For small and big companies around the world, using clean energy and earning the title of ‘green brand’ became a competition. Learn how to save money on energy and improve your brand’s image in this article about solar panels for business.
Why your business should finally go solar
- Energy costs. Your office building likely uses lots of energy that costs your business a lot of money. Using solar panels helps lower those costs, even if they don’t cover all your electricity needs.
- Long-term investment. Solar panels eventually bring back the money you spent on them. How long it takes depends on where you are, how much electricity costs there, and the type of commercial solar panels you use. In the USA, on average, it takes about 7-8 years for panels to pay for themselves. They usually last around 25 years, so they’re a good investment for your business’s future.
- Brand image. When you install solar panels and use clean energy for your business, it makes your business look good. Using renewable energy shows that you care about the environment and are helping fight global warming.
Solar power incentives for businesses
Businesses, nonprofits, local and tribal governments, and similar entities can benefit from two tax credits when they purchase solar energy systems:
- The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) reduces federal income tax liability by a percentage of the solar system’s cost installed during the tax year.
- The Production Tax Credit (PTC) is a tax credit per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for electricity generated by solar and other qualifying technologies during the first 10 years of operation. It also lowers federal income tax liability and is adjusted annually for inflation.
Typically, project owners cannot claim both the ITC and PTC for the same property. However, they might claim different credits for co-located systems, such as solar and storage, depending on guidance from the IRS.
Solar systems placed in service from 2022 onwards and starting construction before 2033 are eligible for a 30% ITC or a 2.75 cents per kWh PTC if they meet labor requirements set by the Treasury Department or are under 1 megawatt (MW) in size.
How much do commercial solar panels cost?
For commercial installations, engineers commonly pick high-output and bifacial panels. While they are more powerful than standard solar panels for home, the price is often comparable. The reason for this is that with solar panels for commercial systems, there is less emphasis on the design, efficiency and individual properties of a single module. In the US, solar panels are steadily getting cheaper but the price of installation labor goes up. With Chinese solar panels, you can see the cost of commercial solar panels floating around $0.5 to $0.8 per watt.
Double-glass modules are ideal for maximizing the power output of a ground-mounted solar installation when space is limited. With the added benefit of bifacial gain, bifacial panels can achieve efficiencies exceeding 27%, surpassing the highest conversion rates of monofacial panels. Bifacial modules account for 30-50% of all installations in the United States, primarily in utility-scale PV systems that comprise over 70% of installed capacity, as reported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Despite being about 5% more expensive than standard monofacial panels, bifacial systems generate 6-10% more energy.
Factors that impact the cost of commercial solar panels
The price of your installation depends on a variety of factors, such as
– System size. The larger the project, the more panels you’ll need and the higher the labor charges will be.
– State solar policies and incentives. Charges for solar permits and inspections vary across the states. While all commercial solar systems are eligible for the Federal Solar Tax Credit, some states offer their own smaller local incentives and rebates for solar owners.
– Type of panels and brand. The cost of solar panels for a commercial building is based on whether you choose polycrystalline or monocrystalline, monofacial or bifacial modules. Brand plays a big role in forming the price. Chinese solar panels are the cheapest. American-made PV modules are about 20% more expensive on average. Solar panels from Europe tend to be 30-40% more expensive than Chinese ones.
Commercial solar systems are more expensive than residential ones but mostly because they are bigger. The cost of commercial solar panels is, however, lower per watt because of the economies of scale.
How commercial solar panels are installed
Commercial solar systems are often ground-mounted because you can’t fit a large PV project on a roof. The only exception would be the flat roofs of supermarkets, restaurants and office buildings. Ground-mounted and flat roof installations allow more freedom in planning: you can set the angle and direction of solar panels to your preference and maximize the production using bifacial modules.
In general, commercial solar systems take much longer to build than residential PV installations. A home solar system can be installed in 2-4 weeks from planning the system to putting it into operation. With a commercial system, the process takes months and sometimes over a year. The reasons are the scale of the project, the permitting process which probably takes the longest and common supply issues.
