There’s a host of reasons why commercial solar panels benefit businesses, from your local coffee shop to your international tech giants. As we see energy costs soar, using space otherwise not engaged can be a great decision to make. Here, we look at five advantages and five disadvantages solar panels can have for your business in Ireland.
Additional Income
While the aim of the game is to generate energy that can be used on site, if you produce additional surplus, you may be able to send it back to the national grid, for financial reward. You can read more about that here.
Social Corporate Responsibility
Government has set targets that Ireland aims to meet, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 (you can read more about the Climate Action Plan 2021 here). The gods will look favourably upon you if you decide to reduce your corporate carbon footprint. It demonstrates a responsibility of commitment to the environment, while positively positioning your company as progressive. Something your customers are becoming increasingly aware of.
Cost reduction
Investing in solar panels allows you to save on your traditional energy spend, produces free energy to be used on site and saves you thousands on your utility bills long term. Irish businesses can get somewhere in the region of 30% of their electricity needs met through investing in a solar solution. Savings can be as high as 35-40% on bills while also countering the volatility of traditional electricity prices.
Increased energy independence
With the aforementioned rise in energy costs, creating a layer of resistance against the need to use imported energy is a failsafe way of reducing your dependence on traditional sources and protects a portion of your usage against volatile pricing.
Grants and Incentives
There are many available, which we’ve spoken about here
But what, we hear you ask, are the disadvantages? There must be some.
Cost
The initial up-front costs of solar panels can be eye watering. It’s important to research your providers and undertake a studious energy audit of your current year’s bills to make sure the payoff is there and within reasonable reach. At Caldor we offer two commercial products – Buying a System Outright or engaging in a Power Purchase Agreement for a set period of time. The latter can soften that initial investment while still giving you reliable and transformative results. We’re happy to talk you through these options with no commitment required – just give us a call on 01 25 333 49
Space
While we celebrate the ability to use usually unused space to great benefit, it falls short of such praise when you simply don’t have the roof space or it’s obstructed in ways that can’t be easily remedied. The more energy you use, the more energy you want to produce, the more space you need.
Planning Permission
The planning permission restrictions surrounding solar panel solutions for businesses have been, to date, limiting. This has negatively impacted development in the area which is now thankfully under review. You can read more about the inner workings here.
Weather dependent
This is something we’ve repeated ad nauseum in our blogs relating to residential panels, the same is true of commercial setups. While it’s light and not sun that enables panels to capture and transform the sun’s energy into usable energy, cloudy days and long winter nights will impact your yield. This is something to be aware of when conducting your energy audit.
Time
It takes time as well as money to decide on opting to go down the solar route. While we, at Caldor can guide you through the various grants and incentives, you will need to provide information so that we can ensure you’re getting the best option available to you and your company.
Of all the advantages and disadvantages, which way do you find yourself leaning? If you’d like more information, have questions or would like to request an information pack for your business, please don’t hesitate to get in touch here.
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