Business solar grants in 2026: what is still open and what has closed
We found no national grant for business solar PV that is open to applications in England in October 2026. What is open is tax relief, export income and a short list of regional or devolved routes with narrow eligibility. Most of the schemes that older web pages and some quotes still mention, including PSDS, the IETF and the Improving Farm Productivity grant, have closed.
Still open (checked 20 October 2026)
| Route | Status | What it is, and who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Investment Allowance | Open (permanent) | A tax deduction, not a grant: up to £1m a year of qualifying spend. Solar panels are special-rate plant, so full expensing does not apply to them. |
| Smart Export Guarantee | Open | Export income paid by licensed suppliers, each setting its own rate. Ofgem's 2024/25 report: 1p to 12p per kWh offered on untied tariffs. Installations up to 5MW in Great Britain. |
| REGO certificates | Open | Any accredited generator can claim them. About 71p a certificate in August 2026, so the income is small. |
| West Midlands BEAS 3 | Open (opened autumn 2026) | Free energy audit, then 50% grants of £1,000 to £100,000 with solar PV capped at £50,000. West Midlands Combined Authority SMEs only, with minimum energy use; sole traders are excluded. |
| Development Bank of Wales Green Business Loan Scheme | Check availability (funding stated to run until 2028) | Loans of £1,000 to £1.5m at discounted rates for Wales-based businesses that have traded for two years or more. |
Two points about this list. First, only BEAS 3 and the Welsh loan are anything like a grant or subsidy, and both are narrow. Second, the allowance and the export tariff apply to most businesses but do not pay for the system: the allowance lowers a tax bill and the tariff pays for electricity you export.
Closed or paused (checked 20 October 2026)
| Route | Status | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) | Closed | DESNZ confirmed in July 2025 that there will be no further extension and no successor fund. |
| Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) | Closed to new applications | Phase 4 closed in November 2024 and was the final phase. Grant funding for awarded projects runs to 31 March 2028. |
| Improving Farm Productivity grant and FETF (England) | Closed | IFP Round 2 closed on 31 July 2025; the 2026 FETF closed on 12 May 2026. Defra has said it intends to bring its schemes together from 2027 and has published no details. |
| Scotland SME Loan Scheme | Not accepting solar PV | Business Energy Scotland says it is not accepting new applications for solar PV projects. |
| Northern Ireland: Invest NI and NISEP | Paused / closed for 2026/27 | Invest NI's Energy Efficiency Capital Grant is paused. Power NI's NISEP commercial scheme has closed for 2026/27; the next is expected in April 2027, subject to funding approval. |
| York and North Yorkshire Business Sustainability Programme | Closed | Applications closed in September 2025 and the programme ended in March 2026. |
| West of England Green Business Grants | Last window closed | The last application window closed on 24 October 2025. Ask the West of England Growth Hub whether another round is planned. |
| Carbon Trust Green Business Fund | Closed | Closed in December 2019. |
| Salix Recycling Fund | Closed to new applicants | See our guide for the history and what replaced it. |
| UK Shared Prosperity Fund (regional grants) | Ended | UKSPF ended in March 2026, with spending allowed to 30 September 2026. The Local Growth Fund and Pride in Place follow it, but neither is a business solar grant. |
| Green Heat Network Fund | Not a solar grant | It funds low-carbon heat networks. Round 12 was due to close on 25 September 2026; Round 13 is provisionally 23 April 2027. |
How to spot an out-of-date list
Three signs. A scheme with no date next to it. A scheme described as rolling or open with no administrator named. And any figure, such as a percentage or a ceiling, that does not appear on the administrator's own page. Schemes that were genuinely open in 2023 or 2024, including the IETF and PSDS, still appear on many older pages, and a business that plans a project around one of them can lose months.
When a quote or an advert says a grant is still open, find the administrator's page, read the date on it, and check whether applications are being accepted today.
How this register is kept
Every row above was checked against the administrator's own page, or against gov.uk, on 20 October 2026. Where a page carries no date we say so in the linked guide. We re-check a scheme whenever we change its guide, and we put the date on the page when we do. Programme details change with little notice, so confirm the current position with the administrator before you commit money.
What to do with it
Start with the allowance and the export tariff, because they apply to most businesses and do not run out. Then see whether you fall into one of the narrow open routes, using the six eligibility questions. The free eligibility check does the same job in a form: we reply by email with the routes that appear to apply and any that have closed. The full deadline tracker lists administrators, and the grants directory has every scheme guide.
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Tell us your business — we map every active 2026 grant to your sector, size and postcode.
FAQs on this topic
Can you still get government grants for solar panels?
For businesses in England we found no national grant for solar PV that is open to applications in October 2026. Tax relief (the annual investment allowance) and export income (the Smart Export Guarantee in Great Britain) are available to most businesses, and a few regional or devolved routes are open to some, such as BEAS 3 in the West Midlands.
What government grants are available for businesses to install solar panels?
Strictly, none at national level in England at the moment. The routes that remain are the annual investment allowance (a tax deduction), the Smart Export Guarantee and REGOs (income), BEAS 3 for West Midlands SMEs, and a Development Bank of Wales loan for Wales-based businesses.
Why do so many websites still list the IETF and PSDS?
They were open to applications in earlier years and the pages were never updated. The IETF closed in July 2025 with no successor, and PSDS Phase 4 closed to new applications in November 2024 as the final phase.
Find out what this means for your business
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