How to get your commercial landlord on board with solar.
Many commercial businesses, especially in the food and beverage industries, lease their premises. Many businesses are high-energy users and would benefit greatly from moving to renewable energy, but are having trouble getting landlords on board.
So if you want to make your landlord a renewable energy convert, here’s our step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Inform your landlord of new and upcoming legislation.
The most important information to bring to your landlord’s attention is legislative changes due to come in the next few years, which makes now an ideal time to consider renewable energy.
If a landlord wants to lease a commercial building or even renew a current lease, their building must have an EPC rating of E. This may seem easy to achieve without renewable energy, but the legislation is due to change again.
As of 2027, your landlord will need to make sure your building is EPC rated C, and by 2030, commercial buildings need to be EPC rated B. If your landlord ignores this legislation, the penalties are high – not only will they be fined by the government, ultimately their building will be unlettable, losing them a valuable income stream.
There is also legislation for EV charging points, with the government requiring every 10 parking spaces to have at least one EV charging point. Another benefit to your landlord of installing solar panels is that EV chargers can run from solar energy much cheaper than from the grid.
Step 2: Put your landlord at ease over upfront costs.
Now your landlord knows there is a deadline to increase their EPC ratings, they may be thinking about the cheapest ways to increase their ratings, and potentially avoiding options with high upfront costs.
As such, they may hesitate to install solar panels as there is an upfront investment to shoulder, and they may feel that you as the tenant are getting the benefits of the installation without any cost.
So, how can we put your landlord at ease? We offer financial consultancy as part of our services, and have extensive experience with power purchase agreements (PPAs). There are two different ways your landlord can make use of PPAs.
Their first option is to allow one of our PPA partners to pay for the installation on their roof, and buy the electricity generated for less than grid rates. This way, there is cheaper energy for you, and your landlord doesn’t need to pay any upfront fees.
The alternative is that your landlord can become a PPA provider by paying for the installation and then charging you, the tenant, for the energy you use at a rate cheaper than the grid. This way, they get the profit, and you benefit from cheaper energy.
Step 3: Reassure your landlord that solar beats a fabric-first approach.
To upgrade a building to a higher EPC rating, often a fabric-first approach is used. This aims to minimise energy required by the building user by reducing energy loss through bad insulation.
Why is this not a better approach than installing solar? Fabric-first approaches are much more invasive, often requiring a building be stripped right back to upgrade insulation, which means your business cannot run while this is happening. Solar panels can be installed around your trading hours, keeping you operational when you need to be.
As the process is more invasive, it’s usually more costly to install, and has a longer payback period, often taking over 10 years to pay back the original investment. Solar installations often pay for themselves in 3-5 years.
Step 4: Entice your landlord with the financial benefits of renewable energy.
We can provide you with a desktop survey for your landlord to better understand the payback projections of your solar installation. We’ll take your landlord’s roof’s condition and warranty into consideration, and give you a view of what you (and future tenants) could be saving.
The benefits are not only on your energy bills – your landlord will benefit from increased building value, potentially leading to higher rental yields, and avoiding fines for being non-compliant.
Another financial benefit you can provide for your landlord is the opportunity for them to have a loyal tenant in yourself, reducing the cost of re-advertising the lease and avoiding times where their building is vacant and not generating any income.
That’s our full guide to getting your landlord on board with solar energy. If you found this helpful, or want more support in starting the conversation with your landlord, email us at info@carbon3.co.uk.
Many commercial businesses, especially in the food and beverage industries, lease their premises. Many businesses are high-energy users and would benefit greatly from moving to renewable energy, but are having trouble getting landlords on board.
So if you want to make your landlord a renewable energy convert, here’s our step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Inform your landlord of new and upcoming legislation.
The most important information to bring to your landlord’s attention is legislative changes due to come in the next few years, which makes now an ideal time to consider renewable energy.
If a landlord wants to lease a commercial building or even renew a current lease, their building must have an EPC rating of E. This may seem easy to achieve without renewable energy, but the legislation is due to change again.
As of 2027, your landlord will need to make sure your building is EPC rated C, and by 2030, commercial buildings need to be EPC rated B. If your landlord ignores this legislation, the penalties are high – not only will they be fined by the government, ultimately their building will be unlettable, losing them a valuable income stream.
There is also legislation for EV charging points, with the government requiring every 10 parking spaces to have at least one EV charging point. Another benefit to your landlord of installing solar panels is that EV chargers can run from solar energy much cheaper than from the grid.
Step 2: Put your landlord at ease over upfront costs.
Now your landlord knows there is a deadline to increase their EPC ratings, they may be thinking about the cheapest ways to increase their ratings, and potentially avoiding options with high upfront costs.
As such, they may hesitate to install solar panels as there is an upfront investment to shoulder, and they may feel that you as the tenant are getting the benefits of the installation without any cost.
So, how can we put your landlord at ease? We offer financial consultancy as part of our services, and have extensive experience with power purchase agreements (PPAs). There are two different ways your landlord can make use of PPAs.
Their first option is to allow one of our PPA partners to pay for the installation on their roof, and buy the electricity generated for less than grid rates. This way, there is cheaper energy for you, and your landlord doesn’t need to pay any upfront fees.
The alternative is that your landlord can become a PPA provider by paying for the installation and then charging you, the tenant, for the energy you use at a rate cheaper than the grid. This way, they get the profit, and you benefit from cheaper energy.
Step 3: Reassure your landlord that solar beats a fabric-first approach.
To upgrade a building to a higher EPC rating, often a fabric-first approach is used. This aims to minimise energy required by the building user by reducing energy loss through bad insulation.
Why is this not a better approach than installing solar? Fabric-first approaches are much more invasive, often requiring a building be stripped right back to upgrade insulation, which means your business cannot run while this is happening. Solar panels can be installed around your trading hours, keeping you operational when you need to be.
As the process is more invasive, it’s usually more costly to install, and has a longer payback period, often taking over 10 years to pay back the original investment. Solar installations often pay for themselves in 3-5 years.
Step 4: Entice your landlord with the financial benefits of renewable energy.
We can provide you with a desktop survey for your landlord to better understand the payback projections of your solar installation. We’ll take your landlord’s roof’s condition and warranty into consideration, and give you a view of what you (and future tenants) could be saving.
The benefits are not only on your energy bills – your landlord will benefit from increased building value, potentially leading to higher rental yields, and avoiding fines for being non-compliant.
Another financial benefit you can provide for your landlord is the opportunity for them to have a loyal tenant in yourself, reducing the cost of re-advertising the lease and avoiding times where their building is vacant and not generating any income.
That’s our full guide to getting your landlord on board with solar energy. If you found this helpful, or want more support in starting the conversation with your landlord, email us at info@carbon3.co.uk.