Solar Panels For Car Dealerships
Learn how solar panels can enhance sustainability and save money for your car dealership, including benefits, installation information, and case studies.
In 2023, Close Brothers Motor Finance reported that 35% of car dealerships feared that their businesses would fail due to rising energy costs.
Shining spotlights on the latest models, vehicle servicing technology, and heating and ventilation systems—not to mention coffee for customers. With such high energy demands, it’s no surprise that energy consumption can make or break a business!
Thankfully, there’s a solution that will save not only the future of your dealership, but also aid the future of the planet: commercial solar panels. Here’s everything you need to know about solar panels for car dealerships, including benefits, the installation process, and some case studies to boot.
Benefits of Solar Panels for Car Dealerships
Flat and low-pitched car dealership roofs are ideal for solar photovoltaic (PV) system installation. The large size of car dealership buildings also gives scope for a high volume of solar panel installation and, by extension, the potential for substantial energy generation. Here are the benefits of solar panels for car dealerships.
Cost Savings
Solar panels have traditionally been viewed as an expensive energy option, but the reality is that solar panel costs have decreased by approximately 90% in the last ten years. PV technology has come a long way since its inception, with enhanced manufacturing practices resulting in a golden combination: decreased production costs and increased efficiency.
Sustainability
Who doesn’t want to be more eco-friendly? Solar power doesn’t produce carbon emissions or involve environmentally damaging extraction processes, making it an attractive option for car dealerships looking to reduce their carbon footprint.
Reliable (and Independent) Energy Supply
Unlike traditional power sources, solar power is a renewable energy solution independent from the grid, meaning that in the event of an outage, your business is able to keep running. Yes, even on cloudy and rainy days!
Contrary to popular belief, solar panels continue to work when it’s cloudy, and sometimes even work better when it’s rainy due to the rain cleaning the solar panels of any debris and dirt that may be blocking the sunlight.
Attract Eco-Conscious Consumers
In January 2025, e-vehicles accounted for 21% of all new car registrations. This growing consumer demand for eco-friendly vehicles may translate to solar-panelled car dealerships better attracting the growing body of eco-conscious drivers.
Attract Eco-Conscious Consumers
Implementing renewable electricity into your energy plan may see you benefitting from governmental tax credits and other incentives, such as:
- The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG): a government-backed scheme that allows your business to sell unused energy to energy suppliers, for use on the National Grid.
- Climate Change Levy (CCL) Exemption: by generating your own power with “small generator” based solar panels, your business will receive exemptions from the Climate Change Levy.
The UK government also grants capital allowance to businesses that use low carbon technology, which includes electric vehicle (EV) charging points. More on this in the next section.
Solar-Powered Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations
Want to have your cake and eat it? Combine solar panels with EV charging stations. Solar-powered EV charging stations, otherwise known as solar carports, are car parking shelters with solar panels installed on top. The solar energy is then converted into electricity to charge the e-vehicles parked below.
It’s essential that EV charging infrastructure at car dealerships matches the rising demand for e-vehicles. With solar carports, you can do just that. Get in touch with Perfect Sense Energy for more information.
How to Get Solar Panels Installed
Site survey
We review the physical site of installation and conduct an energy needs analysis to ensure you are getting exactly what you need.
Design and Engineering
Based on the site survey, our dedicated team puts together a bespoke solar PV system design for your dealership.
Permits and Approvals
We deal with arranging any permits and approvals required for solar PV system installation. In most cases, this is a straightforward process.
Installation
Our expert team installs the solar PV system, adhering to strict health and safety guidelines with minimal disruption to business operations.
Testing and Commissioning
We ensure that your solar PV system technology is successfully producing energy.
Maintenance and Monitoring
Perfect Sense Energy provides a maintenance and monitoring service to ensure that your solar panels are kept clean and continue working efficiently for decades to come.
Commercial Solar Panels Case Studies
With so much energy produced and money saved, our solar panel installations make our customers feel like they’re walking on sunshine! Check out the case studies below for more information.
Solar Panels for Car Dealerships FAQs
What are the upfront costs of solar PV systems for car dealerships?
Car dealerships can expect to pay anywhere between £20,000 to £60,000 depending on the size of the site and it’s electrical consumption.
Perfect Sense Energy offers the following finance options:
- Self-funding Asset Finance: A repayment plan with no up-front cost in which electricity savings are used to fund loan repayment costs over terms ranging from 3 to 10 years.
- Capital Expenditure (CapEx): Use staged payments to buy the solar PV system outright. A good option if you want to take advantage of tax incentives and realise an immediate Return on Investment (ROI).
- Power Purchase Agreements: With no upfront cost, the system is funded and owned by an investment company if certain combined system size criteria are met. Car dealerships can benefit by paying 40-60% less for solar power provided than energy from the grid, without the responsibility of ownership and maintenance.
Will solar panel installation disrupt car dealership operations?
Our solar installation experts will work around business operations to ensure that employees and customers aren’t disturbed by the installation process. In limited cases, there may need to be a very short power shutdown for which we will work outside of business hours.
