Commercial Solar

Discover how our Commercial Solar solutions can reduce your energy costs, increase your resilience, and deliver against your net zero goals. Centrica Business Solutions designs, builds, funds, operates and maintains Solar installations over 500kWp.

Get in touch with our Solar team


Imagine your business as a self-sufficient energy hub. The sun rises, and instead of watching your electricity meter tick up with costly grid imports, your site quietly begins generating clean, low-cost power. No noise, no fuel, no fuss – just sunlight transformed into savings.

This isn’t a futuristic fantasy. It’s the reality for thousands of organisations that have embraced Solar. They’re not just chasing sustainability targets – they’re making smart commercial decisions. Solar helps slash operating costs, delivers strong returns, and can be installed with no upfront capital. It’s also about resilience. Your business becomes less dependent on the grid, so better protected against price volatility.

7000+
solar sites installed in the UK and Ireland
20+ years
of experience installing solar in the UK and Ireland
148MW+
solar installed in the UK and Ireland
100%
renewable energy source, with no carbon emissions
Benefits of Commercial Solar
Partner with Centrica Business Solutions to invest in a new Commercial Solar installation, and your organisation will enjoy a broad range of commercial, strategic and sustainability benefits:
Reduce your energy costs

Solar can reduce your electricity bills by up to 30%, delivering immediate savings from the first year. With stable solar pricing, your business gains budget certainty, even when energy markets are volatile. Over time, as grid prices rise, your solar costs remain low and predictable, increasing your savings.

Get strong return on investment

A typical Solar installation pays for itself in just 4–6 years, and a well-maintained system can generate returns many times greater than the initial outlay. You can even install Solar with no upfront capital using options like Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Whether you invest directly, use a PPA, or combine both, you benefit from immediate cost savings and long-term value.

Reduce your carbon emissions

Solar produces no direct emissions, helping you cut your carbon footprint and progress towards net zero goals. The carbon savings and renewable energy generation are easy to communicate in annual reports, ESG dashboards, and customer communications. Demonstrating strong sustainability credentials also enhances your reputation with customers, investors, and employees.

Improve your resilience

On-site solar generation reduces your reliance on the grid, protecting your business from price volatility and unexpected spikes. Whether it's installed on your roof, ground or as a carport, Solar systems can be tailored to your site maximising available space for energy generation. With professional maintenance and monitoring, your system operates reliably, boosting energy yield and minimising downtime.

Estimate your Solar savings in minutes

See how much money and carbon your business could save by installing Commercial Solar on your site. Enter a few details about your available roof or land space, and we’ll estimate your site’s Solar potential.
Calculate your potential savings
Explore the full benefits of Commercial Solar
Our Commercial Solar success stories
Centrica has been at the centre of the UK’s energy industry for more than 200 years. For the last two decades of this, we’ve been at the forefront of commercial Solar deployment. Our track record is filled with successful case studies across sectors – manufacturing, healthcare, retail, water utilities, education, government, and more. We design it. We finance it. We install it. We maintain it. See how our end-to-end Commercial Solar installations have helped businesses of all types to reduce energy costs, improve business resilience and decarbonise.
Case Study Centrica Business Solutions to power Derbyshire manufacturer with bespoke solar farm

We're partnering with manufacturer Carpenter Ltd to help decarbonise its site with a new 1MW solar…

Case Study Solar installation powers Gressingham Foods into a sustainable future

Centrica Business Solutions partnered with Gressingham Foods to install, finance and maintain a…

Case Study Clear for take-off toward net zero

Centrica Business Solutions helped Moog to roadmap their green ambitions, and install a 2,200 panel…

Read more case studies
Our Commercial Solar success stories
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Types of Solar installation


The shape of your site, the rhythm of your operations, the space you have to work with – it’s all unique. But that’s exactly where Solar shines. It’s a technology that flexes to fit your world. 

Whether it’s a pitched roof, a flat one, open land, or even your car park, Solar transforms overlooked spaces into something powerful: a source of clean energy and long-term savings. It’s not just about the modules – it’s about making the most of what you already have.

Some organisations go further, generating more energy than they need and selling the surplus back to the grid. Others use Solar to cover part of their demand, with the rest drawn seamlessly from the grid. Either way, it’s a step towards greater control, resilience, and sustainability. This isn’t just a technical upgrade. A way to rethink your site, your energy, your balance sheet and your role in the wider energy landscape.

Roof-Mounted Solar

An ideal option for organisations with a large rooftop – warehouses, factories, manufacturing production buildings, distribution centres, shopping centres and more. A 10,000 m² industrial roof can usually accommodate roughly 2 – 2.5 MW of Solar modules.

Ground-Mounted Solar

With ground-mounted Solar, modules are set up in rows on mounting frames, either on your premises or on nearby land that you own or lease. The modules can be oriented and tilted optimally (often due south at ~20 – 30° in the UK and Ireland) for maximum yield.

Solar carports

A Solar carport is a canopy structure that’s built over your car park, with Solar modules on top. Your employees park underneath in the shade, and the Solar modules above generate electricity. Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points and battery storage can be added if needed, too.

Get more details on the types of Solar available

Solar installation powers Gressingham Foods

Centrica Business Solutions partnered with Gressingham Foods to install, finance and maintain a 3.27MW Solar array. 

The project was funded through a flexible Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that sees Gressingham Foods purchase the energy generated by the Solar installation from Centrica Business Solutions over the next 12 years, with no upfront capital cost to Gressingham Foods. During this period, Centrica Business Solutions will own and maintain the solar site, guaranteeing its optimal performance. 

