Commercial solar panel costs by system size (July 2026)
Commercial solar pricing falls sharply with scale: fixed costs — design, structural survey, scaffolding, the DNO application — are spread across more kilowatts, and equipment is bought in volume. As of July 2026, fully installed UK commercial systems run from roughly £660 to £1,200 per kWp, with larger arrays at the bottom of that band. The table below shows typical supply-and-install pricing (excluding VAT) for the system sizes we quote most often across the Midlands, alongside what each size actually earns back.
| System size | Typical installed cost (ex VAT) | Cost per kWp | Est. annual output (Midlands) | Typical year-1 bill saving | Simple payback |
|---|
| 30kW | £27,000–£36,000 | £900–£1,200 | ~25,500–28,500 kWh | £4,500–£6,000 | 5–7 years |
| 50kW | £42,500–£55,000 | £850–£1,100 | ~42,500–47,500 kWh | £7,500–£10,000 | 5–7 years |
| 100kW | £75,000–£100,000 | £750–£1,000 | ~85,000–95,000 kWh | £15,000–£20,000 | 4–6 years |
| 250kW | £165,000–£225,000 | £660–£900 | ~212,000–238,000 kWh | £38,000–£48,000 | 4–6 years |
| 500kW | £330,000–£425,000 | £660–£850 | ~425,000–475,000 kWh | £70,000–£90,000 | 4–6 years |
Assumptions: Midlands systems typically yield 850–950 kWh per kWp per year — around 905 in the West Midlands and 900–950 across the East Midlands (Lincolnshire ~930, Nottinghamshire ~910). Savings assume 70–85% of generation is used on site at a business import rate of around 22p/kWh, with the surplus exported at 5–12p/kWh — all rates as of July 2026. Ground-mount, carport, battery storage and complex roofs sit outside these bands, which is why every quote starts with your half-hourly data and a site survey.
Another way to read the same numbers: spread over a 25-year design life, including maintenance and a mid-life inverter replacement, the electricity a commercial array generates costs roughly 4–6p per kWh. Buying the same unit from the grid costs a Midlands business 20–26p (July 2026). That gap — not any subsidy — is what drives the 4–7 year paybacks above. For city-by-city pricing context across our patch, see commercial solar panels across the Midlands, or get exact numbers for your roof with a free solar survey.
Half-hourly data and demand matching: why business load profiles suit solar
The single biggest predictor of commercial solar ROI is not your roof — it is your load profile. Most commercial electricity meters record consumption in half-hourly intervals, and your supplier must provide that data on request. Before we size anything, we overlay a full year of your half-hourly consumption against modelled generation for your roof, so the self-consumption figure in your feasibility report is calculated from your actual operating pattern, not a rule of thumb.
Businesses are unusually good solar candidates for one simple reason: most of them use most of their electricity between 08:00 and 18:00 on weekdays — exactly when panels generate. That is why daytime-occupied commercial sites typically self-consume 70–90% of their solar output, where an unoccupied home without a battery often uses less than half.
Why self-consumption beats export
Every kWh you use on site avoids buying one from the grid at roughly 20–26p (July 2026 business rates). Every kWh you export earns far less: standalone Smart Export Guarantee rates sit as low as 4.1p/kWh, and as of July 2026 the best widely available fixed export rates are EDF Export 12m at 15p/kWh and Ecotricity's Smart Export Tariff at 16p/kWh — both work with any MCS installer but require your electricity import supply with the same supplier. Higher headline rates (17.5–25p from E.ON Next, OVO and Good Energy) are installer-tied exclusives only available if that supplier fitted your system; OVO's open-to-anyone SEG rate is just 4p/kWh and E.ON Next's is 6p/kWh (Octopus Outgoing Fixed, cut from 15p to 12p on 1 March 2026, sits in between). These tariffs generally require your import supply with the same supplier and are aimed at sub-50kW, MCS-certified installations. The SEG itself covers systems up to 5MW, but above 50kW export income is usually a negotiated export contract with a commercial supplier instead. The design rule that follows: size the array to your daytime baseload first, then handle any surplus with battery storage or timed loads rather than chasing export income. A self-consumed unit is worth two to five times an exported one.
