Installer guide · 18 min read

Commercial Solar Tenders and Frameworks in the UK: An Installer's Guide

Short answer: public sector solar PV work in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is advertised on Find a Tender, the central digital platform under the Procurement Act 2023 since 24 February 2025. Scotland uses Public Contracts Scotland. Larger work often goes through frameworks with solar lots, which you join only when they are tendered or re-let. To win you need registration, accreditations, insurance, comparable installs and a social value answer, plus private commercial work so your diary never depends on one award.

Where UK solar tenders are published

Aggregators repackage public notices, but every regulated opportunity starts on an official portal, and which one depends on where the buyer sits.

Set alerts on every portal covering your area, for solar PV and renewables but also decarbonisation, net zero and retrofit: solar is often one measure inside a wider decarbonisation contract.

How to search for solar tenders: keywords and CPV codes

Every portal, and every paid alert service built on top of them, lets you search by keyword and by CPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary) code. The catch is that the buyer picks the code, and a lot of solar work is not filed under a solar one. An alert set on the solar codes alone misses it.

We checked on 23 October 2026, using Contracts Finder's public search API with the keyword "solar". It returned 146 contract notices published between 20 August 2024 and 21 October 2026, 82 of them with "solar" in the title. 48 of those 82 carried at least one of the five solar CPV codes. The other 34 carried none. Some of the 34 were not installation work (research projects, solar bus shelters and lights, software), but 15 were solar PV design, installation or maintenance jobs filed under general codes.

The solar codes, and how many of the 82 notices used each:

General codes that real solar PV jobs were filed under, with one notice title for each:

So set two kinds of alert on every portal that covers your area:

• Code alerts on the five solar codes above, which catch the notices buyers filed as solar.
• Keyword alerts on "solar", "photovoltaic", "PV", "renewable", "decarbonisation" and "net zero", which catch the ones filed under construction, electrical or energy codes. The general codes on their own return far too much to read.
• Award notices too. They show who won, at what value and through which framework, which tells you which buyers are active and which frameworks they call off. Of the 74 awarded notices with "solar" in the title, 49 were marked as awarded to an SME.

Treat those counts as a sample of how buyers code solar work, not a count of the market. Contracts Finder is one portal: procurements started since 24 February 2025 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are published on Find a Tender first, and Scottish buyers use Public Contracts Scotland. The same two-alert rule works on all of them.

The Procurement Act 2023: what changed for installers

The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025 and replaced the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 for new procurements. Procurements started under the old rules carry on under them. Four changes matter most:

• One place to register and look. Find a Tender is now the central digital platform where all regulated notices are published. You register once and store your core supplier information for reuse across bids.
• Below-threshold work is published centrally. A below-threshold tender notice must go on the central digital platform before anywhere else, replacing the old Contracts Finder-only rule.
• No separate suitability stage below threshold. For regulated below-threshold contracts, buyers cannot shortlist on experience or accounts before tenders are submitted (higher-value works and devolved Welsh authorities excepted). Suitability can still be checked at award.
• MEAT became MAT. Contracts go to the most advantageous tender, covered below.

The thresholds that apply from 1 January 2026, all including VAT:

Solar installations are usually works contracts, so most single-site jobs will sit below the £5.193m works threshold. Those below-threshold contracts must still be published on Find a Tender once they reach £12,000 (central government) or £30,000 (everyone else).

Solar procurement: how public bodies buy solar panels

Solar panel procurement in the public sector follows one of four routes, set by the value of the contract and whether the buyer already uses a framework. Which route a job takes decides where it is advertised and whether a small installer can bid directly.

Commercial solar contracts in the public sector are usually works contracts, with the terms set by the buyer in the tender documents. Scotland runs its own procurement regime through Public Contracts Scotland, so the thresholds and rules above apply to buyers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Private commercial solar contracts are different again: you agree the terms directly with the business, which is why most installers run both kinds of work side by side.

Public sector solar frameworks with solar PV lots

A framework is a pre-tendered agreement: buyers award work to approved suppliers by further competition or direct award instead of a full tender each time. These are the ones whose owners confirm solar PV in scope.

All of these end between March 2027 and February 2029, so note the dates and watch Find a Tender for the replacement procurements well ahead (Efficiency East Midlands says to check back 18 months before its end date). Crown Commercial Service became the Government Commercial Agency on 1 April 2026, so older documents use the old name.

