Solar panels for hotels: cut energy costs with solar, heat pumps and guest EV charging

Why hotels, pubs and holiday parks suit solar panels

Hospitality buildings use power from breakfast to last orders, and much of it in daylight:

• Laundry: sheets and towels, washed and dried every day. Run the big loads in the middle of the day and solar covers more of them.
• Kitchens and cold rooms: fridges, freezers, dishwashers, extraction and, in electric kitchens, cooking.
• Hot water: showers, kitchens and laundry. With a heat pump or electric heating, solar can feed it directly.
• Cooling: air conditioning peaks on hot, sunny afternoons, exactly when solar output peaks.
• Seasonal trade: many coastal and rural businesses are fullest from May to September, the strongest months for solar.
• Pools and spas: pumps, filtration and heating run for long hours.

The more of its own output a site uses, the better solar pays, because every kWh used on site replaces one you'd otherwise buy. A good installer models that on your half-hourly data, season by season. A business that closes for winter will export more then: The Smart Export Guarantee pays for solar you export, on systems up to 5MW in Great Britain. Suppliers set their own rates; the law only says the rate must be above zero, so shop around.

Hotel solar panel costs in 2026

Illustrative figures multiply the DESNZ cost per kW by system size and are rounded. They include VAT where it applies and exclude batteries and roof repairs. DESNZ measures cost per kW of declared net capacity (DNC). Installers usually quote per kWp of panels, and DESNZ says costs on that basis (total installed capacity) are typically 6-12% lower: the 10-50kW median is £1,204/kWp. Source: DESNZ solar PV cost data, published 28 May 2026.

Car park space is valuable at a hotel. Solar carports generate power, shade guests' cars and carry the EV chargers in one structure. For bigger systems, see business solar panel costs, and to store midday output for the evening rush, commercial battery storage.

Hotel solar: key facts for 2026

Hotel heat pumps: hot water, kitchens and swimming pools

In a hotel, hot water can be as big a load as space heating, with sharp peaks at morning showers, kitchen service and laundry. A heat pump can handle it, but the design is different from heating an office:

• Storage over instant output: large cylinders or thermal stores, charged ahead of the morning peak, let a smaller heat pump meet a big demand.
• Legionella control: HSE guidance says that where temperature is used to control legionella, hot water should be stored above 60°C and distributed above 50°C. Ask how the design gets there, whether by a high temperature heat pump, a booster or an immersion cycle, and what that does to running costs.
• Heat recovery: cold rooms, cellar cooling and air conditioning all reject heat that a heat pump can reuse for hot water.
• Cascade: two or more units give resilience. A hotel can't tell guests there's no hot water while one unit is repaired.

The £7,500 grant, and why the pool doesn't count

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 towards an air or ground source heat pump in a building used for a business, in England and Wales, for systems up to 45kWth (70kWth for several units). The scheme's regulations count hot water for the personal use of the people in the building, and expressly exclude hot water used for heating a swimming pool. So a pool heat pump is funded from your own budget and tax allowances. A small hotel, inn or B&B may fit the scheme for its heating and hot water; a large hotel usually won't. See commercial heat pumps for sizing and the grant, and home heat pumps for the owner's house.

EV charging for hotels: the £500-a-socket grant guests can use

Guests who arrive by electric car want to charge overnight, and a charger in the car park is something you can list on booking sites. The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) pays up to £500 per socket, capped at 75% of the purchase and installation costs, for up to 40 sockets across all your sites, until 31 March 2027. The key rule for hospitality is who's allowed to plug in:

What counts as a small accommodation business? The current scheme page lists "small accommodation businesses" as eligible without a fuller definition. OZEV's earlier WCS guidance defined one as an accommodation business with 249 or fewer staff, including hotels and similar accommodation, holiday and short-stay accommodation, and campsites and caravan parks (SIC codes 55.10, 55.20 and 55.30). If you're unsure, ask the DVLA, which runs applications for OZEV, before you apply.

• You need dedicated off-road parking associated with the premises, and the landowner's consent if you don't own it.
• Use an OZEV-authorised installer, who claims the grant and takes it off your invoice.
• If you open chargers to the public, you must comply with the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023.
• Larger hotels can still use the scheme for staff and fleet chargers, and fund guest charging separately.

More detail: Workplace Charging Scheme guide and business EV charging. Pairing chargers with solar? See solar panels and EV charging.

