Commercial solar finance, answered straight.

It depends on your tax position, who controls the building and how much cash you want to spend. A company paying corporation tax that owns its roof usually does best owning the array, because the Annual Investment Allowance (£1 million, gov.uk) gives 100% first-year relief; a business with no tax to relieve often does better with a lease or PPA. The finance route checker on this site ranks the routes from six answers.

A green loan if your company pays corporation tax: the borrower owns the array and claims the capital allowances (the Annual Investment Allowance gives 100% first-year relief on up to £1 million). An operating lease if the company cannot use the allowances (loss-making, a charity, a public body): the lessor owns the array, claims them, and prices part of their value into the rental.

The developer owns the array and takes the capital allowances, so part of their value is priced into the tariff, and contracts are long and need roof rights and usually the landlord's consent. A profitable company with capital to spend often does better owning the array; a PPA suits a business that wants no up-front cost and will pay per kWh.

Credit above £25,000 taken out wholly or predominantly for business purposes is exempt from the consumer-credit regime under article 60C of the Regulated Activities Order (legislation.gov.uk); a sole trader or small partnership borrowing less than that can still be a regulated customer. Some lenders and structures are regulated for other purposes. This site is not a lender or broker and does not arrange credit.

The 50% first-year allowance is the allowance for special-rate assets, which includes solar. It applies to special-rate spend such as solar above the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance cap; spend within the cap gets 100% under the AIA. Only companies within the charge to corporation tax can claim it. The capital allowances page works through the claim with the HMRC source.

They are alternatives for the same pound of spend, not a stack. The AIA gives 100% year-one relief on the first £1m of qualifying expenditure across all the plant a business buys in the period. The 50% first-year allowance (companies only) applies to special-rate spend such as solar that sits above the AIA limit or that the AIA no longer covers because other capex used it; the remaining 50% is written down at 6% a year. Where AIA capacity is available, claiming AIA on solar gives 100% year-one relief — better than FYA's 50%.

Capital allowances create or increase a tax loss that can be carried forward to offset future profits. The cash benefit is delayed until the company returns to profit. Loss-making companies should consider operating lease structures where the lessor (with tax appetite) uses the allowances on their behalf and reflects value in lower rent.

No — capital allowances are a corporation tax relief. Public-sector bodies (schools, NHS trusts, local authorities) are not subject to corporation tax and therefore can't use FYA or AIA. Public-sector solar economics rest on capital cost, energy savings and the funding route (capital budget, borrowing, lease or PPA); PSDS closed to new applications in November 2024.

No. The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme closed to new applications in November 2024. Where it applied, it funded bundled decarbonisation projects rather than solar alone. See the public sector solar funding page for what is open now.

Use the finance route checker or the request form, and we reply by email. The useful details are your postcode, annual electricity consumption, building tenure, accounting year-end and corporation tax position.

It depends on the route and the site. Lender or developer processes, procurement, the DNO connection offer (G99) and construction each add time; the grid connection pages set out the DNO's own timescales.

No. This site is an editorial publisher: it does not install, arrange finance, or operate an installer or lender panel. The guides explain the routes so you can approach installers and funders yourself.

No. We take no commissions from installers, lenders or manufacturers. Manufacturer and lender commissions create conflicts of interest that are difficult to disclose cleanly. Because we take no commissions, the guidance on this site is not shaped by any installer or lender.

Commercial projects from about £75k upward, typically systems above 50–80kWp. Below that scale, mainstream asset finance via SME brokers is often the simpler route to compare first.

Yes. The guides cover multi-academy trusts, NHS trusts, councils and other public bodies, including what replaced PSDS and procurement frameworks. See public sector solar funding for what is open now.

No. It covers UK tax allowances, regional funding schemes, accounting standards and DNO rules only.

Postcode, annual electricity consumption in kWh, roof type, building tenure (own or lease), accounting year-end and your corporation tax position. The more of these you give, the more specific the reply by email can be.