See how community projects are shaping UK solar
Interested in solar panels but don’t have the roof space? Community solar projects are a viable option. You can invest from as little as £50 and earn 3-6% back from projects on churches, schools, leisure centres and other suitable spaces. It’s not risk-free, and there are downsides, which we’ll explore in full.
Ready to learn more?
- You support solar on somebody else’s roof. Most UK schemes are ownership-based, you buy withdrawable shares in a co-operative or community benefit society, not a US-style bill-credit subscription.
- Realistic returns are 3 to 6% a year, paid as interest on your share capital rather than a dividend. Capital is at risk and not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
- Buy-in is low. Some rolling share offers open from £50 to £100, up to the £100,000 individual cap on community shares.
- 2026 is a turning point. The £1bn Local Power Plan, run through Great British Energy, opened its first £30m funding wave on 17 September 2026.
- Treat it as long-term impact money. Shares are illiquid, so plan for a 5 to 20 year hold, not a savings account.
What a community solar project actually is
A community solar project is a solar installation owned or funded by a group of local people rather than a single household or a distant utility. The panels sit on a shared site – a school roof, a village hall, a church, a warehouse, a car park canopy, farmland or a reservoir, and the value flows back to the people who paid for it and the building that uses the power.
In the UK, almost all of these projects run through two legal structures: a co-operative or a community benefit society. Both are member-owned, both work on a one-member-one-vote basis, and both raise money by issuing shares to the public. It’s close in spirit to solar co-operatives and to crowdfunding a solar project, with formal membership and a legal duty to serve the wider community.
The UK model versus the American one
In the United States, “community solar” usually means a subscription: you sign up to a large off-site solar farm and receive credits on your electricity bill for your share of the output, without owning anything. That model barely exists in Britain because our metering and settlement rules don’t support it cleanly yet.
The UK version is about ownership and local supply. You either invest in the co-op that owns the panels, or you are the building that hosts them and buys the power at a discount. Keep that distinction in mind whenever you read about “joining” a scheme: what you’re joining is usually a society, not a tariff.
- Community benefit society (BenCom)
- A member-owned body run for the wider community. It can pay interest on member shares but cannot pay profit-style dividends. Surpluses are reinvested or given to local causes.
- Withdrawable shares
- The type of share most community energy schemes issue. You can apply to withdraw your capital on set terms, but the shares cannot be traded or sold on to someone else.
- Share offer
- A public fundraise, like a crowdfunder, that pays for panels. Investors become members and receive a forecast annual return.
- Host site
- The building or land the panels sit on. It usually buys the electricity generated at a rate below the grid price so it’s win/win.
The four ways to take part
Your role decides what you put in and what you get back.
| Route | What you put in | What you get back | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investor member | Money, from around £50 to £100,000 | 3 to 6% interest, a vote, capital back at term end | Ethical savers, unsuitable roofs |
| Host site | Your roof or land, no upfront cost | Cheaper electricity for 20+ years | Schools, churches, halls, SMEs |
| Local bill-saver | Sign up to buy the array’s power | A lower unit rate on some output | Renters, social housing, nearby homes |
| Volunteer | Time and local knowledge | Skills, impact, no financial return | People who want to build, not invest |
The investor route is the one most people mean when they ask about “joining” community solar, so the costs and returns below focus there.
What it costs to set up and to buy in
There are two cost questions worth separating: what a project costs to build, and what it costs you to take part.
What a project costs to build
Community arrays are usually larger than a home system but smaller than a utility solar farm. Rooftop schemes on public buildings tend to run from about 30kW to 250kW, while ground-mounted community farms reach several megawatts. The figures below are our estimate for a mid-size 250kW rooftop scheme on a leisure centre or large community building in 2026.
Note how much of the cost sits outside the panels. Grid connection, legal set-up and a compliant share offer add overheads a home install never faces, which is one reason community returns trail the savings from a rooftop system. For comparison, see our breakdown of the cost of a home solar system.
What it costs you to buy in
Buying a share is deliberately affordable. The Big Solar Co-op, which runs an always-open rolling offer, takes investments from £100. Some local societies start at £50 or £250. At the other end, community shares carry a legal cap of £100,000 per individual, and many offers set a lower maximum of £20,000 to £33,000 so more people can take part.
What you actually earn
Forecast returns cluster around 4 to 5% a year, with a realistic spread of 3 to 6% depending on the scheme and the era it was built in. Projects set up while the Feed-in Tariff was running can pay more, because they locked in higher subsidised income. Newer, subsidy-free projects lean on the wholesale price and the Smart Export Guarantee, so their forecasts are more modest.
Three points matter more than the headline percentage:
It’s interest, not a dividend
A community benefit society cannot pay profit-style dividends. It pays interest on your share capital, set at the minimum “necessary to attract and retain” investment, at the directors’ discretion. If a project underperforms, the board can lower the rate. The forecast is a target, not a promise.
Your capital is at risk and locked in
Community shares are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and they are “not readily realisable”, you can’t sell them on an exchange. You get your capital back only when the society allows withdrawals, usually after a minimum term and out of earned reserves rather than from new investors’ money. Plan for a hold of 5 to 20 years.
There can be a tax advantage
Withdrawable share capital in a registered society is treated like unlisted company shares for Inheritance Tax, so it can qualify for business relief once held for two years, within the £1m 100% relief allowance that applies from April 2026. The interest you earn is taxable as savings income, though it can fall within your Personal Savings Allowance. Rules change and depend on your circumstances, so check with a qualified adviser before you rely on any tax treatment.
The £1bn Local Power Plan changes the maths
For most of the last decade, community solar ran on volunteer enthusiasm and shrinking subsidies. The end of the Feed-in Tariff in 2019 made new projects harder to finance, and the sector grew slowly. 2026 is the biggest shift in years.