VAT on solar for hotels, pubs, B&Bs and holiday lets

The temporary 0% VAT rate on solar panels, batteries and heat pumps runs until 31 March 2027, but only for residential accommodation and buildings used solely for a relevant charitable purpose. The law excludes hotels and inns, and HMRC's VAT Notice 708/6 lists self-catering holiday accommodation as residential. That splits hospitality down the middle:

From 1 April 2027 the zero rate becomes the 5% reduced rate. For most hotels the 20% is less painful than it looks: if you're VAT-registered, you can normally reclaim it. The 0% matters most to holiday let owners below the VAT threshold. Our VAT relief guide covers the homeowner side.

Capital allowances: hotels vs holiday lets

Hotels, inns, pubs and B&Bs run as a trade. HMRC's manual says a hotel "run as a trade and offering services" is not a dwelling-house, so the normal plant and machinery allowances apply:

HMRC's manual is explicit: "all capital expenditure on the provision of solar panels is specifically designated as special rate" (CA22335). So the AIA is the big lever. A company spending £150,000 on a rooftop system can usually deduct the whole lot from that year's profits, as long as the AIA hasn't been used up on other kit.

A heat pump is an integral feature ("a space or water heating system"), which is also special-rate plant; the Annual Investment Allowance can cover it.

Holiday lets are different since April 2025. The furnished holiday lettings tax regime was abolished from 6 April 2025 for income tax and 1 April 2025 for corporation tax. GOV.UK says new expenditure from then "must be considered under the property business rules". Under those rules, plant or machinery for use in a dwelling-house doesn't qualify for allowances, and HMRC treats accommodation used for holiday letting as a dwelling-house. HMRC's own example: solar panels whose electricity is used in a let house don't qualify. Existing capital allowance pools can carry on. Talk to your accountant, because how the property is run decides which side of the line you're on.

Business rates: In England, plant and machinery used to generate or store power from on-site renewables (solar included, and batteries where the power stored is mainly or exclusively renewable) is excluded from rateable value until 1 April 2035. Wales (from 1 April 2024) and Scotland (from 1 April 2023) have equivalent exemptions running to 2035. Adding panels to your roof shouldn't raise your rates bill.

Planning for listed and period hotels

Rooftop solar on a hotel or pub in England is usually permitted development under Class J, as long as the panels sit no more than 0.2m proud of a pitched roof, no more than 1m above a flat roof and at least 1m from the roof edge. Larger systems need prior approval on glare. The catch for hospitality is heritage:

• Listed hotels and inns: permitted development doesn't apply to a listed building or any building within its curtilage, so the stable block counts too. You'll need listed building consent and usually planning permission.
• Conservation areas: rooftop panels can still be permitted development, but wall-mounted panels on a wall facing a highway are not.
• Scheduled monuments: never permitted development.
• Options that often get approved: hidden rear or valley roofs, modern extensions, outbuildings, ground-mounted arrays out of sight, and car park canopies.
• Heat pumps: outdoor units bring noise and visual questions near bedrooms and neighbours. Site them early in the design.
• Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own permitted development rules.

Our commercial solar panels guide covers grid approval and the installation process.

Hospitality energy saving: quick wins and how to get quoted

Quick wins before the big kit

• Lighting: corridors, car parks and back-of-house run long hours. LED with sensors is often the fastest payback: see commercial LED lighting.
• Room controls: key-card or occupancy controls stop empty rooms being heated or cooled.
• Kitchen extraction: variable-speed fans that respond to cooking load use less than fans on full all day.
• Cold rooms and cellars: door seals, strip curtains and maintenance cut compressor run time.
• Pool covers: covering a pool overnight cuts heat loss.

Before you ask for quotes

• Twelve months of electricity, gas or oil bills, or half-hourly data from your supplier.
• Your seasonal pattern: when you're full, and when (if ever) you close.
• Whether the building or any outbuilding is listed or in a conservation area.
• Your VAT status, and whether you own the freehold or need landlord or brewery consent.
• How many guest and staff parking spaces you have, and where.

Questions to ask every installer

• How much of the output will we use on site in peak season and off season?
• What does a battery add for evening service?
• Are you MCS certified (needed for the Smart Export Guarantee on systems up to 50kW) and OZEV-authorised for chargers?
• How will you work around guests: hours, noise, scaffolding and access?

We pass your enquiry to one suitable installer. Running a care home too? See care home solar panels.