Commercial Blog

With rising energy costs and growing environmental pressure, UK farmers need practical solutions to cut expenses and meet sustainability goals. The government’s Improving Farm Productivity Grant, administered by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), offers a direct route for farmers to install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and improve their bottom line.

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.

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...

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.

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!).

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:

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.

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.

On 9^th 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.

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).