If you’re a business owner or director who’s been considering solar but haven’t pulled the trigger, here’s a hard truth: delaying your decision could be costing you thousands of pounds every single year — and it adds up fast.
Let’s break down what “doing nothing” actually means in 2025.
1. Energy Bills Keep Rising — Solar Doesn’t
Electricity prices are still volatile. In 2020, commercial rates were as low as 13p/kWh. By 2022, they spiked to 40–70p/kWh. In 2025, most businesses are paying 28–35p/kWh — and there’s no sign of prices returning to pre-2020 levels.
Meanwhile, solar offers a fixed energy cost of around 5–7p/kWh over 25 years. For reference; this is known as the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE). It represents the average cost per unit of solar energy over the system’s lifetime, including installation, minor maintenance, and equipment degradation — and it’s a fraction of today’s grid prices.
Real-World Example:
A business using 100,000 kWh/year at 30p/kWh = £30,000/year
With solar, that could drop to £10,000/year or less
Savings: ~£20,000 per year
Delay by just 1 year? That’s £20,000 straight to your energy supplier instead of staying in your business.
2. Payback Periods Get Longer When You Wait
Commercial solar payback can very often be 3 to 6 years, depending on system size and energy usage. But the longer you wait, the more you:
Miss out on Year 1 savings
Delay reaching break-even
Lose compounding long-term savings
Example:
With those types of ROI:
Install today → payback by 2029 Wait 2 years → payback now stretches to 2031, and you’ve lost ~£40,000 in savings during that time.
3. Full Expensing Won’t Be Around Forever
As of 2025, UK businesses can claim 100% full expensing on plant and machinery — including solar.
This means:
Spend £100,000 on solar
Instantly reduce taxable profits by the full amount
Save up to £25,000 in corporation tax (if you’re paying 25%)
Wait too long and this incentive could disappear in a future budget.
4. Your Competitors Are Moving
More businesses are realising that solar is no longer a “green nice-to-have” — it’s a financially-driven business decision. If your competitors are cutting their energy bills by 40–70% while you’re still fully exposed to grid prices, you’re giving them a long-term edge.
Whether you’re in manufacturing, warehousing, hospitality, retail or logistics — solar gives you leaner margins and more control.
5. Environmental Pressure Is Only Going One Way
Clients, suppliers, staff, and investors are all watching ESG performance. A commercial solar system cuts 20–50 tonnes of CO₂ per year, depending on size.
Waiting another 12–24 months to “look green” could:
Hurt your ESG profile
Undermine tenders/contracts with net zero requirements
Leave you behind sector benchmarks
✅ Summary: Doing Nothing Has a Price Tag
Delay
Cost
12 months of energy savings lost
£10k–£50k+
Lost tax benefit from full expensing
£10k–£25k
Payback period pushed back
1–2 years
Competitor advantage
Ongoing
ESG and PR opportunity missed
Strategic impact
🗓️ Next Step: Book a No-Obligation Assessment
At Lucent Energy, we provide fast, accurate solar estimates for UK businesses — with simple payback projections, usage analysis, and guidance on finance or funding options.
Click below to request a free desktop assessment — and find out exactly how much solar could save your business.
