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The government has taken steps to reassure companies that installing microgeneration technology to their buildings to reduce carbon emissions will not immediately increase their business rates.
Local government minister John Healey said changes to existing legislation will ensure that installing environmentally-friendly technology, such as wind turbines and solar panels, does mean the value of business premises are not reassessed automatically.
Instead, the property will only be assessed at the first general revaluation after the technology is installed, the government stated.
Mr Healey said he hoped the move will ensure companies are not discouraged from reducing their impact on the environment.
"We all need to do our bit to reduce our carbon footprints. Small-scale energy generation, like installing solar water heating or a biomass boiler, can be a cost-effective way to do this," he commented.
Small-scale installations ought to help to generate a "significant" amount of renewable energy produced in the UK by 2020, he added.
Earlier this month, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform announced plans for a 500MW wind farm at Duddon Sands, off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness, had been granted approval.
