Why self consumption decides your solar payback
The single most important number in a commercial solar model is not the size of the array. It is the share of generation that never leaves the building.
Commercial solar brokerage, UK wide
The right solar solution
for your business.
Assessed independently. Installed by vetted specialists.
Tell us about your roof and your electricity, and we will show you what a commercial array would realistically produce, save and cost before anyone visits site.
Every installer in our network is NICEIC approved for electrical work, and MCS certified for systems up to 50kW. See how we vet installers
Free
to use, no obligation
UK wide
installer network
Vetted
installers only
02Read your bill first
What your electricity bill is actually made of
Only part of a commercial bill is energy. The rest is network, capacity and tax, and each line responds to a different lever. Panels are one answer to one part of it.
The diagram sets out the structure of a typical half hourly commercial supply. It is not a set of proportions, because your split comes from your own invoices. Working that out is the first thing an energy cost audit does.
- 01
Wholesale energy
Solar affects this chargeStorage affects this chargeContract review affects this chargeThe commodity itself, the pence per unit you agreed with your supplier. It moves with the market and it is the part everyone talks about.
- 02
Distribution use of system
Solar affects this chargeStorage affects this chargeContract review does not affect this chargeThe cost of the local network that carries power to your door, charged by unit and by time band, so afternoon and early evening units cost more.
- 03
Transmission charges
Solar does not affect this chargeStorage affects this chargeContract review does not affect this chargeThe cost of the national high voltage network, recovered from demand at the periods the system is most stretched.
- 04
Capacity charge
Solar does not affect this chargeStorage affects this chargeContract review affects this chargeWhat you pay for the capacity reserved at your supply point, whether or not you use it. Sites often still pay for plant removed years ago.
- 05
Climate Change Levy
Solar affects this chargeStorage does not affect this chargeContract review does not affect this chargeA tax on the energy a business takes from the grid. Electricity generated and used on site is not a grid import, so it does not attract it.
Solar displaces imported units at your full delivered rate.
Storage moves consumption out of the expensive periods.
A contract review corrects what you are billed before anything is installed.
03The opportunity
Your roof is the cheapest electricity you will buy
Commercial electricity is bought at a unit rate that rises with the market. Generation from your own roof is bought once, at a fixed capital cost, and then produces for decades. The gap between those two numbers is the whole case for commercial solar panels.
What decides the return is not roof area but self consumption. A site running seven days a week uses almost everything it makes. A five day office exports a large share at a far lower rate, which is where battery storage and a sensible export tariff change the arithmetic.
We work that split out from your operating pattern before anything is quoted, so the figure you compare proposals against is grounded in how your building actually runs.
04Everything we assess
All 14 solutions
Panels are one line of the plan. These are the elements we look at against your load, your tariff and your budget before an installer is briefed.
- 01
Commercial solar panels
Rooftop PV sized around how your building actually uses power.
Read more - 02
Battery storage
Store midday generation and use it when your tariff is dearest.
Read more - 03
EV charging
Workplace and fleet charging planned around your available capacity.
Read more - 04
Smart tariffs
Match your contract to your load shape instead of the other way round.
Read more - 05
Export tariffs
Get paid properly for the generation your site cannot absorb.
Read more - 06
Energy cost audit
Find what you are paying for before you buy anything new.
Read more - 07
Funding and finance
Capital, lease, or a funded model with no upfront cost.
Read more - 08
Inverters
String or optimised, the choice that shapes lifetime yield.
Read more - 09
Mounting systems
Ballasted, penetrative or seam clamped, matched to the roof build up.
Read more - 10
Solar carports
Turn a car park into generation, shelter and charging in one structure.
Read more - 11
Ground mounted solar
Use spare land where the roof is too small or too old.
Read more - 12
Grid flexibility
Earn revenue for shifting load when the grid needs it.
Read more - 13
Energy monitoring
See generation, consumption and export at circuit level.
Read more - 14
Operations and maintenance
Keep the yield you paid for across twenty five years.
Read more
05Buildings we assess
All 20 sectors
Roof area is the easy part. What decides the case is the load pattern underneath it, which is why we assess by building type. Typical sizes below are indicative ranges, not quotations.
