CARES Community Solar Fund

Up to 80% of eligible costs can be funded up to a maximum grant amount of £80,000.

You can submit a maximum of three claims to draw down funds.

Please note all applicant eligibility criteria below must be carefully reviewed and compliance with these declared as part of the self-assessment checklist.

Eligible applicants must

• Be a constituted and registered charity or company and provide your OSCR or Companies House registration number.
• Demonstrate you operate across a geographically defined area and community or community of interest, including faith groups.
• Be non-profit distributing (surplus is not distributed amongst members at any point, including on wind up).

Evidence of the above will be required in your governing documents.

Eligible community organisation structures are:

• Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIO)
• Private Companies Limited by Guarantee (CLG)
• Community Benefit Societies (BenCom)
• Community Interest Companies (CIC).
• Unincorporated charities registered with OSCR.
• Arms Length External Organisations (ALEOs) registered as a charity

All organisations must show:

• You agree to our equalities charter.
• There is a minimum of three unrelated persons on the organisation’s management committee or board who are local to the area served by the community building.
• The area of benefit for the organisation is in Scotland.
• A commitment to demonstrating the low carbon technologies in the building and raising awareness among building users and the wider community. This includes promoting support available from Home Energy Scotland to help people with energy at home.
• A commitment to create a maintenance plan prior to the final grant claim that ensures good documentation management, warranty information, insurance and renewal plans, and a succession strategy to ensure the ongoing management of the funded equipment.
• If you employ people you must comply with Fair Work First guidance, this is a requirement for all public sector grants.

All funding applications need to be completed by you as the charity trustees/employees, not an installer or contractor acting on your behalf. If we receive such an application, it will be rejected.

 Please note all  building eligibility criteria below must be carefully reviewed and compliance with these declared as part of the self-assessment checklist.   

The funding will decarbonise existing self-managed community buildings. Eligible community buildings must have good levels of community use and include, but are not limited to:

• Village halls.
• Community centres.
• Community hubs.
• Sports facilities.
• Faith buildings.

CARES funding is not available for new builds. For the purposes of this guidance the term ‘new builds’ includes buildings under construction and any building first constructed under a building warrant granted after 1 April 2024.

The building must be used by the local community or charitable organisation. Applicants must show:

• How the building is used by the community or charitable organisation, or how it will be used if your application is for a building that is undergoing a change of use, extension or refurbishment
• Through your constituting documents, that either:
  • anyone in the community can use the space
    or
  • that no-one is explicitly excluded from being able to use the building
    or
  • building access is purposefully restricted to protect specific building user groups noted in the charitable objectives, for example children, women and refugees.

• The building is used for activities which must have a clear social objective.
• There are good levels of building utilisation/occupancy.

The building must be owned or leased by the applicant and, if you are a tenant, you must have:

• A valid and viable lease in place for at least five more years after the project is completed and/or the right to extend it for the equivalent period.
• Evidence of permission from the building owners (or the rights stated in the lease) to carry out all proposed works.
• If the building has previously been a government or local authority building, there must be evidence that the Community Asset Transfer (CAT) agreement is complete.

This fund only supports the following measures:

• Solar PV.
• Battery storage.

Please note:

• Batteries can be funded in cases where you won’t use all of the energy generated in the day and therefore need to store energy. The battery capacity in kWh must not exceed the PV capacity in kW. If the battery capacity is higher your grant award will be reduced, and you will need to increase match funding.
• If you intend installing over 50kW of PV on your roof, please contact Local Energy Scotland to discuss your project.

Match funding of at least 20% is required. Further details about eligible match funding can be found on our general funding information page.

You must supply the quotation(s) from your preferred supplier(s) as part of your application. If possible, you should seek quotations from multiple suppliers, but we only need to see your preferred suppliers’ quotation(s). Submitted quotations will be reviewed and if deemed acceptable your application will be progressed. If not you will be asked to seek further quotations.

Your chosen contractor(s) will design the system. They may also support you in applying for permissions and will then install your solar PV and batteries in your community building.

Your chosen quotations(s) must:

• Include the building address.
• State the PV and battery costs.
• Confirms the capacity of the solar PV (kWp) and battery (kWh).
• Detail the equipment that will be installed, such as make and model numbers.
• State the rate of VAT payable.

We will not undertake a full technical review of your quote(s).

Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certified installers and products must be used for all installations of solar PV and batteries funded through this scheme.

• You can use Energy Saving Trust’s Renewables Installer Finder to find accredited installers near you or the CARES capital works supplier list for contractors that have expressed an interest to work on CARES projects.
• MCS-certified products must be installed to ensure the best consumer protection.

Demand is expected to be high for the CARES Community Solar Fund. Allocation will be on a first-come, first-served basis and projects will be queued based on when all the following are met:

• You submit your fully completed application on the portal.
• You upload all supporting information.
• Your selected quote(s) is uploaded.
• The signed and completed self-assessment checklist is uploaded.

For the avoidance of doubt the submission time and date is when the last of these is met. If your application is reviewed and there is key information missing your new date and time will be when these are submitted/addressed. It is important to review the self-assessment checklist carefully and ensure all supporting information is uploaded. When approved you will be issued a Grant Offer Letter to sign.

All work related to this funding must be completed and all funding claimed by 31 March 2026.

All CARES Community Solar Fund awards will be offered under the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) Grant and Loan Scheme SC11309 (if you are interested you can view the Published Notice (SC11309)). If your organisation receives various public sector funding it is worth knowing that CARES funding offered under the CARES Grant and Loan subsidy (SC11309) scheme does not affect the amount of public funding you can receive under the separate Minimum Financial Assistance (MFA) provision.

 

From 1 July 2023, the Scottish Government’s  Fair Work First guidance requires all organisations that receive any public sector grants to meet the Fair Work First criteria. All applicants that receive funding through CARES must meet the criteria which include paying at least the real living wage and providing appropriate channels for effective workers’ voice.

Read our guidance about Fair Work First and how this applies to CARES funding. It is essential that you understand this requirement and can submit evidence with your application or prior to committing to work with your contractor. We will be unable to process any grant claims without this evidence.