Is your site a good candidate for solar PV and battery storage?

Organizations across America are looking for ways to reduce business-as-usual operating costs and achieve efficiencies to improve financial performance – and they are accomplishing this by taking control of their energy usage and associated costs. Energy is a good place to unlock financial advantage and create a differentiating strategy, as energy spend can comprise a large proportion of overhead.

One way that organizations are reducing their energy costs is by generating renewable energy on-site instead of consuming energy from the grid. Leveraging technologies that harness and store renewable energy not only helps with energy cost control, but sustainability efforts as well. Continued growth in adoption of integrated technologies like solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and battery storage demonstrates the growing demand for clean, affordable electricity. 19 GW of new solar capacity were installed in 2020 – a 43% year-over-year growth from 2019. In addition, studies indicate that solar PV and battery storage pairing rates are expected to grow from 5% in 2019 to more than 25% in 2025, a massive growth in adoption.

Why solar PV and battery storage?

Solar PV and battery storage solutions deliver supply, price and carbon certainty. Installing solar PV panels delivers energy cost savings by offsetting a percentage of energy consumption from the grid with lower-cost, on-site generated solar energy instead. Energy is no longer a variable cost – it is a predictable asset that can be leveraged for growth. Organizations are able to lock in a predictable energy rate for the lifetime of the solar PV system, enabling them to better forecast energy spend and operating expenses.

Powering operational processes with solar power can also enable organizations to use energy more efficiently and sustainably throughout their infrastructure. By installing a clean source of power generation, organizations can make a positive contribution to the climate crisis and boost their sustainability credentials, as solar PV technology doesn’t emit CO2 or other harmful greenhouse gases.

What’s more, by combining solar PV and battery storage, businesses can charge their batteries with solar energy and utilize the stored energy during peak price periods, generating cost savings through peak shaving to support demand charge management, as well as time-of-use cost-shifting to reduce energy charges.

Is solar PV and battery storage right for you?

Installing solar PV panels can monetize a large, already-existing part of an organization’s infrastructure that is generally unused – like a rooftop, large space of land, or even a parking lot. Many organizations operate in large buildings with ample roof space and can benefit by transforming that space into an asset for on-site energy generation by installing solar PV panels – and pairing them with battery storage.

The attractiveness of solar PV and battery storage solutions, combined with available incentives and low costs of solar components – plus the Biden administration’s ambitious plan for the country to reach net zero by 2050 or earlier – mean that this is a particularly relevant time for investing in clean energy technologies. Focusing on these types of investments will not only help organizations become compliant with new potential policies driven by the new administration – organizations can also unlock financial advantage by becoming more efficient and sustainable throughout their energy infrastructure.

But what makes a good site? Here are some factors to consider:

1. Where are you located? Certain states offer high-value incentives for installing solar.
2. Do you own or lease your property?
3. Your property specifics – do you have the required roof space, open area, or appropriate parking lot size for a solar PV system?
4. What do you currently pay for your electricity?
5. What do you currently pay for your peak demand charges and how much energy demand you use?
6. What are your overall goals? Sustainability? Carbon reduction? Energy cost reduction?

Downloading our full checklist helps you further define specifics associated with installing solar PV and battery storage, so you can see if your site and current energy footprint can be improved with the installation of this technology.

You downloaded the checklist. What’s next?

When managed well, energy can help drive business efficiency and power new levels of operational performance. Selecting a commercial solar installer that has decades of experience and designs and installs high-quality solar PV systems with battery storage is critical to ensuring maximum performance from the installation.

At Centrica Business Solutions, we help organizations manage the daily cost of their operational processes by transforming their already-existing assets – rooftops, ground, or parking lots – into sources of on-site renewable energy generation. We support you on every step of your journey, from understanding your energy goals to optimizing your solution for your available space. Every system is customized to your specific business needs in order to maximize energy production and deliver energy savings.

Our team uses the highest quality equipment, including Energy Storage System (ESS) technology, plus Tier 1 bankable solar components that are backed by 20-year+ manufacturer warranties and are rigorously tested. The quality of our technology, our experienced project management, and our professional engineering and design ensure a worry-free investment. Through our industry-leading 10-year workmanship warranty and 10-year production guarantee, we provide you with peace of mind that your professionally installed solar PV system will generate what we say it will for 10 years, so you can be assured of maximum ROI through energy cost savings and revenue generation through available incentives that boost profitability.

When you contact us for an evaluation, our team will assess your site, walk you through available options and help you navigate this opportunity for your business.