In February 2026, the government and Great British Energy published the Local Power Plan, backed by up to £1 billion, with a target of supporting at least 1,000 community and local energy projects by 2030. On 17 September 2026 the first £30m wave opened: a £20m Community Fund for community groups in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a £5m Partnerships Grant for councils working with community energy partners, £1.8m for Scotland’s CARES scheme and up to £2.9m for advice services.
The model that most UK schemes still use is born.
Members buy the 5MW park: the first community-owned solar farm in the UK and the world’s largest at the time.
Subsidised income ends for new projects; the Smart Export Guarantee replaces it.
Up to £1bn through Great British Energy, targeting 1,000+ projects by 2030.
£20m Community Fund, £5m Partnerships Grant, advice services and £1.8m for Scotland’s CARES programme.
Every UK community should have the chance to own a local energy project.
The plan also points towards a shared-ownership model already used in Germany and Denmark, where communities can buy a stake in larger commercial projects developed by others. The government has promised details in autumn 2026, and DESNZ is consulting on making such offers mandatory. If that lands, it would open a far bigger pipeline of schemes for ordinary investors to join.
In practice, the two hardest steps for any community project, feasibility funding and getting from a viable idea to a financeable one, are exactly what the early grants target. More projects reaching build means more share offers to invest in over the next few years.
UK schemes worth knowing
The sector is broad: 266MW of community-owned solar across the UK, from single rooftops to 5MW farms. These established schemes show the range, and several run open or recurring share offers.
| Scheme | Model | Scale | Notable for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westmill Solar (Oxfordshire) | Co-op solar farm | 5 MW | First UK community-owned solar farm; around £900,000 given in local grants |
| Egni Co-op (Wales) | Rooftop co-op | 4.3 MWp | Largest rooftop solar co-op in the UK, across 88 sites |
| Big Solar Co-op (national) | Rolling rooftop co-op | 22+ roofs | Always-open offer, buy-in from £100, 1,000+ members |
| Brighton Energy Co-op | Benefit society | Multi-site | Public-building solar across Sussex, shares from a few hundred pounds |
| Repowering London | Estate rooftop co-ops | 11 co-ops | Cheaper power for social housing plus local community funds |
| Bath & West (BWCE) | Benefit society | ~5,000 homes | Fair returns since 2010, surpluses to a local community fund |
Water-based schemes are growing too. Reservoir-mounted arrays keep panels cool and free up land; read more in our guide to floating solar farms.
How to find and vet a scheme
Getting started is simpler than the jargon suggests. The key is to read the share offer document properly before you commit.
Check Community Energy England’s share offers page, ethical platforms like Ethex and Abundance Investment, and any co-op operating in your own area.
Look for the target return, the term, how and when interest is paid, and the exact terms for withdrawing your capital.
Confirm the capital-at-risk wording, the absence of FSCS cover, and whether there’s evidence of grid connection and planning consent.
Many offers open from £50 to £100. You can build a position over time and spread money across more than one scheme.
Questions to ask before you invest
- Who operates and maintains the array, and for how long?
- What happens at end of life, or if wholesale power prices fall?
- Does your holding stay within the £100,000 individual cap?
Pros, cons and who it suits
- Access solar without a suitable roof of your own
- Low entry point, from £50 to £100 on some offers
- Shares can qualify for Inheritance Tax business relief
- Surpluses fund local causes, not distant shareholders
- A real vote through one-member-one-vote membership
- Capital at risk and not FSCS-protected
- Illiquid – shares cannot be sold on, only withdrawn on set terms
- Returns of 3 to 6% trail the savings from your own rooftop system
- Admin, reporting and withdrawals can be slow
- Rates are set at the directors’ discretion, not fixed
Is UK community solar the same as the American subscription model?
No. In the US, community solar usually means subscribing to an off-site farm for bill credits without owning anything. UK schemes are mostly ownership-based: you buy shares in a co-operative or community benefit society, or you host the panels and buy the power at a discount.
How much can I invest?
Some rolling offers start from £50 to £100. Community shares carry a legal cap of £100,000 per person, and many schemes set a lower maximum so more people can take part.
Are the returns guaranteed?
No. Schemes publish a target interest rate, typically 3 to 6%, set at the board’s discretion. Capital is at risk and is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Can I get my money out early?
Usually not. Shares are withdrawable rather than tradable, so capital is returned only after a minimum term and out of the society’s reserves. Plan for a long hold.
Do I need a suitable roof to take part?
No. Community solar is designed for people who cannot install panels at home, including renters, flat-dwellers and those with shaded or north-facing roofs.
The most accessible way to own a piece of British solar
Community solar won’t make you rich. A forecast 3 to 6%, paid as interest, with your capital locked in and at risk, is a modest return by design. What it offers instead is access, a vote, tax-efficient shares and money that stays in your area.
With the £1bn Local Power Plan now funding its first projects, more schemes and more share offers are on the way over the next few years. If you have a good roof of your own, a home system will almost always save you more, so it’s worth checking whether solar is worth it for your property first. If you don’t, community solar is the clearest route in.
METHODOLOGY: Cost estimate for a 250kW community rooftop scheme built from typical 2026 UK commercial rates for panels, grid connection, access and society set-up. Return ranges reflect published forecasts from operating UK community energy societies.
DISCLAIMER: This guide is for information only and is not financial, investment or tax advice. Community energy investments put your capital at risk, are not FSCS-protected and may be difficult to withdraw. Tax treatment depends on your circumstances and can change. Speak to a qualified adviser before investing.
UPDATED: 17 October 2026. Fact-checked against GOV.UK, Great British Energy, Community Energy England and Co-operatives UK sources.
