Solar panels have long been increasing in popularity in the private sector as a means of independently generating ones own electricity as well as the obvious motivation to steer clear of using electricity generated from finite, pricey materials that are enormously damaging to the environment. Given the large initial cost of installing solar panels, businesses have unsurprisingly been slow on the uptake of switching to solar panels over other methods. For example, Solar Century estimates that of 1.8million UK commercial properties, only 400 have solar panels installed. This may be because until recent years, commercial installation of solar panels has typically been confined to businesses with clear interests in climate change and CO2 emissions. However, more recently there’s been a gradual trend towards businesses from all sectors making the switch as more and more people are clocking on to the profitability of solar panels. So why are they such a solid business investment?
The primary reason for this is that the financial returns are potentially massive. Following the initial investment and however long it takes to have generated enough solar energy to ‘pay’ for them - the rest is pure profit. Using solar panels, in general, is much cheaper per kW than buying the same from the National Grid. Some have even estimated that solar panels installed in the optimum position can reduce bills by unto 50%. In addition, solar panels tap into a limitless & unrestricted resource meaning that the business is free from submitting to the escalating costs of purchasing electricity from finale resources. And, what’s more, is that any energy generated from solar panels that is unused is exported back to the National Grid at at least 4.85p per kWh through the Feed in Tariff scheme. This scheme estimates that commercial users of solar panels can expect a return of up to 20%.
You may also be interested in reading our post about commercial solar panels installation.