Solar, batteries and EV charging for farms: what pays back?

Start with your farm's electricity profile, then assess solar, storage and charging separately. The Workplace Charging Scheme caps eligible support at £500 per socket [S1], but does not establish the business case for a public rural hub. Compare fully funded host income with part funded and self funded payback, including grid works and land commitments. Checked October 2026.

Last checked 16 October 2026

Solar on business premises: where do you start?

Start with electricity bills and interval meter data, rather than roof area. Compare when your farm consumes power with when solar would generate. An arable-farm drying load, a dairy-farm milking schedule, a rural-business-park tenant load and an equestrian-centre evening load need different designs. Measure each rather than borrowing another farm’s payback.

Solar photovoltaic, or PV, panels generate electricity. Ask for a site-specific yield estimate and the split between energy used on site and exported. Assess roof condition, structure, access for repairs and fire-safety arrangements before accepting a design. For ground-mounted proposals, ask your planning authority and solicitor about land use and property restrictions.

Keep charging as a separate demand forecast. A large barn roof does not establish a market for paid sessions. For customer destinations, compare the farm-shop sector.

Is a battery really worth it?

Ask what the battery would do: shift solar to later use, manage a measured demand peak or support charging. Require a model with usable capacity, round-trip losses, operating limits, degradation and replacement costs. Do not add several claimed benefits if they depend on using the same stored energy at the same time.

Peak shaving means reducing a site’s highest import demand. Any saving needs the actual billable demand charge and a control plan that achieves the reduction. Backup power also needs a suitable electrical design; owning a battery alone does not demonstrate continuity during an outage. Request the operating specification.

Solar and storage illustration, not a quote

All inputs here are assumptions. kW means kilowatts of power; kWh means kilowatt-hours of energy. Assume a 50 kW peak-rated PV array generates 45,000 kWh yearly, with 70% consumed on site. Assume imported energy costs £0.25/kWh, export earns £0.05/kWh, annual upkeep costs £500 and capital is £40,000–£60,000.

For an additional assumed £15,000–£25,000 battery, suppose 6,000 kWh reaches later loads each year at 90% round-trip efficiency. Foregone export is 6,000 ÷ 90% × £0.05 = £333.33; avoided import is £1,500. Deduct £100 extra upkeep: incremental benefit is £1,066.67 yearly, ROI 4.3–7.1%, payback 14.1–23.4 years. This excludes replacement, degradation, finance and tax. It shows why a battery needs its own case. See solar and battery ROI.

What could EV charging earn at your business?

For diversification, distinguish paid staff or tenant charging from a roadside public installation. The example below is a small paid installation, with every input assumed. It is not a rapid-hub cost estimate.

Annual energy = sessions × 10 × 365; sales = energy × £0.45. Operating net = energy × £0.20 − £700. Fully funded income = sales × 10%; part funded net = operating net × 50%. ROI = host net ÷ host capital × 100%; payback = host capital ÷ host net.

At central capital, mid-use self funded payback = £10,000 ÷ £2,220 = 4.50 years. Identical investing-model ROI follows only from the equal split. Fully funded has no host capital recovery calculation. These are illustrations, not quotes; rounded results exclude VAT, grants, finance, tax, major replacement, new grid works and lost land use. No solar saving is also counted in charging margin. Review host revenue share.

What does your rural site need?

Your distribution network operator, or DNO, manages the local network. Request import and export assessments; they answer different questions. G99 is the engineering connection standard for relevant generation. UK Power Networks describes its application route and connection assessment [S3]. The government also publishes a charger connections guide [S5]. Ask for itemised connection costs before agreeing equipment sizes.

For public charging, ask your solicitor which operating duties apply. Request safe vehicle access, accessible controls and separation from machinery or livestock movements. Agree planning checks before allocating bays. Ask your accountant about business rates implications.

Have your solicitor review tenancy consent, exclusivity, contract length, liability, redevelopment and removal. Specify who pays energy, maintenance and end-of-term reinstatement under each offer. No standard rural lease term or host share is asserted here.

Which workplace EV charging grant applies?

WCS support is capped at £500 per eligible socket; ordinary business use restrictions apply [S1]. The Improving Farm Productivity grant round 2 is closed [S2]. Neither is deducted from these illustrations.

HMRC describes a 100% first-year allowance for qualifying chargepoint expenditure, extended to 31 March 2027 for Corporation Tax and 5 April 2027 for Income Tax [S4]. That is a tax deduction, not a cash reimbursement. Check with your accountant about eligibility and your circumstances. See the commercial charger cost guide.

Next steps

Browse the sector hub to compare other uses of your parking and buildings.

Gather meter data, roof information, tenancy documents and expected charging demand, then get matched with an installer that covers your area.

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