Solar Energy UK achieves the goal four years in the making as onsite solar and storage are exempted from business rates.
It’s a victory for Solar Energy UK as the Treasury announced rate exemptions for onsite solar and storage, a change they’ve been lobbying for since 2017. The new investment relief should encourage British businesses to adopt green technologies such as solar PV.
This reform will come into effect from 2023, at the start of the next business rates revaluation period. Further details on this reform will be announced by the Government later this year.
At present, a technicality in the way business rates are calculated has meant that businesses investing in onsite energy generation have seen increases on rates payable for those investments of up to 500%, a factor that has served as a major deterrent.
Chris Hewett, CEO at Solar Energy UK, said: “Today the Government have given rooftop solar a big endorsement by finally removing the perverse business rates treatment for onsite solar and energy storage, originally imposed in 2017. Companies and public sector bodies which have taken action to cut carbon by installing solar, will now also be rewarded with a cut in their business rate bills in the future.”
A big thank you to Solar Energy UK and everyone who has worked so hard over the past five years to make this happen.
The finer details of the exemption for all eligible plant and machinery used in onsite renewable energy generation are laid out in the government’s final report on its review of business rates. See it here.
