A domestic solar and battery system is a four- or five-figure purchase, and most homeowners want to pay for it out of the energy savings — monthly, over years. That makes finance central to selling renewables, and it makes almost every installer who offers it a credit broker in the FCA's eyes. Here's the position, plainly.
MCS, consumer codes, building regs — installers already carry plenty of accreditation. FCA authorisation is separate from all of it. None of those schemes covers the one thing the FCA regulates: helping a homeowner borrow to pay you.
Offering pay-monthly is credit broking
If your sales process includes a finance option — a lender's calculator in your quote, an application completed at the kitchen table, a “from £X a month” route on your website — you are effecting introductions to a lender, and that is credit broking: a regulated activity requiring FCA authorisation. Your customers are homeowners, which makes the lending consumer credit, and the fact that finance is a means to sell installations rather than a business in itself doesn't take you outside the rules — it just points you at the lighter tier (more below). Selling in customers' homes adds its own wrinkle, covered in our home improvement guide.
Why the 0% exemption almost never helps here
Retailers sometimes escape authorisation by lending interest-free themselves within the narrow exemption — free of all charges, repaid within 12 months, in no more than 12 instalments. Home energy economics point the other way: systems are sized to be paid from savings over years. A £12,000 system repaid inside 12 months defeats the point of pay-monthly, so real-world solar finance runs on 3, 5 or 10-year terms — every one of them outside the exemption. The full test is in our 0% finance guide, but for installers the practical answer is simple: if you offer finance, plan on being authorised.
A related trap: “subsidised” interest-free deals where the installer funds the lender's charges behind the scenes are still regulated credit agreements being brokered — the exemption is about the customer's agreement, not who ultimately bears the cost.
Which permission an installer needs
For an installation business broking finance as part of selling systems, limited permission secondary credit broking is the usual route — the lower-cost tier for firms whose main trade isn't finance. The application is built on a regulatory business plan describing your actual installation business, proportionate compliance policies, and a named SMF29 responsible person. Lenders' onboarding teams will ask for your FCA number before activating you — for most installers, authorisation is the gateway to having a finance offer at all.
Watch the savings-and-finance advertising
Renewables marketing leans on numbers — “pays for itself”, “from £89 a month”. The moment a promotion references the finance, the FCA's financial promotion rules apply: clear, fair, not misleading, with representative examples where monthly costs are quoted. Getting authorised is also the point at which your marketing needs to grow up.
What it costs
The FCA's limited permission application fee is £560. Our fixed-price service prepares the complete application pack for £995, ready in three business days* once we have your details — full numbers in the cost guide.
Frequently asked questions
- Do solar installers need FCA authorisation to offer finance?
Yes, in almost all cases. Offering homeowners a pay-monthly option through a lender is credit broking — a regulated activity — whoever provides the money and however secondary finance is to the installation business.
- Doesn't 0% or interest-free solar finance avoid the need for a licence?
Rarely. The interest-free exemption requires repayment within 12 months in no more than 12 instalments with no charges at all. Solar finance runs over years by design, so real-world deals fall outside it — and brokering a lender's 0% product is regulated regardless.
- Does MCS or consumer-code membership cover finance?
No. Installation accreditations and consumer codes sit entirely apart from financial-services regulation. Only FCA authorisation covers broking credit to your customers.
- Which FCA permission does an installer need?
Limited permission secondary credit broking, in the typical case — the lighter tier for businesses whose main trade is installation, with the owner or a director holding the SMF29 function.
- What does authorisation cost for an installation business?
The FCA's limited permission application fee is £560. Our fixed-price service prepares the complete application pack for £995, ready in three business days* once we have your details, with the FCA's fee separate.
This article is general information to help you understand the process, and is not legal or regulatory advice. CreditLicence is a regulatory consultancy; nothing it provides is regulated advice, and it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the FCA. FCA rules can change; always check the FCA's website for the current position.