Green Equipment Loan: Solar Asset Finance

A green equipment loan is the simplest ownership route of all: a business loan used to buy your solar system, where you own the equipment outright from day one and repay the loan over one to seven years. There’s no lessor, no residual-value arrangement and no transfer of title at the end — you own the asset the moment it’s installed, and the loan is just a separate liability you pay down.

Ownership and full allowances from day one

Because you own the system outright, you get the full capital-allowances benefit straight away — exactly as if you’d paid cash. Solar is special-rate expenditure, so it qualifies for the Annual Investment Allowance at 100% on up to £1m, and the 50% first-year allowance above that. The bill savings and Smart Export Guarantee income are all yours, and the interest on the loan is a deductible business expense. It combines the tax position of a cash purchase with the cash-flow profile of finance.

Often unsecured against the solar itself

A useful feature of equipment loans is that they’re frequently unsecured against the solar asset — or secured only lightly — so you’re not granting the lender a charge over the panels themselves. That can matter where the system is on a leasehold roof, or where you’d rather keep the asset unencumbered. Security and rates vary by lender and by your covenant strength, which is where brokering across a panel pays off: we place the deal where the terms are best.

Government-backed lending

Many lenders fund renewable equipment loans through the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme, the successor to the Recovery Loan Scheme, under which the government guarantees 70% of the facility. That backing helps lenders say yes to unsecured solar lending for SMEs that a high-street bank might hesitate over. Facilities typically run from £25,000 to £500,000 — see our grants and funding page for how the scheme fits alongside the tax reliefs.

Bundle solar, battery and EV charging

Because an equipment loan funds whatever kit you’re buying, it’s an easy way to finance a combined project — solar PV plus battery storage plus EV charging — under a single facility and a single repayment. That often improves the overall economics: the battery lifts self-consumption (so you import less), and the chargers add an amenity or revenue stream. We model the combined system and structure one loan across it.

When a loan beats a lease

An equipment loan tends to be the best fit when you:

• want to own the system and claim the allowances yourself;
• would rather not secure borrowing against the equipment;
• are combining solar with battery or EV charging in one project; and
• value a simple, single liability over a lease’s end-of-term mechanics.

If you’d prefer the lender to carry the allowances and price them into lower payments, a finance lease may suit you better; if ownership of the asset itself matters most and you want title to transfer formally at the end, hire purchase is the classic route. We compare all three from your numbers.

Get an equipment-loan quote

Send us your project details and basic company information and we’ll place an equipment loan across our lender panel — including Growth-Guarantee-backed options — and present it alongside hire purchase, lease and cash. Request a finance quote; an indicative decision usually takes 24–72 hours.