Solar for Businesses

Commercial solar refers to the installation of a solar system on a variety of commercial business and organisations rather than on residential homes. These organisations range from small local businesses to large corporations, shopping centres, schools, universities, sporting clubs, government buildings, churches, and even not-for-profit and associations.

The installation of commercial solar system for a business works in a similar way as it would for a residential home but just on a larger scale, i.e. it works in conjunction with the business’s existing grid electricity supply. When the system generates electricity, the commercial solar power system directly offsets the amount of electricity the business needs to purchase from their power provider, thus reducing their electricity bill.

For businesses that have commercial solar systems of 30kW or more installed, a Grid Protection Unit should generally be installed after the inverter and before the grid. This protection unit includes anti-islanding protection, and over/under voltage, current and frequency protection.

To measure the efficiency of a commercial solar panel, we must look at its ability to convert sunlight into useable electricity which is determined by their components, configuration, technology and composition. That said, the majority of solar panels installed throughout Australia operate at an efficiency between 17 to 19%. Although this might not seem like a lot, it was only a decade ago that they were closer to 11%.

If you’re interested in learning more about the efficiency of solar panels, there is quite a lot of research being done to improve commercial solar panels, specifically the cells within them. In fact, recent studies suggest that silicon cells have the potential to reach up to 30% efficiency while other emerging technologies are achieving an efficiency rate of almost 50%.

The installation of commercial solar panels generally takes between one to three days, depending on the size of the system required by the business or organisation. However, there are also other timeframes to factor into a commercial solar system installation such as finding the right solar installation company, the site visit by one of their consultants, filing possible permits with the local government authorities and submitting the necessary documents to the utility company.

If you’re wondering how long it might take to install commercial solar panels on your business, be sure to call our friendly solar experts on 0410 658 790 and we can provide you with a quick estimate over the phone.

The cost of commercial solar panels will depend greatly on what size system you choose for your business. Prices will vary from installer to installer however, as a rough guide a typical commercial solar system costs around $1 per watt once installed. So for example, a 30kW system will cost on roughly $30 000, and a 100kW system will cost roughly $100 000.

These prices should be used only as an estimate as simpler installations can be much cheaper whereas complicated projects can become more expensive. Below are some of the factors that go into pricing a commercial solar panel installation:

• The height of the roof (Is the system for a one story building, a multilevel warehouse or for a beach from high-rise)?
• The complexity of the solar panel layout.
• How easy is it to access to the roof (Do we need an elevated work platform or a crane)?
• How old the switchboard might be (Does it need upgrading)?
• Where the inverter is located?
• How much cable needs to be run?
• Are there obstacles on the roof or shading?