Solar panel grants for businesses: what's actually available (June 2026)

Search "solar grants for business" and you get a fog of dated installer blogs, government list pages and regional growth-hub links, half of them out of date. This guide cuts through it. We don't install solar, so we have no reason to oversell what's available — and we'll happily tell you what isn't. For a number on your own roof, the calculator (linked below) does that in about a minute.

Are there any grants for commercial solar panels?

The honest answer first: there is no single, universal grant that pays for commercial solar in the UK. Schemes that promise to "cover your solar" are usually either funded Power Purchase Agreements (where you don't own the panels) or regional pots with tight eligibility and modest sums. What genuinely moves the cost is the tax system, plus a handful of regional and sector grants. We'll take each in turn.

Tax relief: the real subsidy

For most businesses the tax treatment is worth far more than any grant they'll qualify for. The headline is the Annual Investment Allowance.

The AIA allows up to £1m of qualifying capital spend to be deducted from profits in the year of purchase, so it covers the full cost of most SME-scale systems. For spend that falls outside the AIA, special-rate assets attract a 50% first-year allowance instead.

Two more reliefs round out the picture:

• Business rates exemption — solar generation equipment has been exempt from business rates in England since April 2023.
• VAT — commercial installs carry 20% VAT (the 0% domestic rate does not apply), but a VAT-registered business can normally reclaim it.

Live grant schemes by nation

Beyond the tax reliefs, the grants that exist are regional and competitive. Below is what we can state confidently for England; devolved schemes are flagged for live checking because they change often and a stale figure here would be worse than none.

Sector schemes

A few schemes target specific sectors rather than regions:

• Manufacturing — the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund supports energy-intensive manufacturers with large, competitive grants (individual awards have run well into six and seven figures), with the funding pool open to 2028. It suits major industrial sites, not a typical SME roof.
• Farms and agricultural buildings — the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) covers 25% of the cost of eligible rooftop solar on farm buildings, and the Improving Farm Productivity grant funds 25% of eligible solar PV (grants from £15,000 up to £100,000), rooftop or reservoir-mounted only (no ground-mount). See our guide to solar for farm buildings for the agricultural angle.

Who is eligible for solar grants in the UK?

Eligibility is scheme-specific, but the recurring tests are: you must be a UK business (often an SME by headcount and turnover), the premises must be in the scheme's area or sector, and you generally must own the system to claim grants and tax relief — a PPA funder claims them instead. Tax reliefs like the AIA have the broadest reach: any UK business buying solar as a capital asset, with enough taxable profit to absorb the deduction, can use them. Specific grant thresholds vary by scheme — always confirm the current criteria on the official source before you apply.

How to apply without wasting a month

The order that saves time:

• Start with the tax reliefs — they need no application, just correct treatment in your accounts. Confirm with your accountant that the AIA covers your system.
• Check one regional source, not ten blogs — your local growth hub or the gov.uk funding finder lists what is genuinely open in your area now.
• Get the survey and quote first — most grants need a specification and costing, so the install paperwork doubles as your application evidence.
• Mind the timing — many grants must be approved before you commit to the purchase, so don't sign the install contract until you've checked.

What about "free solar panels"?

"Free solar panels for business" is not a grant — it's a funded Power Purchase Agreement. A funder pays for and owns the panels on your roof, and you buy the power they generate at a fixed rate (typically 10–17p per kWh, against 25–30p from the grid). There is no upfront cost, but you don't own the asset and you don't get the tax relief — the funder does. It can suit a business without capital, but it is a financing route, not free money. Our financing guide compares it against buying outright.

Updated June 2026 · By Taro Schenker, founder of Business Solar Check. We're independent — we don't install solar. Figures are indicative UK averages; your site survey confirms the numbers for your roof.