Commercial Blog

Solar Panel Grants for Businesses of up to £5,000

George Riley · 21 Apr 2022

In these uncertain times, there’s a renewed focus on jettisoning expensive fossil fuels and strengthening the UK’s energy independence. By investing in the right technology, companies can support this trend and reduce their energy bills.

Low Carbon Workspaces wants to aid businesses in this transition and is offering grants of up to £5,000 to invest in carbon-saving upgrades. This could be a grant for solar panels, battery storage, insulation or lighting.

Grants are available for SMEs based in Berkshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire, ranging from £1,000 - £5,000 to cover up to a third of the cost of energy improvements. The scheme is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

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Topics: Financing, Solar PV

Workplace Charging Scheme Changes Coming in 2022

George Riley · 10 Nov 2021

As the 2030 deadline for buying new combustion engine vehicles looms, electric car sales are beginning to ramp up. But the greatest changes are happening in commercial fleets - in 2020, businesses bought twice as many EVs as private individuals.

This may in part be due to the many incentives for companies to go electric, such as tax breaks for company cars. There is also the long-running grant scheme for installing chargepoints, which is due for a shakeup early next year...

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Topics: Financing, EV charging

Solar Panel Business Rates and Super-deduction Tax Savings

George Riley · 23 Sep 2021

Times are tough on businesses right now, with a triple whammy of economic uncertainty due to Brexit, Covid and soaring energy prices. But amid the chaos are some silver linings that could mean now is the perfect time to invest in solar for your company and cut down on energy costs. Low interest rates and the government’s super-deduction can save you a lot of money on solar PV purchases, which normally pay back in 6-10 years and can also help your company reach net zero targets.

We’ll run you through the benefits of buying solar panels in the present climate, as well as highlighting the potential issues you should be aware of from the beginning, such as solar panel business rates and planning permission.

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Topics: Financing, Solar PV

Solar Panels for Hotels

George Riley · 25 Aug 2021

The return of holidays and foreign travel is on the horizon.

One way for hotels to cut energy costs is to invest in solar panels. Whitbread, the UK’s largest hospitality company, has rolled out solar PV across 20% of its Premier Inn hotels so far (much of it installed by Spirit!).

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Topics: Financing, Solar PV

Empty Premises? Upgrade Your Energy Systems!

George Riley · 09 Jun 2020

Offices, shops, schools and other premises across the country have been shuttered or only partially open since the lockdown. In an undoubtedly difficult time, many organisations are looking to save money. This could be the perfect opportunity to look at improvements to your company’s energy use, investing in efficient technology to reduce your energy costs in the long term.

Here are a few things we can help with to improve energy efficiency:

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Topics: Battery storage, Financing, LED lighting, Solar PV

Free Solar Panels for Business: Meet Solar PPAs

George Riley · 19 Jun 2019

Is it possible to get free solar panels for businesses? A lot has changed since solar first started gaining popularity, with prices falling around 50% in the last decade and many of the initial subsidies like the Feed-in Tariff closed to new applicants. But there are still opportunities for companies to benefit from financed solar systems, the most promising of which are Solar PPAs.

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Topics: Financing, Solar PV

Spirit Energy Now Accepts SolarCoins: Air Miles for Solar Electricity

Erica Charles · 28 Sep 2018

We hear more and more about Blockchain technology.  The technology creates a transparent public ledger that records series of transactions, facilitating a fast, low-cost, trusted transfer of value without the involvement of traditional intermediaries.  

Already used in the financial sector, it’s only a matter of time before Blockchain hits the energy sector in a major way, particularly with the explosion of micro-generation of electricity, the ending of solar subsidies, and the advent of smart meters.

With Octopus Energy claiming to have paid customers to use excess electricity at night on four occasions in the last 12 months, real time peer-to-peer trading of electricity is surely just around the corner. Other potential applications include authentication of renewable generation and trading of emissions permits.

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Topics: Spirit Energy news, Financing, Solar PV

Road to Zero: Workplace Charging Grant Increases to £500 per Chargepoint

Erica Charles · 20 Jul 2018

On 9th July, the government launched its “Road to Zero Strategy” to lead the world in zero emission vehicle technology.

Not to be confused with any other ‘Road to Zero’ or ‘Round in Circle’ government strategies, this one is all about ensuring at least 50% of cars are ultra-low emission by 2030, and ensuring that the infrastructure is in place to support this.

If you’re in charge of a ‘workplace’, the good news is that on the back of Road to Zero, the Workplace Charging Scheme will now contribute 75% of purchase and installation costs (up to a maximum of £500) towards the cost of each charging socket installed. 

The grant is available for to 20 chargepoints per applicant, across all sites.

In other words, up to £10,000 per business.

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Topics: Financing, EV charging

Attention High Electricity Users: Cut Your Bill with Funded Batteries

Erica Charles · 05 Dec 2017

Is your business is a high electricity user? If so you could benefit from funded battery storage, enabling you to reduce your electricity bill by avoiding peak time electricity surcharges (TRIAD charges and Red Band DUOS charges).

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Topics: Battery storage, Financing

LED High Bays Cut Lighting Bill by 60% and Removes Fire Risk

Erica Charles · 12 Oct 2017

Spirit’s warehouse adjoins the warehouse of Primrose, the online gardening retailer. Our unit is full of solar panels, inverters, batteries, LED lights and exciting things like that.  Their unit is full of garden furniture, water features, awnings, wind spinners and all of the exciting things available at www.primrose.co.uk.

Earlier this year we were called in to upgrade the metal halide lights to LED. 

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Topics: Financing, LED lighting, Emergency lighting