Fully funded solar with zero capital outlay: PPA basics
If you would rather commit no capital at all, an on-site Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is the fully funded route: a funder installs, owns, insures and maintains the system on your roof, and you simply buy the electricity it generates at a fixed discount to grid for 15–25 years. Your half-hourly data matters here too — the stronger your daytime load, the better the PPA rate a funder will offer. We compare capex, lease and fully funded PPA side by side in every feasibility report; see our solar finance page for how the three routes compare.
Tax and accounting: a worked £100,000 example
Commercial solar PV is plant and machinery for capital allowances, and it sits in the special-rate pool. That detail matters, because it means solar is not eligible for Full Expensing — Full Expensing applies to main-rate plant only. The reliefs that actually apply to solar in 2026 are:
- Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) — 100% of qualifying spend deductible from taxable profits in year one, up to £1 million per year. The AIA covers the entire cost of almost every Midlands commercial install.
- 50% First-Year Allowance (FYA) — if your total plant spend for the year has already used up the AIA, special-rate expenditure such as solar qualifies for a 50% deduction in year one, with the remaining 50% written down at 6% a year (reducing balance) in the special-rate pool.
VAT: commercial solar is standard-rated at 20% — unlike domestic installations, which are zero-rated until 31 March 2027. If your business is VAT-registered, that 20% is recoverable as input tax in the normal way, so it is a cash-flow item rather than a cost.
The numbers on a £100,000 installation
- Contract price: £100,000 ex VAT. You pay £20,000 VAT and reclaim it through your next VAT return — net cost £100,000.
- AIA route (most businesses): deduct the full £100,000 from taxable profits in the year of purchase. At the 25% main rate of Corporation Tax that is a £25,000 reduction in your CT bill; at the 19% small profits rate, £19,000. (The 25%/19% rates, with marginal relief between £50,000 and £250,000 of profit, are unchanged for the 2026 financial year.)
- 50% FYA route (AIA already used): deduct £50,000 in year one — a £12,500 CT saving at the main rate — then write down the remaining £50,000 at 6% a year (about £3,000 deducted in year two, saving £750, and so on).
- Stack the AIA saving on the £15,000–£20,000 a 100kW system typically cuts from a Midlands electricity bill in year one, and roughly £40,000–£45,000 of the £100,000 comes back inside the first year.
Farm businesses trading as sole traders or partnerships claim the same allowances against income tax rather than Corporation Tax — see our agricultural solar service for farm-specific routes. This is general information, not tax advice: your accountant should confirm the position for your year-end and pool balances, and our finance page shows how the allowances interact with lease and PPA structures.
Grid connection: the DNO process, G98 and G99
Every grid-connected solar system needs the blessing of your Distribution Network Operator — across most of the Midlands that is National Grid Electricity Distribution (formerly Western Power Distribution). Which process applies depends on size:
- G98 — for systems up to 16A per phase (about 3.68kW single-phase, or roughly 11kW across three phases). These can be connected first and notified to the DNO afterwards. Almost no commercial system is this small.
- G99 — everything above 16A per phase, which in practice means every commercial install. G99 approval must be in place before the system is commissioned; energising without it is a regulatory breach that can end in disconnection.
Realistic G99 timescales in 2026
- Smaller, straightforward systems can qualify for a fast-track review of around 20 working days; the standard statutory window for a DNO response is up to 45 working days.
- Where local network capacity exists, expect roughly 8–16 weeks from application to connection offer — which is why the DNO application, not the installation itself, usually sets the project timeline within our standard 3–4 month programme.
- Where the network needs reinforcement, offers can take 6–12+ months and carry reinforcement costs; application fees alone typically run £500–£8,000 depending on size and complexity.
On constrained parts of the network the DNO may offer a connection subject to an export limitation — a control device that caps how much your system can push to the grid. For a high-self-consumption business this is often no real loss, and it can turn a 12-month reinforcement quote into an 8-week approval; we model your returns with and without the cap so you can see the difference before accepting an offer.
We handle the whole process in-house — pre-application enquiry, the G99 submission, witness testing and commissioning paperwork — and we submit at feasibility stage so the DNO clock runs while the design is finalised, not after it. It is one reason projects like our Warwickshire commercial installs commission on schedule. Ready to start the clock on yours? Talk to the commercial team or book a free solar survey.