Which Commercial Solar Grants Are Open in 2026?

The single most common question we get is also the simplest: which commercial solar grants are actually open right now? Not which schemes exist on paper, not which ones were open in 2023 — which ones you can apply to today and realistically expect money from. The honest answer in mid-2026 is that the headline English grant schemes are closed, several devolved-nation routes are live, and the most reliable funding for most English businesses isn’t a grant at all. This is a current-state register: open, closed, and what to do about it.

Why “is it open?” is the only question that matters

A grant that isn’t accepting applications is worth nothing to a project you want to start this year. Yet most online guides still list IETF, PSDS and a parade of “40% farm grants” as though they were sitting there waiting. They aren’t. Funding windows open and close, budgets get allocated, and phases end. Getting current status wrong costs you months. So we maintain a live picture across every nation; below is where things stand in mid-2026. For the maintained version with application links and deadlines, our commercial solar grants hub is the page we keep current.

England: the big grants are closed

This is the part that surprises people. The two schemes that dominate the “solar grant” conversation in England are both shut to new commercial solar applications:

• Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) — Phase 3 competition windows have closed. IETF was the route for energy-intensive manufacturers, and there is no open English IETF window accepting new solar-led applications in mid-2026. Any future phase would be a fresh DESNZ announcement, not a rolling door.
• Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) — Phase 4 is closed. PSDS funds public-sector bodies (NHS trusts, councils, schools, universities) in discrete, heavily oversubscribed phases. Phase 5’s shape and timing remain a forward-looking question rather than an open route.

There is no general-purpose “English commercial solar grant” for private businesses, and there never really was a 40% one. The persistent “FETF 40%” claim you’ll see repeated online is wrong: the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund did not fund rooftop solar, and 40% is not the English support level. For private English businesses, the real, reliable funding is structured through the tax system — covered below.

Full Expensing and AIA: the English route that’s always open

Here is the part that genuinely matters for most English companies. The most dependable form of solar funding in England is not a grant you apply for — it’s a capital allowance you claim, and it never closes.

Full Expensing for solar gives a UK company paying corporation tax a 100% first-year allowance on qualifying new plant and machinery, including solar PV. At the 25% main rate, that’s an effective 25% reduction in the net cost of the system, claimed on your corporation tax return with no competitive application, no scoring panel and no rejection risk. Combined with 0% VAT on qualifying commercial solar installations, the stack typically brings net cost down to around 60% of the headline price.

For unincorporated businesses, sole traders and partnerships, the Annual Investment Allowance does the same job on the first £1m of capex per year. Between Full Expensing and AIA, almost every English business has a 100% first-year route to relief on solar plant.

The practical upshot: if you’re an English private business waiting for a grant window to open, you are usually waiting for the wrong thing. The tax route is open today, faster, and for projects under roughly £500k it often beats the net cost of a grant route once you account for application overhead, delay and rejection risk.

Scotland: live funding routes

Scotland is where the open-grant picture is genuinely healthier in 2026:

• Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (SIETF) — the devolved equivalent of IETF, run for Scottish energy-intensive industry. It operates in funded streams (studies and deployment) and is the closest live analogue to the now-closed English IETF for qualifying Scottish manufacturers.
• Business Energy Scotland — delivers free advice and, critically, signposts SME loan funding (historically interest-free or cashback-supported) for energy-efficiency and renewables measures including solar. This is the practical first stop for most Scottish SMEs.

If you’re a Scottish business, start with these rather than English schemes — eligibility and live status differ across the border. Our commercial solar grants in Scotland page tracks the current Scottish position.

Wales: decarbonisation and the Development Bank

Wales runs its support through industrial decarbonisation programmes and its own development bank rather than a single named solar grant:

• Welsh industrial decarbonisation support — funding aimed at reducing emissions across Welsh industry, which can encompass on-site renewables.
• Development Bank of Wales — provides loan and growth finance Welsh businesses can apply to capital projects including solar, often on more patient terms than commercial lenders.

As with Scotland, Welsh routes are distinct from England’s and worth checking against current eligibility. See commercial solar grants in Wales for the live picture.

Northern Ireland: Invest NI

In Northern Ireland, Invest NI is the principal channel for business support, including energy and resource-efficiency funding that can extend to renewables and solar for eligible businesses. NI’s framework sits outside the GB schemes entirely, so don’t assume English or Scottish status carries across — check commercial solar grants in Northern Ireland directly.

