October 14, 2024 Business sustainability, Commercial Solar
How businesses can use solar to go green
If your business wants or needs to go green, then commercial solar could be a vital part of that transition. Here’s why:
- The energy market is volatile, but if you generate your own electricity, your costs are steady as well as low
- Commercial solar future-proofs your business against tighter regulation and energy legislation
- Solar is better than low-carbon — it is zero-carbon electricity
- When you go green, you attract more environmentally-conscious investors and customers
Here’s how to use commercial Solar to go green.
Solar helps you go green with zero-carbon power
When you have a solar installation, the electricity it generates is zero-carbon. There are no CO2 or any other emissions associated with producing that power. If you are reporting your carbon emissions, or you simply have ESG targets to hit, you can reduce or even eliminate the emissions that you influence through your electricity consumption, by using solar.
Commercial Solar is an option for many different industries
No business doesn’t use electricity, but tailoring commercial solar to your specific business purposes means that you maximise its effectiveness and your sustainability.
- If you have a lot of roof space, you could be generating megawatts of electricity. Warehouses and industrial agriculture can power energy-intensive technology like cold storage or heat lamps.
- Manufacturing consumes a lot of electricity, and generating your own reduces production costs significantly. Additional solar PV systems like ‘active monitoring’ optimise solar output to meet the greatest need in your machinery.
- Smaller commercial settings might have less roof space, but small and highly efficient panels can generate plenty of power, and can be a very cost-effective way to offer perks (or obligations) like EV charging.
- Hospitality can offer more facilities and amenities without compromising green credentials, whether that is electric heating, cooking, or shower facilities.
When you go green, you attract more customers
77% of consumers want companies to tackle ESG issues. If you target other businesses, many prospects will be examining their Scope 3 emissions (emissions from partners and suppliers). Or if you wish to target local authorities or governmental organisations, part of their procurement requirements may involve checking suppliers’ environmental credentials.
Solar improves your standing in all of those scenarios.
How one business stopped 41 tonnes of carbon emissions and prevented a 70% bill increase
Heads of Ayr is an Ayrshire wildlife park that welcomes over 180,000 visitors every year. They have to heat and light their play areas, a nursery, animal enclosures, and restaurants across their 80-acre site.
Their electricity supplier notified them of an upcoming 70% increase in their electricity charges, a price hike that would seriously affect their profit margins and growth plans. They knew the time had come to get independence from the grid and future-proof their business.
Heads of Ayr had previously used Innasol to install their ETA biomass boilers, and chose us for their Solar project. We installed a 200kWh solar panel array across eight roofs, which:
- Protects Heads of Ayr from grid price volatility
- Saves 41 tonnes of carbon emissions every year
- Generates enough surplus power to export 35% to the grid
How to fund a commercial solar project
There are three main funding methods for a new solar installation.
- Self-funding. As the name suggests, your business makes the expenditure, and owns the assets and the power they generate.
- Power purchase agreement. An external investor pays for the installation, and the business agrees to buy the power that the system generates.
- Asset finance. A lease or hire purchase, paying an initial deposit and paying off the remaining cost in instalments.
There are also several financial incentives for solar projects in the UK, some of which are nationwide, and some of which are only available in specific devolved nations. These include grants, loans, and allowances.
How to maximise your solar power with battery storage
How do you maximise solar when there is less sunshine?
An Energy Storage System (ESS) lets you keep the surplus energy that you generate when the sun is shining, so that when it isn’t you are less likely to rely on the grid. That means cloudier days (and seasons) don’t mean less renewable power. It also means you could realise the return on your investment sooner.
Go green for operational and environmental sustainability
Solar might be perfect for your business, and it is certainly right for the environment.
To establish whether your premises can get the full benefit of solar, we take a design-led approach.
It begins with a survey. Without a survey, you cannot know for sure if the installation will be right, or whether you will get a strong return on your investment, so you should never embark on a solar installation without one.
It is our mission to deliver maximum ROI for minimum cost. Our centrally organised team has low overheads, so that we can pass on savings while always installing state-of-the-art technology, and never compromising on quality.
Call 01621 892613, and we will put you in touch with a local renewable energy expert who can discuss your requirements and sustainable energy goals.
