Solar Panels for Pubs, Restaurants & Hospitality Venues

Why a pub or restaurant suits solar much as a dealership workshop does

A pub or restaurant carries a steady daytime-into-evening electrical load: cellar cooling, kitchen extraction, refrigeration and lighting run for most of the trading day, building toward the lunch and early-evening peaks. That demand sits under the generation curve through the daytime, so a rooftop array is largely consumed on site rather than exported cheaply, and self-consumption drives the return, much the way a dealership's workshop and showroom load anchors its solar case. The payback is a little longer than the very fastest commercial sites because the peak is in the evening, with a typical simple figure near 6.5 years, but a system sized for the daytime kitchen and cellar load plus EV charging usually beats over-sizing.

Energy is now one of the largest controllable costs in hospitality, alongside staff and stock, and a fixed slice of the bill for two decades is valuable in a thin-margin sector where a bad quarter can wipe out a year's profit. Managed pub and restaurant estates can roll a single design across dozens of similar units, the same repeatable-template logic that lets a dealer group standardise across its sites and can support portfolio pricing, a phased capital plan and one point of contact, with the engineering done once and reused across the estate rather than redrawn for every house. On-site generation also gives independents and groups alike a credible local sustainability story, the kind of thing a community pub can put on its wall and a group can put in its annual report, and can improve the EPC of a leased or tied house, which matters because a privately rented non-domestic property must currently be EPC E or above and a higher minimum standard has been consulted on, with no date confirmed; that is one reason some landlords support or fund installs.

What a typical install looks like and how systems are sized

A pub or restaurant system is typically designed in the 10 to 100 kW range, which is roughly 18 to 185 panels across about 60 to 600 square metres of roof. A system that size generates in the region of 9,000 to 92,000 kWh a year and saves between 2 and 21 tonnes of CO2 annually. Sizing in this sector is driven by daytime baseload rather than roof area, so it comes from at least twelve months of half-hourly meter data, because a wet-led pub has a very different load to a food-led restaurant with heavy kitchen extraction. A modest rooftop should be sized to the daytime kitchen and cellar load plus any EV charging rather than chasing roof fill, since the evening peak is better served by a sensibly sized array than by over-sizing. A food-led restaurant with heavy lunchtime extraction and refrigeration will justify a larger daytime system than a wet-led community pub whose trade is mostly in the evening, so the two designs can look quite different even on similar roofs, which is why the meter data, not the floor plan, sets the size. Where roof area is limited, beer-garden canopies and car-park solar carports add capacity, the same move a dealer makes over a forecourt, turning otherwise dead surface into generation and shaded, EV-ready parking. The full range of roof types can be considered: profiled and standing-seam metal on kitchen extensions, single-ply membrane and felt on flat roofs taking a ballasted system, and concrete. Asbestos cement roofing, common on older pubs and outbuildings, cannot be retrofitted and needs replacement first, which is why the build-up should be confirmed before pricing rather than discovered on the day. Where the roof genuinely cannot take an array, whether for heritage, structural or asbestos reasons, the car park and beer garden usually can, and a carport or canopy keeps the project viable on a site that would otherwise be ruled out.

Costs, payback and tax relief

A pub or restaurant project typically lands between £10,000 and £90,000 depending on roof and whether a canopy or carport is added, with an indicative simple payback near 6.5 years. Solar PV is a special-rate plant and machinery asset, so the 100% Annual Investment Allowance lets the business write off the first one million pounds of qualifying spend in year one, up to a 25% effective tax saving; solar does not qualify for full expensing, so relief comes through the AIA or the 50% First-Year Allowance above the cap, with managed-estate rollouts splitting across the two. The Smart Export Guarantee pays for any surplus, which matters most for sites quieter in the daytime. Capital need not be the obstacle: a power purchase agreement delivers the array with zero capex at a per-kWh rate below grid from day one, asset finance spreads cost over several years and is cash-positive from year one only where the energy saving exceeds the repayments, and an operating lease suits estates wanting a predictable per-site monthly cost. Our cost guide works through single-site and estate scenarios.

Funding routes in detail

The 100% Annual Investment Allowance is the headline route, giving full relief in year one on a single install within the one million pound cap, with managed-estate rollouts splitting across the AIA and the 50% First-Year Allowance where total spend exceeds it. Where a pub adds charging for staff and fleet vehicles, the Workplace Charging Scheme, administered by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, pays up to £500 per socket from 1 April 2026, covering up to 75% of purchase and installation cost across up to 40 sockets, and it closes permanently on 31 March 2027, so apply early. For a business the chargepoints can only be used by its staff and fleet and parking solely for customers is ineligible, so customer-only charging is not covered. The Smart Export Guarantee covers exported units: licensed suppliers must offer an export tariff above 0p to eligible generators up to 5 MW, rates are set by suppliers and differ widely, so compare current tariffs, which suits seasonal hospitality that exports out of season; the installation must meet Ofgem's Smart Export Guarantee eligibility rules (certification requirements can depend on system size), so ask any installer to confirm. For tied or leased houses, the structural question is who funds and who benefits: a higher minimum EPC standard has been consulted on, with no date confirmed, and some landlords may want PV because it protects the value and lettability of the asset, funding it directly and recovering it through the service charge or a green-lease rent share. Both tenant-funded and landlord-funded routes are worth comparing, and the brewery or landlord's consent and a wayleave will be needed either way.

Compliance and sector considerations

Two points are specific to hospitality. First, heritage: many pubs are listed or in conservation areas, so Listed Building Consent and conservation-officer engagement are often required, and it helps to use roof slopes hidden from public view, low-profile all-black panels, or a car-park carport that avoids the protected frontage entirely. Second, supply: tied and leased houses in pubco estates need brewery or landlord consent and a wayleave, and smaller single-phase supplies common in older premises may cap system size without a DNO upgrade. In England, rooftop PV is otherwise generally permitted development under Class J of Part 14, Schedule 2 of the GPDO 2015, subject to conditions: roof solar above 50 kW needs the council's prior-approval decision on design and external appearance, and it is not permitted on a listed building or in its curtilage. Wales and Scotland have their own rules. A solar carport or canopy is a structure in its own right, so check planning with the council before design. Above 16 A per phase (3.68 kW single-phase, about 11 kW three-phase) a G99 application and DNO approval are needed before connection, and a structural survey precedes any roof loading; it is worth asking your insurer what fire-safety requirements it expects for rooftop PV, and CDM 2015 duties will apply to the installation works. A particular point for hospitality is timing: rooftop installs rarely require a closure, but the work has to fit around service, so the noisier and more disruptive tasks are best scheduled for daytime gaps and quieter days, keeping the kitchen and bar running throughout. Ask any installer to confirm its registrations: Smart Export Guarantee eligibility has its own certification rules (see Ofgem's guidance for generators), and grant-funded charging works are claimed by an authorised installer.

When you are ready, see our cost guide, map the schemes on the grants and funding page, send an enquiry, or read the solar FAQs. Operators with mixed estates may also want supermarket and convenience solar or golf and country club solar.