Rural and agricultural: REPF is the real one (not FETF)

For rural and agricultural sites, there is a genuine grant route, and it’s important to name it correctly. The Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) can support capital projects — including on-farm and rural-business solar — at grant intensities reported up to 40% in some local allocations. REPF is administered through local authorities, so availability and exact rates vary by area and by remaining local budget.

What REPF is not: it is not “FETF 40%.” The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund is an equipment grant that does not fund building-mounted solar PV. If a guide tells you to claim 40% English solar funding through FETF, it’s wrong. The route that actually exists for rural solar is REPF, and you should check your local authority’s current window. Our REPF rural solar funding page sets out the eligibility and application detail.

Local and mayoral: the Local Growth Fund

Increasingly, capital support for business solar flows through devolved and mayoral structures rather than national schemes. The Local Growth Fund and combined-authority / mayoral funding pots can include grants or low-cost finance for business decarbonisation in specific regions. These are patchy by geography — strong in some mayoral areas, absent in others — but worth checking if you’re in a combined-authority region. See Local Growth Fund.

Public sector: Salix is the standing mechanism

For public-sector bodies, when PSDS phases are between windows, Salix Finance remains the standing low/zero-interest loan mechanism for energy-efficiency and decarbonisation projects. It isn’t a grant — it’s recoverable finance — but for schools, councils and NHS bodies it’s often the route that’s actually open when PSDS isn’t. See Salix funding.

Open vs closed: the 2026 snapshot

Scheme / route	Nation	Status mid-2026	Type
Full Expensing	England (UK-wide CT)	Open (always)	Tax allowance
Annual Investment Allowance	UK-wide	Open (always)	Tax allowance
0% VAT on commercial solar	UK-wide	Open	VAT relief
IETF Phase 3	England	Closed	Competitive grant
PSDS Phase 4	England (public sector)	Closed	Grant
SIETF	Scotland	Live streams	Grant
Business Energy Scotland loans	Scotland	Open	Advice + loan
Welsh decarbonisation / Dev Bank of Wales	Wales	Live routes	Grant + loan
Invest NI	Northern Ireland	Open routes	Business support
REPF	England (rural)	Local windows	Grant up to ~40%
Local Growth Fund / mayoral	England (regional)	Patchy by area	Grant / finance
Salix Finance	UK public sector	Open	Loan

The pattern is clear: grants are most available in the devolved nations and in rural/regional pots; in mainstream English private industry, the tax stack is the open, reliable route.

What this means for your project

Work out which bucket you sit in before you spend a day chasing a closed window:

1. English private business, project under ~£500k. Don’t wait for a grant. The Full Expensing + 0% VAT stack is open today and usually wins on net cost once you account for application time and risk. Post-stack payback typically lands at 4–6 years.
2. English energy-intensive manufacturer. IETF is closed; monitor for a future phase, but build your base case on the tax stack and treat any future grant as upside. Read the detail on the IETF Phase 3 page so you’re ready if a window reopens.
3. Scottish, Welsh or NI business. You have live devolved routes — start there, not with English schemes.
4. Rural or agricultural site. REPF (not FETF) is your genuine grant route; check your local authority’s current allocation.
5. Public sector body. PSDS Phase 4 is closed; Salix is the standing mechanism between windows.
6. Large or industrial-roof site. Combine the tax stack with whatever regional or devolved funding applies — and if you’re scoping a large warehouse or factory roof, our solar panels for industrial buildings page covers the structural and sizing detail that drives the numbers.

A note on SEG: not a grant, but real money

Worth flagging because it gets conflated with grants. The Smart Export Guarantee isn’t funding for the install — it’s recurring revenue for surplus electricity you export, and it’s always “open” to every qualifying commercial system. Rates in 2026 range widely: Octopus around 15p/kWh flat (Agile peaks far higher with battery shifting), EDF around 12p, Scottish Power SmartGen+ around 12p, British Gas about 6.4p, E.ON about 5.5p and OVO around 5p. It won’t transform your capex case, but the right SEG product is worth meaningful annual income and shaves months off payback.

How to get the current answer for your site

Grant status changes. A window that’s closed today may reopen; a local REPF allocation may still have budget this quarter. We keep the commercial solar panel grants register current for precisely this, and a free funding review will model the open routes — grant where one genuinely fits, tax stack where it doesn’t — side by side, so you’re not building a case around a window that’s already shut.

The bottom line for 2026: the big English grants are closed, the devolved nations and rural routes are where live grant money sits, and for most English businesses the open, reliable funding has been the tax stack all along.