Consumer grants and incentives
Access incentives and grants for renewable energy
Are you considering investing in small-scale renewable energy to heat or power your home or small business? A number grants and incentives are available to support you in making the switch to home-grown energy more accessible and affordable.
There are many reasons to consider installing low-carbon technology in your home or community. However, to promote the uptake of small-scale renewable and low-carbon technologies, there are a range of incentives and grants for renewable energy available.
MCS certification is a route for consumers to access grants and ensures that your renewable installation is installed to industry-recognised MCS Standards. It is also a requirement for accessing many UK government incentives. Before going ahead with your renewable installation, it’s important to check that your installer is MCS certified and uses MCS certified products. You can check this using our ‘Find a Contractor’ tool here.
Keep in mind that your eligibility for incentives may vary depending on your location and the type of technology you intend to install.
BOILER UPGRADE SCHEME (BUS)
Are you a homeowner or small business owner in England or Wales who is looking to invest in small-scale renewable energy? If so, you could be eligible for a one-off grant payment of £7,500 towards the installation of an air source or ground/water source heat pump, and £5,000 for a biomass boiler through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS).
Heating our homes and workplaces with low-carbon heat is one of the best things we can do to help combat climate change. Currently, heating all the buildings in the UK produces almost a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) grant aims to encourage property owners to replace existing fossil fuel heating with more efficient, low-carbon heating systems. These include air source heat pumps, ground/water source heat pumps and, in limited circumstances, biomass boilers.
Click here to find out more about the BUS and how it can benefit you.
HOME ENERGY SCOTLAND (HES) GRANT AND LOAN
Are you a homeowner or small business owner in Scotland looking to invest in small-scale renewable energy? If so, you could be eligible for a one-off grant payment of up to £7,500 towards the installation of a heat pump, and able to claim up to £9,000 if your household qualifies for the rural uplift. An optional interest-free loan is available to cover the rest of the cost.
The Home Energy Scotland grant and Loan offers a range of home improvements like insulation, electric heating, glazing and solar PV (if taken within a package of measures). Take a look at what’s available to you here.
To be eligible for the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan, your installer must be MCS certified and use MCS certified products. You can find an MCS certified contractor near you using our ‘Find a Contractor’ tool here.
READ MORESMART EXPORT GUARANTEE (SEG)
The UK government announced new laws that will ensure households and businesses with small-scale renewable technologies, are paid for exporting their excess electricity to the grid through your energy supplier.
The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) allows solar PV owners to continue earning from their solar system’s generation.
Your renewable energy installation needs to be MCS certified to qualify for the SEG. Your energy supplier might ask for your MCS certificate to confirm this. You can find an MCS certified contractor, if looking to install solar panels, using our ‘Find a Contractor’ tool here.
Click here to find out more about the SEG and how it can benefit you.
The Smart Export Guarantee requires medium – large electricity supply companies (those with more than 150,000 electricity customers) to offer a Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). Smaller suppliers can do so on a voluntary basis.
ENERGY COMPANY OBLIGATION (ECO4) GRANT
The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) is a government scheme designed to help improve homes that use a lot of energy and are struggling with high bills.
If your home has a low Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D, E, F, or G, you can apply for support through ECO4. This could mean getting help with energy-saving improvements and upgrades to your heating system.
ECO4 will be available until March 31, 2026. Click here to find out more about ECO4 and how it can benefit you and your home.
NEST HOME ENERGY SUPPORT SCHEME
The Welsh Government’s Nest Energy Support Scheme, previously known as the Warm Homes Nest scheme, offers funding for energy-saving upgrades to make your home more comfortable and affordable to heat.
If you’re a homeowner or rent privately, you could qualify for free home improvements like a heat pump or solar panels.
Click here to learn more about the Warm Homes Nest Scheme and how it can benefit you.
You can also call Nest for free on 0808 808 2244, they will arrange for an assessor to visit your home to gather information needed to provide a tailored package for your energy needs.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY SCOTLAND: AREA-BASED SCHEMES
Energy Efficiency Scotland: area schemes is the successor to Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland (HEEPS). The Scottish Government fund local authorities, mainly in areas of fuel poverty, to deliver energy efficiency measures to homes across Scotland. The area-based schemes have been running since 2013 and has helped Scotland deliver on emission savings, while helping hundreds of communities.
Click here to learn more about HEEPS and how to apply or visit your local authorities website to learn about the funding available to you.
PRIVATE RENTED SECTOR – LANDLORD LOAN
Do you operate as an independent landlord or own a rental business in Scotland? If yes, you may be eligible to apply for the Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan. This initiative, backed by the Scottish Government, aims to support you in upgrading the energy efficiency of your properties.
You can apply for funding for up to two renewable installations per property, such as solar PV and heat pumps, with a combined value of up to £17,500, along with an energy storage system, up to a maximum of £6,000. The maximum loan available for an air source or ground/water source heat pump is £10,000. For Solar PV the maximum loan amount is £5,000, but this has to be taken within a package alongside a heat pump or high heat retention electric storage heaters.
Click here to find out more about how the Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan can benefit your business.
OPTIMISED RETROFIT PROGRAMME (ORP)
If you are living in an older home you may be eligible for solar panels and heat pumps under the Optimised Retrofit Programme (ORP). Supported by the Welsh Government, the programme is designed to make older homes more eco-friendly by reducing carbon emissions. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, ORP offers tailor-made solutions for each home to store heat and energy efficiently.
This program is accessible to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and local authorities (LAs) looking to upgrade existing social housing.
Click here to learn more about how ORP can benefit your home.
NORTHERN IRELAND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PROGRAMME
Are you a homeowner in Northern Ireland looking to make your home more energy-efficient? The Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Programme (NISEP) is an initiative aimed at helping you save energy and money through various energy-saving schemes for households across the region. The program prioritises vulnerable customers, with 80% of the funding allocated to support them. The schemes operate on a financial year basis, and there are 11 scheme managers in charge of delivering these fantastic initiatives.
You can access funding for a range of energy-efficient upgrades, including upgrading your boiler to a heat pump.
Click here to find out more about the NISEP and how it can benefit you.
FEED IN TARIFF (FIT)
The Feed-in Tariff closed to new applications on 31 March 2019.
If you already have an eligible installed system that you are receiving FITs payments for, you are unaffected by the scheme closure and will continue to receive FITs payments as normal.
The tariffs last 20 years for almost all technologies, with the exception of solar PV (25 years for systems installed before 1st August 2012) and micro-CHP (10 years).
The Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme was a UK government program designed to encourage the adoption of renewable energy technologies by offering financial incentives to homeowners and businesses generating their own electricity from renewable sources.
Under the Feed-in Tariff scheme (FITs), householders receive payments for the electricity they generate and export back to the grid from renewable technologies such as solar PV, small wind, or micro-CHP.
Click here to find out more about Feed-In-Tariff.
DOMESTIC RENEWABLE HEAT INCENTIVE (DRHI)
The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (DRHI) was a government-backed financial incentive scheme designed to encourage UK homes to swap to renewable heating systems. Under the RHI, heat pump system owners were rewarded for the renewable heat they generate over a seven-year period.
Important: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) closed the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (DRHI) to new applications at 23:59pm on 31 March 2022. This included applications to register Metering and Monitoring Service Packages (MMSP).
The closure of the DRHI does not affect any installations that currently claim under the scheme.
Information on the DRHI can be found on the Ofgem website.