Cut your energy bills. Generate your own power. Commercial solar PV that pays for itself.

Your business is paying 20–25p for every unit of electricity it buys from the grid. Commercial solar PV generates the same electricity for around 4–5p. At current UK energy prices, the gap between those two numbers has never been wider.

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  • No obligation. We'll tell you honestly if the numbers work for your site.

Every month you wait has a measurable cost

UK business electricity settled at around 20–25p per kWh in 2026 — roughly a third higher than the pre-2022 norm, and the structural pressures haven’t gone away. A business spending £50,000 a year and self-consuming 60% of a system’s output would typically save £25,000–30,000 per year from day one.

 
BOUGHT FROM THE GRID

20–25p / kWh

2026 UK business rates — around a third above the pre-2022 norm, with no structural easing in sight.

GENERATED ON YOUR ROOF

4–5p / kWh

Levelised cost over a 25–30 year design life. The gap between these two numbers is the whole business case.

  • 3–5 year typical payback
  • 25–30 year design life
  • 70–80% less bought-in electricity
  • Full year-one capital allowance

The Annual Investment Allowance changes the maths significantly

Businesses can offset the full capital cost of a solar installation against taxable profits in year one under the Annual Investment Allowance — a material benefit that many ROI calculators understate. A £100,000 installation for a business paying 25% corporation tax effectively costs £75,000 after tax relief, bringing payback closer to 2–3 years for higher-consuming businesses.

Net-zero is moving from aspiration to contract requirement

For businesses in public sector supply chains, education, logistics and manufacturing, demonstrable progress on energy and carbon is increasingly a pre-qualification requirement. Commercial solar supports ESOS compliance, SECR reporting and Scope 2 emissions reduction — three boxes ticked with one decision.

 

One contractor. Every stage. No gaps.

Most commercial solar projects involve at least three parties — a consultant, an installer and an electrical subcontractor. When something goes wrong, responsibility gets complicated quickly. Barrow Electrical does the whole job: the person who designs it is accountable for how it’s installed.

01

Site survey and feasibility

We start with a desktop review using satellite imagery and your energy bills to produce a preliminary yield and payback model. Where the case is compelling, we move to a physical survey covering roof condition, structural loading, cable routes, switchboard capacity and DNO connection. If the numbers don’t stack up, we tell you — before you spend anything.

02

System design to BS 7671

Our engineers produce a full design: panel layout and specification, inverter selection, cable routes and containment, switchboard modifications, metering and structural loading calculations — issued to you for approval before any work begins. No surprises on site.

03

G98/G99 and DNO application

Grid connection is where commercial solar most commonly stalls. We manage the full process with your Distribution Network Operator in-house — we know what each DNO requires and how to frame submissions to avoid unnecessary queries. You don’t need to get involved unless you want to be.

04

MCS-aligned installation

Our installation teams are supervised by qualified engineers throughout — cable containment, roof penetrations, inverter installation, metering and switchboard modifications, coordinated with your facilities team to minimise disruption. We work in occupied buildings regularly and plan accordingly.

05

Commissioning, testing and certification

Every installation is fully commissioned and tested before handover. You receive an NICEIC Electrical Installation Certificate, MCS-aligned documentation, G98/G99 compliance evidence, as-built drawings and an O&M manual — everything procurement teams and auditors need on day one.

06

Optional O&M

Solar systems lose performance gradually if not maintained. Our O&M contracts cover annual inspection, inverter monitoring, fault response and Smart Export Guarantee administration — so the return on your investment holds over the system’s life, not just in year one.

There are plenty of solar installers

There are far fewer who are also NICEIC-approved electrical contractors with in-house G98/G99 capability and experience delivering complex commercial programmes. Here’s what that difference means in practice.

 

We do the electrical work ourselves

Most solar installers subcontract the grid connection, switchboard work, metering and certification. We do not. Every element of the electrical installation is our work, our responsibility and our sign-off.

G98/G99 is not an afterthought

For many installers, DNO applications are an unfamiliar, reactive process. For us it’s routine — across all major UK distribution networks, structured to get approved first time.

We tell you what we actually think

If a site isn’t suitable, we say so at feasibility — before you’ve committed. If payback is longer than the headline figures suggest, we show you why.

Procurement-ready from day one

PQQ pack, policy library, accreditations and capability statement ready to download. £10m+ PL, PI and EL cover. NEC and JCT contract experience on request.

Nationwide, with the infrastructure to prove it

Based in Warrington, working nationally. Multi-site rollouts, single-site installations, public sector frameworks — the team, systems and insurance to deliver at scale.

Which businesses get the best returns?

The strongest ROI cases share a common characteristic: high daytime electricity consumption that aligns with solar generation. These sectors consistently see the fastest payback and the clearest net-zero case.

Warehouses & Logistics

Multi-site LED, EV and solar rollouts

Education

Schools, colleges & academies

Care & Medical

Occupied site working, CQC-compliant

Facilities management

Sub-contract & supply chain partner

Public sector

Local authorities & public buildings

Retail & Hospitality

Nationwide chain rollouts

Commercial Offices

Fit-outs, LED, EV & monitoring

The questions we get asked most

Installed costs in 2026 typically run at £750–£1,000 per kWp. A 100kWp system — around 200–250 panels, suitable for a medium-sized commercial roof — would typically cost £75,000–£100,000 installed. The Annual Investment Allowance means businesses paying 25% corporation tax effectively reduce that cost by 25% in year one. We provide a detailed, no-obligation cost and payback breakdown as part of our feasibility study.
For a straightforward commercial rooftop installation, expect 10–16 weeks from initial feasibility to energisation. The main variable is DNO/G98/G99 approval timescales, which vary between distribution networks and depend on export capacity at your local substation. We manage the application process from day one and flag any potential delays early. We don’t wait until the panels are on the roof to start the grid connection process.
Most commercial rooftop solar installations fall within permitted development rights. Exceptions include listed buildings, conservation areas and installations above certain capacity thresholds. We assess planning requirements during the feasibility stage and give you a clear view of what’s needed before any design work begins. In most cases, it’s not an obstacle.
G98 and G99 are the UK engineering standards that govern how solar — and other generating equipment — connects to the distribution network. Systems up to 3.68kW per phase use a G98 notification; larger systems require a G99 application with formal DNO approval before the system can be legally energised. Missing this step is a compliance risk that we have seen catch other contractors out. We handle all DNO and G98/G99 work as a standard part of every project.
Yes — and in most cases we recommend assessing storage at the same time as solar rather than retrofitting it later. Battery storage shifts surplus generation into the evening peak, reduces demand charges and significantly increases self-consumption. Designing solar and storage together from the outset produces better technical performance and lower lifetime cost than a staged approach. Ask us to include a storage option in your feasibility study.
Every project is handed over with a full documentation pack: NICEIC Electrical Installation Certificate, MCS-aligned project records, G98/G99 compliance evidence, as-built drawings, emergency lighting layouts where applicable, and an O&M manual. Procurement teams, auditors and building managers have everything they need on day one. If you have specific documentation requirements for a framework or contract, tell us at the design stage and we’ll build them in.

Find out what solar could do for your site

We start every conversation with a free desktop review — your energy bills and site details in, a realistic yield and payback estimate out. No site visit required at this stage. No obligation to proceed. If the numbers work, we’ll tell you exactly why. If they don’t, we’ll tell you that too.

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