Commercial solar panels are amongst our several key sectors here at Low Carbon Energy, and we’ve got decades of experience in designing systems to maximise energy efficiency and return on investment for our customers. As you might expect, solar panels can have specific benefits for offices and commercial businesses – we’ll explore some of the main ones below!

Cost savings

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is one of the single biggest draws of solar panels for businesses. In offices, lighting and computers tend to be amongst the biggest users of electricity – while this energy use isn’t insignificant, it’s generally less intensive than specialist equipment or machinery you’d find at manufacturing facilities. This is good news if you’re an office-based business owner, as the relatively light energy usage means that you stand to make significant cost savings from solar panels. What’s more, most businesses are naturally active during the day, when solar panels typically produce the most energy, which puts you in an ideal position to offset your daily running costs.

Financial stability and energy security

Office-based businesses can be influenced by a whole range of outside market factors, and rising energy prices can have a particularly pronounced effect on overheads. As you’d expect, larger businesses, or those with premises spread across a wide area, are often notably affected. In addition to these regular price fluctuations, businesses occasionally have to contend with seismic economic events like Brexit. These sorts of occurrences often result in lots of market uncertainty, which can ultimately be costly for your business. Thankfully, this is where solar panels can help. Essentially, generating your own energy on-site decreases your reliance on the National Grid, effectively helping to insulate your business against price fluctuations and market uncertainty.

Carbon footprint and CSR

The UK’s collective carbon footprint is increasingly becoming a matter of national urgency, and businesses are under more pressure than ever to streamline their operations so they’re as energy efficient as possible. By providing a reliable way to generate clean, renewable energy, solar panels are fantastic for helping you to meet your carbon footprint targets. What’s more, they’re a tangible demonstration of your Corporate Social Responsibility, so they’re perfect if you frequently have clients or investors visiting your site.

Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme

While we’re discussing carbon footprints and energy efficiency, it’s worth highlighting the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme, or ESOS. In a nutshell, ESOS is designed to lead to greater energy efficiency, cost savings and carbon reduction in the business sector. It sets minimum standards for energy efficiency that are mandatory for businesses which meet the following criteria:

• 250 employees or more
• Turnover greater than £42.5m OR a balance sheet greater than £36.5m

Right now, ESOS is in its third phase, and if your business qualifies for the scheme, solar panels provide an excellent way for your business to meet the required standards. To answer a question no doubt forming in your mind – yes, ESOS was kickstarted by an EU directive, but it’s now technically underpinned by UK law. That means it’s not affected by Brexit for the time being, especially since we’re currently in the transition period.

These are just a few of the key benefits solar panels can provide to offices – for more detail, don’t hesitate to take a look at our commercial solar panels page, which also answers a number of common questions from our customers. We’ve got over 30 years of combined experience here at Low Carbon Energy, so you can count on us to design a system that’s specifically tailored for your premises. Feel free to give us a call today on 01282 421 489, and find out what we can do for you!