High electricity tariffs and electricity price spikes are forcing business owners to look for alternative sources of electricity that will add stability to the business. Solar power plants take the lead, as far as they are gaining more and more popularity in America.
For a long time, solar power plants were the prerogative of large businesses, due to the high cost of solar panels. But over the past decade, solar modules have fallen significantly in price and become available to small businesses. If you study solar systems reviews, you can choose the best installation for the price and quality, which will quickly pay off and significantly increase the profitability of your business.
How To Know If Your Company Is Ready To Switch To Renewables?
Business owners are afraid of extra costs and refuse to consider solar energy as an alternative to electricity. The main doubts arise in such moments.
1. What will be the savings when using solar panels?
Electricity costs in enterprises of various directions are different, so the savings rate for an individual business will be different. The average is about 75% of monthly electricity bills. But some businesses manage to save even more.
2. What scale should a business achieve to use solar energy?
There are no restrictions for installing solar systems. Small businesses should focus on their financial capabilities, find solar companies nearby, ask them about the cost of solar panels, and calculate the benefits.
3. How many panels will be necessary to ensure independence from the mains?
The quantity of solar modules depends on the required number of kilowatt-hours of energy generated by the installation, which the enterprise consumes per year. More important is not the number of panels but the production capacity of individual modules.
4. Where to get a big sum of money for buying a solar system?
Solar panels’ costs for a small business can range from $200,000 to $500,000. Few people decide to make such investments in solar stations. But you can take advantage of tax benefits for businesses, and government incentives, attract PPA to reduce the financial burden and participate in local programs to finance commercial solar installations.
The service life of the panels is 25-30 years, and the payback period for photovoltaic panels is 3-5 years for small businesses. The performance of solar stations depends on the scale of the construction, the local climate, and the amount of energy consumed, so the financial benefit from the solar panels will exceed the initial costs quickly and several times.
What Are The Benefits Of Switching Small Businesses To Solar Energy?
Solar panels for business are a long-term investment in the future of business. Payback takes several years. Before deciding to install a solar power plant, it is important to weigh the pros and cons of solar stations and understand which advantages of photovoltaic systems are suitable for your business. Solar energy allows:
- Significantly reduce costs;
- Acquire energy independence;
- Contribute to the environment;
- Quickly return the investment;
- Become more attractive to potential customers;
- Save space;
- Reduce operating costs.
Benefits from the installation of solar power plants for business in the financial and environmental components. How each of these benefits works for a business is worth considering in more detail.
Cost reduction
The most costly item of expenditure in enterprises is electricity bills. Solar panels help, depending on the power, to provide all or part of all the needs of the business in power supply.
If a plant generates more power than the company needs, many states allow you to sell electricity to a public utility and receive up to 75% of the retail price per electricity unit. If a business partially uses the central grid, the incentive for installing solar stations can manifest itself in fixing tariffs.
Investment potential
Although solar panels for small businesses are initially expensive, they should be considered as an asset. They are the property of the owner, a 30-year service life guarantees payback, and the value of the business with such installations is increased. In the process of operation, the cost of the panels will not increase. However, the financial return from a photovoltaic solar system will be solid for many years.
Environmental aspect
The carbon footprint of a business when installing solar panels is minimized. Customers prefer those enterprises that care about the environment. Going green improves your competitive advantage in your niche market.
Important point! Having a solar station helps small businesses achieve the LEED certification that corporate businesses are vying for. Green initiatives are very relevant, demonstrate social responsibility and attract conscious customers.
Use of tax incentives
The reward for maintaining solar power is tax credits. Support for small businesses implementing a clean energy system is provided at the local, regional, and federal levels. By switching to solar power, a business owner can claim:
- SREC credits – allow you to reimburse the costs of installing solar equipment, one SREC is equal to 1000 kWh;
- ITC – federal investment tax credit, allows you to get a discount of 26% on the total cost of a solar plant;
- MACRS, an accelerated depreciation program for solar-powered equipment, allows you to write off the entire solar power plant in the first year.
Do not consider these privileges mandatory. Such incentives from the state are issued to increase the motivation for switching to solar energy, regardless of the type and size of the stations.
Silence And Ease Of Maintenance
A distinctive feature of solar equipment is noiselessness. The generation of energy from the sun not only does not pollute the environment but also does not make sounds during operation. Therefore, solar power stations have no installation restrictions, they can be installed in the most densely populated areas of cities.
The second advantage is minimal maintenance. Solar models can work for years without maintenance, it is necessary only to do periodic cleaning of the panels from dirt and snow layer. There are a few moving parts in the structures. They are made of high-quality and durable materials, which minimizes the possibility of breakdowns.
Economic Reason
When expanding into new territories, solar panels save valuable space when placed on the rooftop. This frees up the area that can be in use to accommodate premises for various purposes.
When solar installations pay off (3-4 years), the entrepreneur expects a significant increase in income, which can be directed to business development and the creation of new jobs. This positively affects the country’s economy on a global scale.
Is It Profitable Or Not For Small Businesses To Install Solar Stations?
You can figure out how much solar panels cost for a business after weighing all the pros and cons of solar panels. Large initial amounts are not so high if you use government incentive programs. It is necessary to add to this the greater investment attractiveness of the business, the reduction of electricity bills, and the longevity of the equipment.
To develop without the introduction of new technologies is to stand still. The profitability of any business depends on the use of available tools for competition, and solar energy is one of the main driving forces in modern business.
