Solar 101: The complete guide to solar energy for business
Incorporating solar energy into your company's operations can be a great decision to achieve your financial, operational, and sustainability targets. But where to start?
As a decision maker for your business, there is much to learn to select the right solar energy technology, financing model, and project partner to meet your company’s unique goals and energy needs. This guide provides you with a solid understanding of the world of solar panels for business use so that you can make informed decisions that benefit your company.
The benefits of solar energy for businesses
By choosing onsite solar energy solutions for your business, you can ensure that your facilities operate on affordable, reliable clean energy at no upfront cost to you. With a variety of solar financing options, you can lock in a predictable energy rate well into the future and avoid utility rate fluctuations.
Solar energy significantly reduces the environmental and climate impact of your business operations, meeting your stakeholders’ expectations and reducing scope emissions to help your business excel both financially and environmentally.
The result for your business is lower energy costs and higher profit margins, protection against volatile energy market rates, reduced carbon emissions, and increased resiliency against power outages when solar is paired with a battery. When done right, solar energy is a win-win for businesses.
How to know when solar is right for your business
While onsite solar energy can benefit any business, certain organizations are better poised to reap the highest financial and operational benefits from solar panel installations.
If your business has any of the following characteristics, you are likely to benefit most from onsite solar:
- Energy-intensive operations
- High utility rates
- Physical space onsite for solar panels
- State policies incentivizing onsite energy
- Corporate sustainability reporting targets
Note that energy system cost is not listed as a deciding factor. There are many financing options available for businesses with various financial situations to procure solar, including several with no upfront costs, installation costs, or costs to own and maintain the system.
Intro to solar energy project types
Onsite solar energy systems exist in a variety of shapes and sizes. Solar panel arrays can be installed as ground mounts, on building rooftops, or on parking canopy carports. The type of installation that best suits your business depends on the physical layout of your facility and the project economics. Businesses can also choose to make their solar panels grid-tied or off-grid as part of a microgrid, depending on their resiliency needs.
Typically, when Onyx Renewables approaches a solar panel installation project for a business, we recommend allocating at least 100,000 square feet of roof space for rooftop solar, or four to five acres of land for ground-mount solar. However, each project’s energy needs and space requirements vary and must be customized to each business.
For companies who are unable to accommodate onsite solar due to a lack of adequate space, solar options like community solar and virtual net metering programs exist to ensure your business meets its energy cost and sustainability requirements.
Financing solar energy for your business
Financing solar projects can be a daunting task for businesses. Luckily, there are ample financing models to choose from and plenty of local, state, and federal incentives available to make solar feasible for your business.
Common financing mechanisms for onsite solar systems include:
- Self-financing with cash
- Self-financing with a loan
- Power purchase agreements (PPA)
- Operating lease
- Tax equity
Additional mechanisms to consider that affect the financial aspect of solar arrays include:
- Traditional net metering
- Virtual net metering
- Renewable energy credits
While solar financing models vary in upfront cost and ownership responsibilities, each is designed to meet the needs of customers. For example, a PPA is a financing option for solar projects where a third-party owns and operates the solar system and sells the electricity to the host customer at a fixed rate for a specified period of time. In contrast, a self financed project is owned and maintained by the business.
To learn more about selecting the right solar financing option for your financial situation, see Onyx’s article on solar financing in 100 words or less.
Coupling solar energy with battery storage
While onsite solar energy systems alone provide a cost hedge and savings for customers, incorporating battery energy storage systems (BESS) can provide even more benefits like resiliency and redundancy for commercial energy customers. These benefits include additional cost savings with state and local incentives and additional energy security in the event of power outages or other grid disruptions. This is especially true for companies with energy-intensive operations and high energy bills who cannot risk power outages disrupting their operations.
Selecting the right solar partners
Once you’ve decided solar is right for your organization, it’s time to begin the solar panel procurement process. A great solar partner will guide your organization through selecting the right project type, financing tools, and solar incentives necessary for your project. They will also handle the design, engineering and construction of the project. A great solar team can ensure you reap the benefits you seek for your business and maintain your solar success for years to come.
Ready to explore corporate solar energy? Reach out to the solar experts at Onyx Renewables to begin your journey to solar.