery storage are exempt from business rates in England until 31 March 2035, so the investment does not raise the rateable value. On a typical 250 kW warehouse array that protects roughly £3,000–£8,000 a year, or £30,000–£80,000 across the exemption window. Note that under a full repairing and insuring lease the rates payer is usually the occupier, so the benefit accrues to whoever is liable.

A landlord carrying on a property business can claim capital allowances on solar installed as a fixture. The headline relief is the Annual Investment Allowance — 100% in year one, up to £1m, permanently. Importantly, solar is classified as special-rate (integral features), so the permanent full-expensing regime gives only a 50% first-year allowance on solar, and full expensing is unavailable for assets bought to lease — so landlords and PPA/roof-lease structures rely on the AIA (100% up to £1m) and the 6% writing-down allowance above it. When buying or selling a let property with existing solar, a CAA 2001 s.198 fixtures election must be agreed or the allowances can be lost. Always take professional advice on your specific position.

Funding it yourself means you own the asset, keep all the energy and SEG value, claim the capital allowances and improve your own balance sheet — but you carry the capex and the operating responsibility. A rooftop or airspace lease (the 'sell the roof' route) means a developer funds, owns and maintains the array, you take rent plus a power discount for the occupier, and you commit no capital — but you give up some roof control and surplus export, the lease is a registrable interest with SDLT and Land Registry consequences, and it needs mortgagee and insurer consent. We model both against your covenant, lease length and appetite for capex.

On the strongest available evidence, JLL found BREEAM-certified prime Central London offices commanded a 11.6% rent premium and a 20.6% higher capital value than comparable non-certified buildings, and around a 4.2% rent premium per single EPC-band improvement (2017–2021 data). Knight Frank found rent premiums of 3.7% to 12.3% across BREEAM tiers. These figures are specific to prime Central London offices and are associated with — not solely caused by — green credentials, so they should not be read across to all stock. The reliable point for owners is directional: better-rated, lower-carbon assets rent and sell better, and solar is a measurable contributor to EPC, BREEAM In-Use and GRESB performance.

Usually not a full application. The 1 MW capacity cap on commercial rooftop solar was removed on 21 December 2023, so even large warehouse and retail-park arrays are now permitted development, subject to a 56-day prior-approval determination on design, appearance and glint/glare under Class J. Listed buildings, listed-building curtilage and scheduled monuments are excluded and need consent, and an Article 4 Direction can withdraw the right — we check both before relying on permitted development. In practice the real timeline driver is now the G99 DNO grid connection above ~50 kW, which we begin early. These rules are for England; Scotland and Wales differ.

Yes, and it is where an owner gets the most leverage. We run a standardised survey-to-switch-on programme across the estate: a single feasibility and design framework, blended funding (capex, asset finance or third-party-funded roof leases), and one reporting line for estate-wide EPC, GRESB and CRREM-pathway improvement. That turns a scattered set of building-by-building decisions into a financeable programme that moves the whole portfolio's lettability, value and ESG position at once — a route almost no generalist installer offers.

Often, yes. A rooftop or airspace lease to a developer is a registrable legal interest that almost always needs mortgagee consent and can affect your loan-to-value, security and refinancing. Your insurer may need to be notified and may re-rate the cover, particularly where battery storage is involved because of fire-risk considerations, and a structural roof-loading survey is a precondition. We sequence lender consent, insurer notification, the structural survey and the dilapidations/reversion position into the programme so nothing surprises you at the next valuation or refinance.

Installed cost is typically £700–£1,100 per kWp, falling with scale: a 50 kWp system is roughly £35,000–£60,000, 100 kWp around £82,000–£110,000, 250 kWp around £150,000–£240,000, 500 kWp around £350,000–£500,000, and 1 MWp around £700,000–£900,000 — all ex-VAT (commercial solar install is 0% VAT) and site-dependent. Simple payback is typically 4–8 years, shortening to 3–5 years on high-load assets, and the Annual Investment Allowance plus the business-rates exemption can take one to two years off that on a post-tax basis. Self-consumption — not export — drives the return, so we size from your half-hourly data.

It depends who owns the array. Owner-funded solar simply stays with the building. A developer roof lease, however, is typically a 20- or 30-year interest that can outlast the occupational tenancies beneath it, so the lease must address who removes the panels and reinstates the roof at the end, any buy-back option, and the reversion of the asset to you. We make sure dilapidations, reversion and roof-reinstatement obligations are written into the structure up front rather than discovered at lease end — a detail most installers never raise.

A structural roof-loading assessment to BS EN 1991 is a standard precondition, and on flat roofs we typically use ballasted systems that need no penetrations, preserving the membrane warranty. Where the roof membrane has under 15 years of life left, the sensible move is to combine the solar install with a re-roof in one project rather than pay to remove and refit panels later. We coordinate with your existing roofing warranty so the guarantee is not voided.

For privately-owned commercial property the value comes mainly from tax and incentives rather than cash grants: 100% first-year relief via the Annual Investment Allowance (up to £1m), 0% VAT on the install, full business-rates exemption to 2035, the Smart Export Guarantee on surplus, and tradable REGOs. Third-party-funded roof leases and PPAs remove capex entirely. Public-sector occupiers may access Salix decarbonisation funding, but for private owners the AIA-plus-incentives stack is the route, and we map every applicable lever in the feasibility study.