As energy prices have started to hit the news again for householders, we are also conscious of how hard energy prices are hitting businesses. Although households have been protected somewhat by the energy price caps and past government schemes, businesses have had to bear the brunt of the price fluctuations.
Figures released by Cornwall Insight’s Business Energy Cost Forecast predict that businesses will continue to see a 70% increase compared to the pre-COVID 2020-21 period. With many other costs rising too, absorbing all these price rises is becoming increasingly difficult.
But what can be done? One thing you can do is generate your own energy and reduce the amount of electricity you need to buy.
Tackling energy price rises by generating your own electricity with solar
Generating electricity from solar panels could be a great way of reducing the electricity that you need to buy and will enable you to create energy stability for your business in the long term as solar PV can last for 30 years. Not only will you be able to make savings on your electricity bills, but it will also assist your business’ green credentials which are becoming increasingly important for consumers and other businesses that you may work with.
Solar PV is the easiest renewable energy for businesses to invest in and one of the most affordable. All it requires is having a suitable roof space (or land in some cases) to install the solar panels. A solar PV system can be installed on a pitched roof or a flat roof using mounting systems that can be tailored to fit most roof spaces. The key element is whether you have a roof that is facing an optimal direction to get sufficient daylight throughout the day and there is no shading to the roof. We can advise you on whether your roof space is suitable as part of a free quote.
How long is the payback period for solar panels?
Most solar PV systems will see a return on investment (ROI) in 5-9 years. As solar panels can last for 30 years, you will see many years of electricity savings that can add up to a significant amount.
As businesses, unlike homes, are often occupied and using electricity during the day, they will see a greater benefit from the solar panels as the electricity will be consumed within the property rather than being exported to the grid most of the time. If you are a small business you can access the Smart Export Guarantee which pays you up to 15p per kWh for exported electricity. This means that if you don’t use all the electricity that you generate, such as on weekends, you can still receive an income from generating the electricity.
Alternatively, you can include battery storage as part of your solar PV system so that you can store the electricity to use at another time.
How much could my business generate from solar panels?
This really depends on a number of factors, but let’s take a small office-based business as an example.
An office with 10 employees on average will use around 12,000-15,000 kWh per year. Assuming the office building has a suitable roof, installing 30 solar panels could generate 10,000-11,000 kWh per year – meaning this business would be buying 70% less electricity from the supplier.
What would saving 70% on electricity mean for your business?
Interested in exploring this further?
If you want to find out more about whether solar PV is suitable for your business and see how much you could save on your electricity bills check some of our commercial case studies and see how solar is helping other businesses. Or we can provide a no-obligation quote, with savings and return on investment projections. Fill in our simple online quote form to get started today!
