Business resilience has always been a key concern for businesses, but the events of this year means that it’s never been a higher priority. The Covid-19 pandemic has wrought seismic changes which have presented the ultimate test of resilience for countless businesses, and sadly not all of them have survived. For those who have been in a position to withstand the initial economic blow, the whole experience has served to re-emphasise the importance of business resilience. It’s a concept with many strands, but energy is one of the most crucial ones, and that’s where commercial solar panels can help. Allow us to explain exactly how.

Commercial solar panels can fortify your energy supply

While historically most businesses have relied on the National Grid to meet their energy needs, commercial solar panels offer an alternative by providing the ability to generate a clean, uninterrupted power supply right there on-site. The technology underpinning solar panels has made huge strides in recent years, and the steadily accruing level of investment in the sector means that they’re becoming cheaper year on year, making them increasingly viable even to smaller businesses.

One of the biggest advantages of generating your own energy on-site is, of course, the protection it affords from steadily rising energy prices and peak period prices, as you can gradually lower your reliance on the National Grid. If you’re savvy about combining commercial solar panels with a decent amount of battery storage, you may even be able to become entirely energy-independent, saving you thousands of pounds a year.

What’s more, they also provide immense value to your business by providing some degree of immunity from market volatility, the likes of which we’ve all seen plenty of in 2020. Though the recent development of several vaccines suggest some semblance of a return to normality on the horizon, Covid-19 continues to pose a whole raft of challenges to businesses across the globe. Commercial solar panels can provide some welcome peace of mind when it comes to your energy bills, allowing you to concentrate on the more pressing issues on your agenda.

The green recovery and the ‘new normal’

The emergence of the pandemic has highlighted a great many unpleasant truths about our global economy and society, and one of the biggest by far has been the fragility of a fossil fuel economy. By mid-April, the global price of oil had plummeted to such a degree that producers had resorted to paying traders $40 a barrel to take it off their hands.

It would be somewhat disingenuous to pretend that the renewables market was entirely unaffected by this, but there are stark differences in terms of scale. Covid-19 has slowed the growth of renewables for the first time in 20 years, but the world is set to have added 167GW to its global capacity by the end of this year. For perspective, that’s more than the total power capacity of North America and Europe combined. In North America, in fact, 2020 marks the first time that renewables have ever overtaken coal. While Covid-19 has certainly left its mark on the sector, renewables have made record contributions to national grids across the globe, and so have indisputably proven their worth under truly unprecedented circumstances.

Now, countries around the world are focusing their efforts on a green recovery, seizing upon the global interruption in carbon emissions and using it as an opportunity to fundamentally restructure the way they operate – building towards a cleaner, greener, and more prosperous future. In fact, many investors and customers are now starting to expect it as a given from businesses and governments alike. Commercial solar panels serve as a powerful demonstration of your Corporate Social Responsibility, which means that they provide business resilience not just against fluctuating energy prices and markets, but also help you to ensure that you’re properly adapting to changing consumer expectations.

The key to staying competitive

In the wake of this year’s events, renewable energy assets are currently set to experience a spike in demand from investors. The motivation for this is twofold: first of all a desire to make sustainable investments, and second of all to increase resilience against the pandemic-induced downturn. The greatest investments are slated for wind and solar power plants, as these have demonstrated the most potential, with steadily declining costs over a number of years.

Solar deserves particular attention – on the 23rd of November, the NextEnergy solar fund published its results for the six month period in 2020 running from March to September. The findings demonstrated that the solar sector has performed reliably well, despite a broadly unstable market environment.

The CEO of NextEnergy, Michael Bonte-Friedheim, said: “Solar is now economically viable in the UK without any form of government support.” He expects the UK to ‘significantly grow” its new solar generation capacity over the next few years, a trend that we certainly see reflected in our own experience here at Low Carbon Energy.

The favourable market conditions and projected growth for commercial solar panels means there’s no better time for your business to invest, especially given the sizeable business resilience value they provide. The events of the ongoing pandemic have proven that business resilience is no longer a simple advantage, a ‘nice-to-have’ – but an essential priority if you’re going to remain competitive in today’s climate.

Here at Low Carbon Energy, we’re here to help. We have over 30 years of combined experience behind us in helping you save on business costs, and profit from having cleaner energy. Feel free to take a quick look at our case studies to see the results we’ve helped achieve for our customers, or to find out how we can help you, feel free to give us a call today on 01282 421 489!