The biggest construction frameworks are aimed at main contractors: SCAPE's next £8bn Construction Works & Services Framework, tendered from the week of 24 August 2026, sets turnover requirements of £20m to £150m depending on the lot. For most solar installers the route in is the supply chain. SCAPE's case study of a 300kWp rooftop array at Nottingham City Council's Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre was delivered by Lindum Group under its Regional Construction Framework, with UK Alternative Energy as the specialist, funded by Salix. Working under a main contractor has its own contract forms and tax rules: see our guides to solar EPC contractors and subcontracting and VAT, CIS and the reverse charge on commercial solar.

The public funding behind solar tenders

Public solar work follows funding rounds.

• Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (Phase 4, via Salix). Grants for public buildings in England. Applications closed on 25 November 2024 and projects must be delivered by 31 March 2028. Solar only qualifies in a building also served by a PSDS-funded low-carbon heating source, which is why PV often sits inside heat decarbonisation contracts. On 12 June 2025 Salix said there will be no additional PSDS funding beyond awarded projects. See public sector solar funding for what is open now.
• Great British Energy solar for schools and hospitals. From 21 March 2025: around £80m for about 200 schools (selected by government) and £100m for nearly 200 NHS sites (installations managed by the NHS) in England, extended on 1 October 2025 to up to £255m including military sites. On 16 July 2026 the government said 245 schools and colleges had panels, 100 more were joining (up to £40m), and a 150-school pilot in Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands and the South East will have private investors fund, install, own and maintain panels, informing a national rollout from 2027 to 2028.

What buyers ask for in a solar PV tender

Requirements vary by buyer, lot and value, so always check the tender documents.

How solar PV bids are scored

Under the Procurement Act a public contract awarded after competition goes to the most advantageous tender (MAT): the bid that satisfies the requirements and is best against the award criteria and assessment methodology. Government guidance is clear the change from MEAT is not a policy shift, and that contracts do not have to go to the lowest price.

• The award criteria and methodology (or a summary) must be published in the tender notice, with the relative importance of each criterion.
• Criteria must relate to the subject matter, be clear, measurable and specific, and be proportionate.
• A price that looks abnormally low cannot simply be thrown out: you must be given a chance to show you can deliver at it.
• Social value can be scored if it relates to the contract. Procure Partnerships, for example, mandates a 12% minimum on its framework.

So answer the question asked, mirror the buyer's weighting, and back every claim with evidence: a named install, a G99 approval you managed, a programme delivered on time.

Commercial solar tender bid checklist

1. Register on Find a Tender (and PCS, Sell2Wales or eTendersNI if you cover those areas).
2. Set alerts for solar, PV, renewables, decarbonisation, net zero and retrofit.
3. Note the lot, value, procedure and clarification and submission deadlines.
4. Check pass/fail items first: MCS where in scope, pre-qualification, insurance, ISO certificates.
5. Map the award criteria and weightings, and plan answers to match.
6. Choose two or three comparable case studies with references who will answer.
7. Show your grid connection plan: DNO application, G99, export limits, timescales.
8. Make measurable social value commitments you can deliver.
9. Price to the specification, including access and connection costs.
10. Submit early, and ask for feedback whether you win or lose.

When tenders are worth it, and when private commercial work wins

Tenders reward installers who already have the paperwork and the portfolio; private commercial sites build that portfolio. The UK commercial solar market in numbers gives a sense of how much private demand sits outside the public sector.

Building a pipeline that is not all tenders

The weakness of a tender-led business is the gap between awards. Booked private site meetings keep surveyors busy while bids are out. If you are weighing outside help for that private pipeline, our guide to choosing a renewable energy marketing agency compares the main kinds of provider and how each is paid, and our solar installer leads comparison sets 12 UK lead suppliers side by side.

That is the part TNW Marketing handles. We book pre-qualified, exclusive commercial solar site meetings (surveys) with the decision-maker for UK installers, using outbound calling, email, LinkedIn and paid ads. Before booking, we check property ownership or landlord consent, energy spend, roof or land suitability and buying intent. You pay per qualified, attended appointment: bookings that cancel, do not show or do not match the agreed brief are replaced or refunded rather than charged, there is no retainer and no minimum spend, and our show rate is 60%+. See how pay per appointment commercial solar leads work, or read about appointment setting for solar installers.

Our guides also cover commercial solar lead generation companies, pay per lead vs retainer pricing, what commercial solar leads cost in the UK, how to qualify commercial solar leads and the commercial solar lead generation guide. For proof, see our installer client results, case studies and reviews.