About solarassetfinance.co.uk

An independent guide to solar asset finance for UK businesses. This site is not a lender and not an installer, so it has no product of its own to sell.

solarassetfinance.co.uk is an independent guide to commercial solar asset finance, operated by SEO Dons Ltd. It exists to explain one thing well: how UK businesses can fund commercial solar in a way that keeps the value — the capital allowances, the export income and the asset itself — with the business rather than a third party.

What this site covers

The site covers the funding side of commercial solar: hire purchase, finance and operating leases, equipment loans, and refinance or sale-and-leaseback of systems you already own. It is not a lender and has no product of its own to place; the aim is to show which route fits a given balance sheet and tax position. Check any funder you deal with on the Financial Services Register before you sign anything, and, if the name is claimed as a member, on the Finance & Leasing Association's own member list.

The finance calculator and the comparison pages model the same question: paying cash, each finance route and a PPA, net of the capital allowances, with payback, total cost of credit and the long-term position laid out in pounds. Paying cash or signing a PPA is sometimes the right answer, and the pages say when.

Why this guide focuses on asset finance

Most solar finance is sold by installers offering one funder's single product, with the structure chosen to suit the sale rather than the customer's balance sheet. This guide comes at it from the finance side instead. The route you choose decides whether you can claim the Annual Investment Allowance, whether the system sits on your balance sheet, how the VAT falls, and who keeps the Smart Export Guarantee income. Getting that right is worth real money — and it is a specialist question, not a tick-box.

Your accountant and your installer

Your accountant confirms the tax treatment and the capital-allowance position, and the installer you appoint matters because Smart Export Guarantee eligibility depends on it: up to 50 kW both the installation and the installer need MCS certification or an equivalent, and from 50 kW to 5 MW the installation must be suitably certified. An MCS installer can be checked on the MCS directory. Funders normally release finance on commissioning, so you are not paying for a system that isn't yet generating.

Plain figures, not sales pressure

This site does not use high-pressure sales and does not oversell the tax position. For instance, solar does not qualify for 100% full expensing — it's special-rate expenditure, so it's the Annual Investment Allowance or the 50% first-year allowance instead. Getting the details right is the point of a specialist guide.

How to check who you are dealing with

We make no accreditation claim of our own: we are not a lender, not an installer and not a certification body. What matters is that you can check every business that ends up in the transaction, so here is where to do it — before you sign, not after.

The funder — ask for its registered name and firm reference number and look it up on the Financial Services Register. Note that most commercial solar lending to companies is unregulated business lending, so a funder may legitimately not appear; that is a reason to read the agreement, not a red flag in itself.
Trade membership — if a funder describes itself as an FLA member, the association publishes its own member list.
The installer — for systems up to 50 kW, MCS certification (or an equivalent) is a precondition of Smart Export Guarantee eligibility, and is checkable per technology at mcscertified.com. Certification is granted technology by technology, so confirm solar PV specifically rather than assuming. Above 50 kW, up to 5 MW, the installation certification your Smart Export Guarantee supplier accepts applies instead.
The company — any UK company's number, registered office and filing history are free to search at Companies House. Check that the company number on a quote matches the trading name on it; they do not always agree.
The electrical work — an installer may quote NICEIC or TrustMark registration; both publish searchable registers, so a claim is checkable in a minute.
The consumer protections — RECC membership and an insurance-backed warranty (HIES and similar) cover the installation, not the finance. Ask who underwrites the warranty and for how long, and get the answer in writing: a warranty from a company that closes is worth what the underwriter says it is worth, not what the brochure says.
Reviews — we publish no testimonials or star ratings on this site, because we have none we can evidence, and under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 publishing reviews you cannot substantiate is illegal. Treat any installer's five-star page the same way: look for the profile on the platform itself rather than the quotes on the website.
Growth Guarantee Scheme — the British Business Bank publishes the accredited lender list. Accreditation belongs to the lender, so ask the lender, not an intermediary.