Alectrona
Commercial solar financeLeasing and hire purchase spread the cost of the system over time, suiting businesses that want solar on the roof without the capital outlay of buying outright.
These are representative example reviews, not yet-collected customer feedback. They are written to illustrate the kind of feedback Alectrona aims to earn and are shown as design placeholders while we gather and verify reviews from our first commercial clients. Alectrona is the commercial solar trading brand of RVTC LTD.
What set Alectrona apart was the documented design pack. We had quotes from three installers, but only Alectrona handed us a full set of drawings, a single-line diagram and a design referencing BS 7671 and the G99 connection process. The whole thing read like an engineering submission rather than a sales brochure. Our M&E consultant reviewed it and signed it off without a single query. That gave the board the confidence to release the capital.
Other firms priced our roof off a satellite image and a desktop guess. Alectrona flew an in-house drone survey, fully insured and flown by a qualified commercial drone pilot, and built a 3D model of the actual roof. It picked up plant, vents and a parapet line that a flat aerial photo had completely missed, which changed the panel layout. I would rather find that out at design stage than on the day the scaffold goes up. The accuracy of that survey is the reason I trusted everything that followed.
As a finance director I was wary of being oversold a system bigger than we could use. Alectrona modelled the array against our actual half-hourly consumption data rather than an annual total, so it is sized to what we genuinely draw on site during the day. They were honest that exporting surplus is worth far less than self-consumption, and built the design around that. The capital case stacked up because the engineering was honest, not because the numbers were inflated.
We were undecided between buying outright, leasing and a PPA. Alectrona laid out all three side by side with the pros and cons of each against our balance sheet, instead of pushing the one that pays them best. They were clear about where a PPA makes sense and where capex wins, and pointed us at our own accountant for the tax treatment. The survey and design took a little longer than I expected, but the thoroughness was worth the wait. Genuinely consultative.
The install crew were tidy and well run, and worked to a clear CDM 2015 plan with a proper site induction and RAMS. What impressed me most was the handover. We received a full commissioning pack with the IEC 62446-1 test results, certification, O&M documentation and an as-built record for our maintenance team. As the people who have to live with this asset for the next twenty years, having that paperwork in order matters enormously. Nothing was left loose.
I expected the usual hard sell and got the opposite. After surveying our site Alectrona told us one roof section was not worth covering because of shading, and that a smaller, well-sited array was the better investment than filling every square metre. There was no commission-driven upselling and no pressure. For a six-figure capital project, that straight talk is exactly what you want from the people advising you. We will be using them again on our second site.
Leasing and hire purchase are ways to pay for a commercial solar system over time rather than all at once. Instead of finding the full capital up front, you make regular payments while the system generates from day one, so the saving on your electricity bill helps to carry the cost of the finance. For many businesses that is the point: the system can be close to cash-flow neutral from the start.
It is worth being straight about where this sits against buying outright. Capex is the route we recommend wherever the capital is available, because you own a 25-year asset from day one and keep every pound of saving and every pound of tax relief. Finance adds a cost for the convenience of spreading the payments. Leasing and hire purchase exist to capture the return for businesses that cannot, or would rather not, commit the capital; they do not beat it on total return.
Under hire purchase you pay in instalments and take ownership of the system at the end of the agreement, so you are buying the asset, just over time rather than on day one. A lease covers the use of the system over a fixed term, and what happens at the end depends on the type of lease and its terms. The mechanics, the term and the end position all turn on the specific agreement, which is why we set the route out plainly and let your figures, modelled from your own roof in PV*SOL, decide whether it fits.
The accounting treatment depends on the contract. Whether a leased or hire-purchase system sits on or off your balance sheet under IFRS 16 or FRS 102 turns on the terms of the agreement, so we do not assert a single answer. The same caution applies to the tax position: the way relief and allowances apply to a financed asset depends on the structure of the deal and on your own circumstances. Treat anything here as indicative, not tax advice, and confirm the on-or-off treatment and the tax position with your accountant, tax adviser and auditor before you commit.
Leasing and hire purchase suit businesses that want the system generating now but would rather protect their capital for the core operation, accepting a finance cost in exchange for spreading the payments and keeping cash flow steady. Where the capital is available, buying outright still gives the better return, because finance charges are a cost the capex route does not carry, and the first-year capital-allowances relief on a bought system is part of why it pays best. The honest trade-off is convenience and cash flow against total return.
Because the balance-sheet and tax treatment hinge on the contract, the right structure is a question for your accountant and auditor as much as for us. We will model the cash-flow position of a lease or hire-purchase deal against capex on your own figures, so you can weigh the routes on the facts rather than on a sales pitch.
Indicative, not financial or tax advice. Confirm the position with a qualified accountant or tax adviser. Your figure comes from a survey-led PV*SOL model. Whether a PPA or lease sits on or off your balance sheet under IFRS 16 depends on the contract; ask your auditor.
We model your half-hourly load against a system sized from an on-site drone survey, then set it against the funding route that suits you. Capex first, because it keeps the most of the return, with leasing and PPA there if the cash flow needs them.