Commercial
Customer facing and workplace buildings with weekday and trading hour loads.
- Car dealershipsIndicative 50 to 250 kWp
Showroom lighting, workshop load and customer charging on one supply.
- OfficesIndicative 30 to 300 kWp
Weekday daytime load that matches solar generation closely.
- RetailIndicative 40 to 500 kWp
Long trading hours, heavy lighting and refrigeration load.
- HospitalityIndicative 30 to 300 kWp
Kitchens, laundry and long evening hours on a seasonal curve.
- Care homesIndicative 25 to 150 kWp
Continuous heating, laundry and hot water, twenty four hours a day.
- Data centresIndicative 100 to 1000 kWp
Dense, constant load where every on site unit counts.
- Managed facilitiesIndicative 20 to 400 kWp
Portfolio decisions across many buildings and many meters.
- Property developersIndicative 50 to 750 kWp
Design solar in at RIBA stage, not as a late retrofit.
Industrial
Production, storage and distribution sites with large roofs and heavy demand.
- WarehousesIndicative 100 to 1500 kWp
Vast clear roofs, modest load, and a big export question.
- ManufacturingIndicative 100 to 2000 kWp
Heavy shift load, high unit rates and painful demand charges.
- Distribution and logisticsIndicative 150 to 2000 kWp
Fleet electrification is the load that changes the sums.
- Farms and agricultureIndicative 30 to 500 kWp
Barn roofs, irrigation, grain drying and diversified income.
- HorticultureIndicative 50 to 1000 kWp
Glasshouse lighting and climate control, heavy and controllable.
- Cold storageIndicative 100 to 1500 kWp
Continuous refrigeration, thermal inertia and flexibility value.
Public
Education, health and civic estates working to published carbon commitments.
- SchoolsIndicative 20 to 250 kWp
Term time load, summer holidays, and a curriculum angle.
- UniversitiesIndicative 100 to 3000 kWp
Estate wide programmes with real net zero commitments.
- HospitalsIndicative 100 to 2000 kWp
Round the clock clinical load with strict resilience rules.
- Local councilsIndicative 20 to 1000 kWp
Mixed estates, declared climate targets and framework procurement.
- Sports venuesIndicative 50 to 800 kWp
Pool plant, floodlighting and large simple roof structures.
- Student accommodationIndicative 30 to 400 kWp
All inclusive bills, term time occupancy and communal load.
Typical system size is an indicative range for the building type. Your figure comes from your own roof and load.
06How the matching works
Four steps, one point of contact
From first enquiry to handover you deal with us and with one installer, not with a procession of salespeople.
- 01
Free assessment
Five questions about your roof, your operating pattern and what you pay per unit. You get an indicative system size, generation, saving and payback in minutes, with the assumptions shown alongside every figure. No charge and no obligation.
- 02
Matched to a vetted installer
We brief one installer from our network, chosen for the size, roof type and region of your site. NRG Solar does not design or install anything. We are the broker, and the works contract sits directly between you and the installer.
- 03
Compare a proper proposal
The installer surveys and prices. We help you read what lands: the yield assumption, the self consumption rate, the funding route and anything quietly excluded from the price, so you are comparing like with like.
- 04
Installation and aftercare
Your installer builds, commissions and maintains the system, and holds the workmanship warranty. We stay alongside you through contract and handover, and remain available afterwards if the relationship needs unpicking.
07Free assessment
Size it for your own building
Five questions about your roof and your electricity. We ask for your name last, and you see indicative figures either way.
- 1. Postcode
- 2. Your roof
- 3. Energy use
- 4. Interests
- 5. Your details
08How we are different
A broker with nothing to sell you
NRG Solar does not own a warehouse of panels or a crew of fitters. We assess sites and match them to installers, which means we have no stock to shift and no idle labour to keep busy. If solar is wrong for your building, we will tell you.
Every installer we introduce has been through our vetting process, covering accreditation, insurance, financial standing and completed commercial work. You get one properly briefed installer rather than four cold quotes.
