Warehouses

Significant financial savings are the first and perhaps most obvious advantage, as commercial solar panels for warehouses and factories provide the perfect way to monetise the large amount of roof space these premises typically have available. This space is often otherwise of very little use to most businesses and organisations, making it the ideal place to install a bespoke solar panel system, with minimal disruption to your operations.

The sheer amount of space that’s generally available on warehouses and factories means that they can accommodate particularly large-scale solar PV installations. What’s more, these panels produce most of their energy in the day, when the warehouses and factories themselves are usually at their most active. This makes solar panels great for effectively offsetting the notably higher running costs from these buildings, which are normally home to some of the most energy-intensive industrial operations.

As well as these significant financial savings, solar panels for warehouses and factories also share the same benefits as commercial solar panels for any other business, for example by securing your business energy supply against future price hikes or market fluctuations.

They can also help make a noticeable impact on your carbon footprint, helping you to reduce emissions (often a big priority for industrial businesses), while providing a tangible demonstration of your Corporate Social Responsibility to any visitors, customers, investors or business partners.

The benefits of commercial solar panels for your warehouse

Solar panels for warehouses can provide a huge range of benefits. Some of the most critical ones include:

• Considerable cost savings
• Financial stability and energy security / flexibility
• A significantly reduced carbon footprint
• Valuable green credentials for your business through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

To expand on these in a bit more detail:

Considerable cost savings for your business

Industrial premises like warehouses and factories typically have higher running costs than smaller commercial buildings, and solar panels can significantly offset these costs, equating to huge savings for your business.

Since they generate most of their energy during daylight hours, they’re especially helpful for offsetting largely flat daily running costs, such as temperature control and lighting.

A particularly efficient installation may be able to generate energy not just for the warehouse itself, but also for adjacent buildings on the site. In fact, solar panels don’t necessarily have to be capable of that to be worthy of investment: according to the Carbon Trust, a 20% cut in energy costs represents the same bottom-line benefit as a 5% increase in sales.

Financial stability and energy security / flexibility

Solar panels for warehouses and factories effectively save you money by reducing your reliance on the National Grid, which has a number of other beneficial advantages too. To begin with, it insulates your business from market fluctuations and rising energy costs. That’s because by generating your own on-site energy with solar panels, you’re effectively forward-buying your electricity at a set price. That safeguards your business against market impacts and regulation, making it a lot easier for you to make financial forecasts.

This flexibility allows you to choose whether to use your saved electricity immediately, or store it for later, or even sell it for profit. As an extra bonus, it also gives you valuable reserves to draw on in the event of a blackout, shielding your business from costly downtime due to power outages.

A significantly reduced carbon footprint

As your business grows, your energy demand will too. Large industrial buildings and commercial premises like warehouses and factories are often home to notably carbon-intensive activities. Commercial solar panels for warehouses provide a potent method for offsetting these carbon emissions, helping you to meet your current sustainability targets and reduce your impact on the planet.

Valuable green credentials for your business through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The world has reached a tipping point with carbon emissions, and everyone from governments and regulators to consumers and investors are looking to businesses to show how they’re actively trying to minimise their environmental impact. It’s particularly important to consumers, who are increasingly relying on ethics to govern their purchase decisions.

This is where the prominence of solar panels can help your business. It’s a clear and tangible example of Corporate Social Responsibility, demonstrating that you take your sustainability targets seriously. With that in mind, solar panels for warehouses are useful not just for the savings they can provide, but also for encouraging future business with improved lead generation and sales.

It’s difficult to give an exact figure when it comes to costs, because it’s so dependent on a number of different factors, which vary from business to business. However, in broad strokes, if you’re paying outright for a small solar PV installation, it will likely cost somewhere in the region of £10,000. More expansive premises like warehouses will probably require a larger investment, but will generate even bigger returns.

For example, the cost will be strongly influenced by the size of the installation, and where it will actually be positioned. Other factors include:

• Supply and installation of your solar panels
• Inverter and isolators
• Cabling
• Testing and certification
• Administration costs, including registration with regulators and your supplier

If you need any help with the initial investment, you may also be able to take advantage of a number of finance options or ways to pay. Feel free to ask our experts about this when you get in touch.

Sometimes, but rarely. Planning permission was once a standard requirement, but now it’s generally unnecessary for solar PV systems on non-domestic buildings, which includes commercial premises like factories and warehouses. Small ground-mounted systems can also normally be freely constructed without planning permission, as they fall under the category of ‘permitted development’.

However, you can only skip the need for planning permission if your installation meets the following criteria:

• Roof-mounted solar installations can’t protrude by more than 200mm from the roof’s surface. For flat-roof installations, the solar panels must be less than 1m above the highest part of the roof.
• Roof-mounted installations must also be more than 1m away from the edge of the roof or wall joint. They absolutely must not protrude over the lip of the roof.
• If the installation will be located in a specially-designated area (such as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), solar panels are not permitted on the road-facing wall or roof slope.
• Commercial solar panels must be positioned to minimise intrusion on the aesthetics and appearance of both the building itself, and the general surrounding area.
• Any material or equipment that ends up being redundant or otherwise unnecessary during the construction or operation of the solar panels should be removed as soon as possible.

If your solar panels will be installed on sites of historical interest, such as listed buildings, ancient monuments or world heritage sites, planning permission will definitely be necessary – but it’s very unlikely that these descriptions will apply to a warehouse or factory. Our experts are always happy to advise on any requirements or planning permissions that might be necessary for your installation, whatever their size or scale – so if you have any questions or need any specific advice, please don’t hesitate to ask us!

The efficiency of solar panels is always measured in percentages. If we say that the sun produces 100% energy, solar panels for warehouses are generally capable of converting between 15% to 22% into usable energy for your premises. While those may sound like only marginal gains, trust us when we say that it’s enough to save you potentially thousands of pounds. (And of course, the technology is improving all the time!)

We know that the efficiency of solar panels for warehouses is one of the single biggest priorities for our customers. That’s why we make sure that every panel is subject to extensive testing before they’re released onto the market.

Specifically, industrial and commercial solar panels are tested to withstand:

• Wind
• Hail
• Snow and ice
• Chemical residue
• UV degradation
• Rain and humidity
• Insulation resistance
• Thermal cycling

Each of our solar panels is manufactured to exacting standards, and in addition to rigorous initial testing, we also provide an ongoing maintenance programme, helping to preserve optimum and efficiency for your panels.

At Low Carbon Energy, we have more than 35 years of experience delivering bespoke, cost-effective solar panel installations for customers across a wide range of key sectors, helping them to save thousands of pounds in operating costs while making a dramatic impact on their individual carbon footprints.

All of our systems are designed with industry-leading specifications, and we put our peerless expertise to good use by tailoring each system to a set of exacting requirements, ensuring that you get maximum reward from your on-site energy generation.

The depth and breadth of our in-house knowledge allows us to offer a fully comprehensive turnkey service, spanning from the initial planning stages all the way through to final execution. Our track record in our sector is second to none, and we have a long history of working with architects, lead contractors and building consultants, closely co-ordinating our approach to ensure that your project is done on-time and on-budget.

Once your installation is complete, we also offer a comprehensive service and maintenance programme dedicated to keeping your solar panels at optimal efficiency, so you can enjoy peak energy generation and maximum cost savings.

If you ever have any questions, concerns, or you need anything clarified, our experts are happy to answer in as much or as little detail as you need.

Give us a call today on 08456 808 963 (or the alternative number above if you’re based in Ireland) to discuss what we can do for your business. Alternatively, take a quick look through our case studies above to see what we’ve achieved for previously satisfied customers.