Read the case study

Reducing your energy costs with Commercial Solar

Picture a world where energy isn’t a volatile, uncontrollable expense for your business. Where you can forecast future costs with confidence, and where shifts in global energy prices have little impact on your business. That’s the future you’re moving towards by installing Solar. 

The total cost of electricity generated by Solar installations is around 30% lower than you’d pay if you bought the same amount of energy from the grid. You can expect to see immediate bill reductions from year one, with savings increasing over time as grid prices continue to rise while the Solar portion of your supply remains low-cost and stable.

Freed from buying as much expensive grid energy, you can reinvest these savings into your core operations or other projects – effectively self-funding further improvements using money that would have otherwise gone to utility bills.

See how Commercial Solar can reduce your energy costs

Cut carbon with Commercial Solar

For many businesses, electricity is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions. Solar helps tackle that head-on. By replacing grid electricity with Solar, you make a direct and measurable dent in your carbon footprint. And over time, those savings add up – helping you move steadily towards net zero.

The impact is easy to communicate. Carbon savings. Renewable energy generated. Emissions avoided. These are the kinds of metrics that resonate in annual reports, ESG dashboards and customer communications. They’re specific, tangible, and hard to ignore.

The world’s moving toward carbon disclosure, carbon pricing and, possibly, requirements for renewable usage. Get ahead with Solar now, and when mandatory decarbonisation measures kick in, you’ll be well-prepared (and already enjoying lower costs, while others scramble to catch up).

Explore how Commercial Solar supports your net zero goals

Download your Complete Guide to Commercial Solar

Get practical recommendations and frameworks to ensure your end-to-end Solar solution delivers maximum results.
Download your playbook

Maintaining your Commercial Solar installation

Solar systems work hard – but they need regular care to keep performing at their best.

Without proper Operations and Maintenance, efficiency drops, faults go unnoticed, and savings shrink. Think of maintenance as your solar system’s MOT, keeping everything safe, efficient and reliable. With the right service plans in place, you can:

  • Maximise output: proactive maintenance can boost lifetime energy yield by 10 – 30%
  • Avoid downtime: proactive checks catch issues early; fast fixes keep your energy flowing
  • Stay in control: monitoring tools give you real-time insights and peace of mind

Even a basic annual inspection can catch issues early, such as blown fuses or cracked modules. More comprehensive plans offer additional peace of mind, with features like remote monitoring, thermal imaging, guaranteed response times, and availability guarantees to ensure the system operates to the maximum when the sun shines.

Review our Solar Operations and Maintenance plans

Joined-up thinking for maximum Solar success

Your energy needs aren’t static. You might start with Solar today, but tomorrow it could be Combined Heat and Power, Heat Pumps, Battery Storage or EV Charging. Few providers can tie together multiple energy solutions the way we can.

When design, planning, financing, construction and maintenance are all handled under one roof, things run smoother. No chasing contractors. No confusion over who’s responsible. Just one team, working together to deliver the outcome you need. 

We don’t just drop hardware and leave. We partner in achieving the outcomes that matter to you. With Centrica Business Solutions, you get a trusted advisor and long-term support, not just an installer. This is Solar done properly. Thoughtfully. Seamlessly. With the right people in place from day one, you can focus on your core business, while we focus on your Solar installation.

Explore our full range of integrated energy solutions

Protecting safety throughout the Solar lifecycle

Ensuring the highest standards of safety and quality is paramount in every Solar installation project. It’s critical that all relevant regulations and industry standards are adhered to, to safeguard the safety of the installation itself and your employees.

It’s critical that your project is executed with the highest safety standards – protecting your people and property during installation and operation of your Solar array.

Centrica Business Solutions has an uncompromising focus on Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE). Our motto is “zero harm” on projects. The result is a Solar installation built to last – fully warranted, high-quality systems built for peace of mind.

Learn more about our Health and Safety principles for Solar

How Solar Installers can partner with Centrica Business Solutions

If you're a Solar Installer, you can partner with Centrica Business Solutions to unlock a new tier of opportunity for projects over 500kWp.

If you're installing mid- and large-scale Solar systems, we can fund, manage and wrap the project with a fully-funded Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). We can help to plug your customers' financial gaps, and help you to deliver even greater value to your customers.

Learn more about becoming a Strategic Partner

Frequently asked questions about Commercial Solar Panels

Solar panels have a potential payback period of between two and six years, and an overall system lifetime of over twenty years. By reducing your electricity bill versus importing grid electricity, this means solar panels are worth it to secure long-term savings for your business.

Solar energy can be used in homes and businesses by generating a source of power onsite. By converting sunlight into usable AC electricity, they can power your everyday business activities.

Commercial solar panels can last for between 20 and 25 years, when taken care of with a high-quality aftercare solution.

It takes between 3 and 8 months to complete a commercial solar panel installation project. Aftercare will then last for the duration of the system’s 20+ year lifetime.

Solar panels cut business costs by reducing your reliance on grid electricity, which can be volatile in price. Operating solar panels can often lead to a lower electricity bill than importing grid electricity.

Depending on your agreement and the technology you deploy, you may be able to claim capital allowances on your commercial solar panels in the United Kingdom.

See how much money and carbon your business could save by installing Commercial Solar on your site. Enter a few details about your available roof or land space, and we’ll estimate your site’s Solar potential. Try our Solar Calculator here

Do you have a Solar project in mind?

With over 20 years of expertise installing large-scale solar systems, we can help transform your unused roof or ground space into a source of renewable energy – with electricity cost savings of up to 30%.

If you’re a large organisation that consumes over 500,000kWh of electricity annually, and are interested in starting a new energy project in the next 12 months, we can help. Tell us about your project by completing our simple form.

Speak to our Solar experts