Solar Panels for Pubs is an independent information service run by SEO Dons Ltd (company no. 16766013, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ). It explains what rooftop solar means for UK pubs, free houses and pub companies: what it costs, how payback is worked out, which tax reliefs and funding routes apply, and what to check before signing a contract. It is not an installer, and it does not survey, design or install systems.
Why the focus on pubs
A pub is an unusually good fit for solar because it uses most of its electricity in daylight hours, but it comes with complications other commercial buildings do not: cellar cooling that runs around the clock, kitchen extraction and refrigeration through service, listed buildings and conservation areas, tied and leased houses where the landlord or brewery has to agree, and trading hours that cannot be interrupted. Guidance written for homeowners or for commercial buyers in general tends to skip them, so this site is organised around them.
Listed buildings and tied houses
Many pubs are listed or sit in conservation areas, and a large share are tied or leased through pub companies and breweries. Heritage premises usually need early contact with the conservation officer and low-profile designs on roof slopes out of public view, or carports and outbuildings that keep the protected frontage untouched. Tied and leased houses need the landlord’s or brewery’s consent before any roof work, so ask for it in writing early; the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard is also pushing landlords towards EPC improvements on their estates.
How this site works
The guides cover costs, grants and funding, the savings calculator, the pages for each type of site and the location guides. The figures are typical ranges, not quotes, and each page says what drives them. If you send an enquiry through the form, it goes to SEO Dons Ltd and we reply by email. We never sell your details.
What to check on any installer
Whoever quotes, ask to see these and verify each one with the body that issues it rather than taking it on trust:
- MCS certification, which a system needs to be eligible for the Smart Export Guarantee. Check it at mcscertified.com
- Electrical competence for the electrical work, for example NICEIC or an equivalent scheme
- An insurance-backed workmanship warranty in writing, alongside the manufacturer’s panel and inverter warranties
- A written proposal that is modelled on your half-hourly meter data and says what it assumes
- Heritage and consent: how the installer will handle listed-building consent and, on a tied or leased house, the landlord or brewery’s consent
An honest note
This is an information site, so you will not find testimonials, an install count or case studies here, and no page claims to have installed a system. Where a page shows a figure, it is a typical range. Corrections are welcome through the contact page.