Commercial Solar PV Installation
For businesses, managing costs and improving your green credentials is always a high priority. Installing Solar PV solves both of these, and you might be surprised at how much energy could be saved with a commercial solar PV installation. With the price of PV panels coming down drastically in the last 5 years, the initial outlay on large commerical systems is a lot less than most people think – giving you even better returns on your investment.
The financial benefits of commercial Solar PV
One of the drawbacks of Solar in general is that the power is generated instantly – if the sun is out, there is power being produced. That can be a problem with domestic setups, where primarily, the main energy usage is the mornings and evenings ( where the sun is at is lowest output). However the commercial market is different – with most companies operating within daylight hours, and in the case of air conditioned offices, they might even see an energy profile that matches the solar perfomance throughout the day. Combined with new, low cost high efficiency panels, this leads to great performance figures on commercial solar PV.Combined with the fact that the system itself has minimal maintenance, there has never been an easier way to potential cut your energy bills by a significant amount.
Real World Example
In late 2023, we provided a Solar PV solution for a business in Gloucester. They operated a large warehouse Monday-Friday, and also sublet part of their building to a smaller business. After discussed their usage and requirements, we installated a 44kWp Solar PV System, at a cost of £37,000+VAT. With their annual usage of 27754 kWh per year (at a cost then of £8300 p.a), we managed to reduce that bill by 47%, giving a cost saving of £4300. On top of that, during summer and weekends, the surplus power can be sold back to the grid, giving an additional income of £3755 p.a.
These combine to over £7500 in savings every year, bringing the payback time of the system to under 5 years. This is a 20% ROI, which will continue to perform for the next 25+ years.
Export Payments
On systems larger than 50kW, there is no MCS certificate issued as they have a maximum limit. However, it is still possible to sell your surplus electricity back under a Power Purchase Agreement. PPA’s allow you to sell directly back to energy suppliers, who will buy your clean solar energy at a wholesale rate. This requires a Smart meter, or a dedicated export meter to be installated to allow them to measure the energy being sent back.
Commercial Battery Storage
While the price of panels has fallen considerably, batteries have reduced in price at a much lower level. Coupling this with the fact that most businesses use their power in the day, it normally doesnt make financial sense for battery storage in a commercial setting. However there are some exceptions. Mixed use facilities, like sports/recreation, sometimes have evening usage that they can cover with the surplus generated in the day. We also have some clients who use a battery bank to charge from cheaper energy at night, to avoid peak prices in the daytime. Finally the last use case is for power backup – if there are mission-critical systems that must stay powered, Solar PV and battery can provide a UPS system in the event of a power cut. We always make these calculations as part of our proposal, and can advise if battery storage is viable for your business.
Green Credentials
Installing solar isn’t just about financial return – in a market where customers, clients and investors, are all looking at the values and practices of different companies, investing in clean, solar energy sends a message that you are working to actively reduce your carbon footprint, and be socially responsible.
A 50kW system will save as much as 9000kg of Co2 per year, thats the equivalent of 30,000 miles travelling by car.
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