Commercial Blog

Charlie McGibbon

Recent Posts

Do Businesses Need to Legally Disclose Their Carbon Emissions?

Charlie McGibbon · 08 Aug 2024

Sustainability has become a major buzzword in the corporate world, with increasing numbers of companies pushing the green agenda both in the boardroom and in their branding. But what benefits does this bring for companies, and with governments increasingly bearing down on Net Zero ambitions, are companies legally required to publish data on their carbon footprint?

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Topics: Environment, Benefits of Solar PV

Why Service Solar Panel Systems?

Charlie McGibbon · 09 Feb 2024

Solar panels are a long term investment and it's prudent to keep the system in good working order. Like a car needs an MOT, or a boiler an annual service, a much larger investment the size of a solar array is definitely worth checking periodically to ensure everything is ticking over. There are several reasons for doing this, read on for why you should get your panels serviced and cleaned regularly.

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Topics: Maintenance, Solar PV, Inverters

Solar PV for Charities to Qualify for 0% VAT

Charlie McGibbon · 26 Jan 2024

Buried by the headline announcement of 0% VAT on battery only domestic installations came a welcome bit of news for charities looking to invest in solar to reduce their energy bills, that is the announcement that charities now qualify for 0% VAT on solar panel installations where the building in question is used solely for charitable purposes. This will come into effect from the 1st February 2024.

This means that not only must the building be owned by the charity but it must be used solely for charitable purposes. There is a bit of leeway here, for example church and village halls that can be rented out but are still owned by the charity, this was already written into VAT rules that there is leeway of 5% in the term "solely", so as long as the building is used 95% for charitable purposes, the VAT waiver still applies. This expands the definition to include places like village and church halls that can occasionally be rented out, so long as the primary use is a charitable one.

The announcement also covers battery installations, so if your charity already has solar PV installed and would like to take advantage of this change to retrofit a battery, now is a very good time to get in contact.

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