We also help you read the proposal when it lands, including the yield assumption, the self consumption rate and what has quietly been excluded from the price.
09What vetting means here
Six checks before an installer reaches your inbox
Vetted is a word everybody uses. These are the checks it stands for at NRG Solar, and an installer that fails one does not enter the network.
Accreditations verified
Claimed accreditations are checked against the scheme registers themselves rather than taken from a website footer, and rechecked when they fall due for renewal.
Insurance checked
Current public liability, employer's liability and professional indemnity cover, confirmed at the levels commercial work on your building requires.
Companies House standing
Filing history, accounts and directorships reviewed, so you are not introduced to a company that is late, dormant or newly reincorporated.
Health and safety accreditation
Evidence of a recognised health and safety assessment, which matters on work at height above an operating building.
Technical competence
Completed commercial work at a comparable scale and roof type, not a domestic track record stretched upwards to fit your site.
Workmanship warranty
A written workmanship warranty from the installer, sitting alongside the manufacturer product warranties that pass through to you.
10Three ways to buy
Why use a broker at all
There are good reasons to skip us. Here is the honest version of all three routes, including where ours is the wrong one.
Direct to one installer
- Effort
- Low. One phone call and a site visit.
- Comparison
- None. You see one design at one price and no benchmark for either.
- Sizing
- Sized by the party selling the equipment, which tends towards the larger array.
- Who checks them
- You do, if you think to. Accreditations, insurance and accounts are yours to verify.
- Where it works
- You already know and trust the installer and you are not shopping the price.
Ringing round several yourself
- Effort
- High. Several site visits, several sales processes and weeks of chasing.
- Comparison
- Hard. Different yield assumptions and different exclusions, so the cheapest is rarely the cheapest.
- Sizing
- Three sizes for the same roof, with no neutral basis to judge between them.
- Who checks them
- You do, three or four times over.
- Where it works
- You have the time and the in house technical resource to run a proper tender.
One assessment through NRG
- Effort
- Low. One assessment, one properly briefed installer, one point of contact.
- Comparison
- We set the basis: published assumptions, your load, your tariff, and help you read what lands.
- Sizing
- Sized to your consumption before anyone quotes, by a party with no equipment to shift.
- Who checks them
- We do, before the introduction, and the checks are published.
- Trade off
- You get one matched installer, not an open tender. If you want a formal multi bid process, run one.
Our service is free to you. NRG Solar is paid by the installer when a project proceeds, which is why we would rather tell you solar is wrong for your building than sell you an array you do not need.
No stock to shift.
No crew to keep busy.
That is the whole reason the advice can be straight. We assess buildings and match them to installers, so nothing in our week depends on you buying an array.
11Why go through us
An honest broker, not a sales floor
- One assessment, no cold calling round the trade
- Figures based on your roof, your load and your tariff
- Installers vetted before they ever reach your inbox
- Funding routes compared in plain terms
- We stay alongside you through to handover
Every installer in our network is NICEIC approved for electrical work, and MCS certified for systems up to 50kW. See how we vet installers
How we work13Coverage
Where the network operates
NRG Solar assesses commercial buildings across the United Kingdom, and matches each site to an installer working in that region.
Coverage depends on the installer network rather than on our own vans, because we do not run any. If we cannot put a suitable installer in front of you for your site, we will say so rather than stretch someone across the country to reach it.
Regional guides, including the distribution network operator for each area
- LondonUK Power Networks
- BirminghamNational Grid Electricity Distribution
- ManchesterElectricity North West
- LeedsNorthern Powergrid
- SheffieldNorthern Powergrid
- LiverpoolSP Energy Networks
- GlasgowSP Energy Networks
- BristolNational Grid Electricity Distribution
- NottinghamNational Grid Electricity Distribution
- LeicesterNational Grid Electricity Distribution
- PeterboroughUK Power Networks
- Milton KeynesNational Grid Electricity Distribution
14Questions
Straight answers
15Insight
Latest from NRG
How to read a commercial solar quotation
Two quotes for the same roof can differ by a wide margin and still both be defensible. The difference is almost always in the assumptions rather than the equipment.