About this workshop
Award-winning Net Zero consultancy, Amber, led an open and interactive workshop exploring how solar roll-out can be accelerated across the retail sector, with particular reference to the landlord and tenant relationships.
The session aimed to equip retailers with practical ways to approach negotiations and unlock asset-level opportunities that improve both the environmental performance and long-term viability of their stores.
Excerpts from Amber Workshop summary (full summary here)
There’s no shortage of enthusiasm for solar energy within the retail industry, but the path from interest to implementation is often anything but straightforward.
Our recent workshop with the British Retail Consortium brought together representatives from major high street to out-of-town retailers. Together, we uncovered the main challenge – deal complexity.
Barriers for Solar Deals
The commercial models are just as varied. Retailers and landlords are working with a whole mix of different options. This could be direct ownership, landlord‑funded installs, tenant‑led PPAs, third‑party leasing, and even shared‑savings agreements.
It makes things more complicated, but each model can work. The challenge is that this variety means every deal ends up looking different, with its own set of terms, stakeholders, and negotiation points. And that inconsistency is slowing progress across the board.
Retailers Want to Move Faster
The message was consistent: large‑scale solar deployment won’t be unlocked by creating ever more bespoke, highly optimised deals. Instead, progress depends on simplifying. That might mean accepting a slightly lower return on investment (ROI) on individual sites in exchange for a smoother, faster rollout across dozens or even hundreds of locations.
Just as standard fit‑out specifications help retailers maintain consistency and move quickly across hundreds of stores, the industry could benefit from a similar “solar standard.” A shared framework that works for around 80% of sites would streamline the legal, commercial, and operational steps.
Clarity and Confidence in the Numbers
Sustainability leads are often ready to go, but legal, procurement, and risk functions still need convincing. That means clear data.
Not just ROI projections, but clarity on three main factors:
- What happens if the lease ends early?
- Who’s liable if the system underperforms?
- What maintenance obligations sit with the tenant vs the landlord?
These questions aren’t difficult when experienced partners and clear processes are involved. The problem is that many retailers are beginning from scratch or leaning on advisors who have little experience in solar projects.
From Complexity to Collaboration
The truth is, solar doesn’t have to be hard.
But if it continues to be dealt with case-by-case, it will stay slow. We need a shift from custom projects to collaborative programs. So that landlords, tenants, funders, and installers align early, with shared terms and shared intent. This won’t happen overnight. But the workshop showed that the will is there.
