Asset Finance for Renewable Energy
By Joshua Giles, Founder and Director · Reviewed by the CoreFi credit team
Last updated 20 July 2026
CoreFi is a broker, not a lender. We do not set rates and lenders make all credit decisions.
In short: £25k - £5M over 3 - 10 years. The mechanic is hire purchase or finance lease against the asset itself: the solar array, battery stack, wind turbine, or charge-point hardware.
The mechanic is hire purchase or finance lease against the asset itself: the solar array, battery stack, wind turbine, or charge-point hardware. The lender takes a charge over the equipment and your business repays over three to ten years. No property security required.
What separates this from ordinary kit finance is that the asset earns or saves money from day one. A commercial rooftop solar install exporting via the Smart Export Guarantee, or a destination EV charger pulling charge-point revenue, gives a lender something concrete to underwrite. On a well-specified project we have seen lenders size the facility so the monthly energy-bill saving covers most or all of the repayment. That is not a promise; it is the arithmetic the lender runs, and it depends on your consumption profile and the rate you are offered.
The lenders who do this are not your clearing bank. You want the green-asset specialists and a small set of challenger funders with appetite for SEG, PPA, and grid-services revenue models. A high-street bank leads with trading history and profitability; a green-asset lender wants the MCS certificate, the export tariff agreement, or the charge-point utilisation data. We know which desk to approach for each type of install.
Battery storage counts, whether standalone or co-located with solar. Grid-services arbitrage and peak-shaving revenue both feed the underwrite. Heat pumps and biomass boilers qualify as well, though the tickets are smaller and not every funder will go there.
Grants reduce what you finance; they do not replace the facility. The Workplace Charging Scheme, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and local authority green funds can sit alongside asset finance, and we factor confirmed grant amounts in before submission.
Key Benefits
- The energy saving or export income is the repayment source, not your working capital, so a well-specified project can wash its own face from early on
- Green-asset lenders underwrite against SEG tariffs, PPA agreements, and EV charge-point revenue; a standard asset funder will not know what any of those are
- One facility can cover equipment, installation, and grid connection rather than three separate lines
- No property charge required. The lender secures against the equipment, which matters if your premises are leased or already encumbered
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the energy savings actually cover the finance payments?
On a well-specified commercial solar install, the arithmetic often works. A 100kWp rooftop array on a business with high daytime consumption can cut the electricity bill enough to carry a five-year facility. Nobody can promise that for your specific project, because it turns on your consumption profile, your export tariff, and the rate the lender offers. We run the numbers before we place it.
Is battery storage eligible on its own, without solar?
Yes. Standalone battery systems are eligible. Lenders look at the revenue model, whether that is grid-services income, peak-shaving savings, or arbitrage, and structure around it. Solar-plus-battery is the easier story; standalone is doable, but a smaller pool of lenders will quote.
What about EV charging infrastructure?
Commercial chargers are financeable, whether destination, workplace, or fleet depot. Public-facing chargers earning charge-point revenue give a lender a cleaner income story. Fleet depot installs are usually justified on fuel-cost savings and utilisation data from the fleet management system.
Can I combine a government grant with asset finance?
Yes, and it is common. Confirmed grant funding reduces the amount you borrow, and we factor it in before submission. The Workplace Charging Scheme, Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and various local authority green funds have all sat alongside asset finance facilities we have arranged. The grant does not complicate the facility; it just shrinks the ticket.
Work out your numbers
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Get matched with lendersCoreFi is a trading name of JG Core Ltd (Company #16218779, England & Wales). CoreFi acts as a commercial finance broker and does not provide regulated financial advice. All products described are unregulated business-to-business finance. Information on this page is for general guidance only and does not constitute a formal offer of finance. Terms, rates, and availability are subject to lender criteria and may change without notice.