5 signs your business is a good fit for solar panels

Here it is in a nutshell; by having commercial solar panels fitted, your business could open itself up to a wealth of benefits including a clean, green energy supply, subsequent reduced energy costs and a positive and progressive brand image to showcase to customers. All sounds good so far, right? The only big question left is: how do you know that your business would be able to properly reap all the benefits? Well, that’s where we can help here at Low Carbon Energy. To help you decide, here are five key signs that your business would be a good fit for these innovative harnessers of renewable energy.

1. Your business has available space

As a rule of thumb, just one square foot of space has the potential to produce about 15 watts of energy. So basically, if you have large, free and unused areas – be it the roofing of your business or the surrounding land – these could be the perfect spaces for installing solar panels. It’s one of the main reasons that so many industrial and large-scale businesses stand to benefit hugely from solar panels; because they tend to have copious amounts of available roof space on their facilities.

2. Your locations get a lot of sunlight

On top of having available space, it’s also important that these areas get a lot of sunlight. Ideally these should be south-facing in the northern hemisphere, as this orientation will give the optimum and most direct amount of sunlight. You can of course still look to invest in solar panels if the areas you’ve earmarked aren’t south-facing, but you should check they’re not overlooked or in shadow from other structures, buildings or wildlife.

3. You run an energy-intensive business

If your business operations are on a larger scale – particularly in areas like tech and manufacturing – the chances are your current energy consumption and energy costs are quite high. Solar panels can be a fantastic means of bringing such expenses down.

Take one of our clients Rascal’s Confectionery, a highly energy intensive manufacturer of sweets and confectionary, who through the installation of bespoke solar panels now avoids annual CO₂ emissions of 70,762.5kg and has running electricity costs of just £0.02/kWh.

4. You’d benefit from solar security with your energy

If you’re operating in a sector that heavily relies on electricity and where even the smallest downtime due to power cuts could be catastrophic, solar energy can help provide energy security – as well as added peace of mind your business won’t grind to a halt.

5. You want to improve your CSR

Last but not least, a sure sign that solar panels could be right for your business is if you want to improve your Corporate Social Responsibility. Having solar panels is an incredibly effective means of showing your business is making a concerted effort to help fight climate change and is being mindful of its energy use.

In addition to this improved CSR, your business brand may then appear more favourable to prospective clients – your new solar panels can also be like a physical badge of honour being proudly adorned by your buildings or your business’s land. Plus, you’ll also be able to reap the cost-saving and energy security benefits all at the same time.

If your feel that your business fits in with one or more of the above, you need to ensure you invest in commercial solar panels that also best suit your bespoke requirements. That’s where we can help at Low Carbon Energy we have a great deal of experience in designing and fitting solar panel systems for an array of different businesses, coming in many types and sizes – and we’re a proud Carbon Trust Partner. Browse our online energy technologies pages to find out more about what we can provide and feel free to call us on 01282 421 489 if you’d like to speak to us directly.