Grants and funding for solar panels for caravan parks

There is no single grant that writes a cheque for a caravan park's solar system, and any installer who tells you otherwise is overselling. What there is, and it is genuinely valuable, is a stack of tax reliefs, an export-income scheme and EV-charging funding that together change the economics of a park install. The trick is combining them correctly for your business structure and project profile. Here is how each one works and how they fit together.

100% Annual Investment Allowance: the big one

The Annual Investment Allowance is the most important funding mechanism for almost every park we work with. It lets a UK business offset the full cost of qualifying plant and machinery, which includes solar PV, inverters, mounting and battery storage, against taxable profit, up to £1m per year. For a limited-company park paying corporation tax, that is worth up to 25% effective tax relief in year one. A sole-trader or partnership park gets comparable relief against income tax.

One detail matters: solar is classed as a special-rate asset, so it does not qualify for the headline "full expensing" regime you may have read about. It uses the AIA instead, and the AIA cap of £1m comfortably covers virtually every single-park install. Only multi-park groups deploying more than £1m of solar in one tax year hit the cap, and the balance above it then qualifies for the 50% First Year Allowance. Find the official detail on capital allowances on GOV.UK.

Smart Export Guarantee: income on what you do not use

The Smart Export Guarantee requires the larger licensed electricity suppliers to pay you for power you export to the grid. For an MCS-certified install up to 5 MW, you can sign up to an export tariff, currently typically 4 to 15p per kWh in 2026 depending on supplier, with some variable peak tariffs higher.

The SEG matters more for a holiday park than for a 24/7 business, and this is the part competitors miss. Your occupancy is concentrated April to October, so in the quiet winter months you generate power you cannot use on site. That surplus exports under the SEG and earns income on energy that would otherwise be wasted. The tariff is supplier-set, so it pays to shop around, and we help you compare the live offers when the system is commissioned.

Workplace Charging Scheme: funding guest and staff EV charging

Guest EV charging is becoming expected on holiday parks, and the OZEV Workplace Charging Scheme helps fund the chargepoints. It covers up to 75% of the cost, capped at £500 per socket (raised from £350 on 1 April 2026), across up to 40 sockets, to a maximum of £20,000 per applicant. You must use an OZEV-approved installer and approved chargepoints.

This pairs naturally with on-site solar. Daytime guest charging absorbs solar generation at near-100% self-consumption, and battery storage lets you charge cars from stored solar in the evening peak. OZEV has indicated the scheme runs to 31 March 2027 as its final year, so apply early. We are an OZEV-approved installer and handle the application as part of the project.

Plant and machinery 50% First Year Allowance

This applies only above the £1m AIA cap, so it is mainly relevant to multi-park groups deploying large amounts of solar in a single tax year. Solar as a special-rate asset qualifies for a 50% deduction in year one on the spend above the cap, with the remaining 50% claimed through writing-down allowances at 6% a year. For most single-park operators the AIA covers the whole project and this never comes into play.

Green Tourism: not a grant, but a booking advantage

The Green Tourism scheme is not funding, but it turns your solar into a measurable commercial asset, so it belongs in any honest discussion of the return. Membership runs roughly £157.50 to £682.50 plus VAT depending on park size, plus a registration fee. On-site renewables contribute directly to the award criteria, and a Green Tourism Gold award, backed by solar evidence, is a real booking and pricing advantage in a market where eco-conscious guests, especially in glamping and premium lodges, actively choose greener parks. Devolved equivalents exist in Scotland and Wales.

How the schemes stack

For a typical single-park install, the combination is straightforward: claim 100% AIA on the full system cost (panels, inverters, mounting and battery), sign up to a Smart Export Guarantee tariff for the off-season surplus, and use the Workplace Charging Scheme to fund any EV chargepoints. Layer Green Tourism accreditation on top to convert the install into a marketing asset. There is no double-claiming problem here because the AIA is a tax relief, the SEG is income, and the WCS is a capital grant on a separate item (the chargers).

What about the 0% VAT relief?

You may have seen that solar attracts 0% VAT. That relief applies to residential and charity buildings only, and it does not apply to a commercial park operation. We flag this because it is a common and costly misunderstanding when owners budget. A residential park-home section on a mixed site may be treated differently, and we will tell you exactly where the line falls for your particular setup.

Application timelines and what to provide

The AIA is claimed through your normal corporation-tax or self-assessment return, so there is no separate application, just keep the invoices and our specification. The SEG is set up with your chosen supplier once the system is MCS-certified and commissioned. The Workplace Charging Scheme application is submitted before installation through the OZEV portal and is usually approved within a few weeks. We prepare the paperwork for all three as part of the project and tell you honestly which ones apply to your park, rather than promising funding that does not exist.