The Benefits of Solar Energy for Commercial Buildings

With how popular solar is becoming, it's not surprising to see more businesses across Canada taking advantage of solar energy for commercial buildings.

There are a number of reasons why a commercial business would want to install solar to start generating their own Energy.

If you're not sure whether or not solar energy is worth it for a commercial business, let's take a look at the 5 benefits that commercial property owners will enjoy by going solar here in Canada.

The Benefits of Commercial Solar for Businesses

Financial Savings

The bottom line is what's most important from most commercial businesses. This is what makes commercial solar so lucrative.

By taking advantage of solar panels for your commercial business, you're able to offset your utility bills and generate electricity for a much lower cost.

With the amount of energy commercial businesses are using, these savings will quickly add up.

Commercial businesses will typically see a return on their solar Investments of between 8 and 12 years, depending on the number of different factors, though this is the average.

It's also worth noting that energy prices will continue to rise, so by investing in a solar panel set up for your commercial business today, you're offsetting your future costs. 

Energy Independence

Another benefit for commercial businesses taking advantage of their own solar panels is that they will be able to enjoy energy Independence.

While many commercial businesses won't be able to run completely off of solar energy, at least not currently, having any solar setup helps to provide you with reliable backup power in case of an outage.

This is almost essential, as power grids and infrastructure across Canada continue to age and become even more susceptible to storms and other weather or environmental events.

Rather than having to rely on a service provider, such as the provincial or federal government to provide you with power, you can tap into your own power source that's autonomous from the grid. When you look at taking advantage of a solar panel setup as well as solar batteries, you're almost guaranteed a 100% uptime even if the local infrastructure is crippled or the grid goes down.

On-site storage isn't necessary, simply having the panel's generating power is more than enough for most businesses, but it's just another factor to consider if you're looking at energy Independence and making the most of your solar investment. 

Increased Property Value

Whether you're a commercial business that owns the property, or you own a property with a commercial business on it, installing solar panels helps to increase the resale value of your property.

It's also a factor that can reduce the amount of time your commercial property remains on the market.

With a solar system installed, future buyers are happy to pay a premium for utilities that they only need to maintain and upkeep, rather than invest in and install on their own.

Any prospective buyer we'll be able to enjoy lower utility bills and carbon offsets from the day they purchased the property.

Considering how long solar panels last, up to 40 years or longer, the benefits of such an investment can help repay Property Owners exponentially. 

Environmental Savings

It's hard to ignore the fact that there are also environmental savings when you're generating your own electricity from solar power.

With a solar set up you don't need to rely on coal, fossil fuels, or other harmful sources of electricity for your commercial business. T

his way you're already set up to take advantage of the clean energy that your commercial property is already drowning in everyday, the Sun. it's also worthwhile to consider other Energy Efficiency improvements throughout the solar process.

All of these Investments help to shrink your carbon footprint and a lower energy use will result in needing less panels, lowering your Investment and increasing your return in the future.

 Corporate social responsibility

There is definitely a trend towards sustainability and social responsibility for commercial and corporate businesses.

Getting ahead of the game and investing in a commercial solar setup can help you generate more sales and makes it easier to build stronger business relationships.

Customers, your vendors, suppliers, and even local governments are likely to be aligned with your values, especially when you're focusing on sustainability and making an effort to protect the environment.

While there are a number of different ways to prove that you are committed to the environment, installing solar panels on your commercial property makes the most sense from an investment, profitability, and ease-of-use standpoint.

How Can Commercial Businesses Pay for Solar PV Installation?

As a commercial business, the main drawback to funding the solar panel installation is where you will get to the financing from.

Many solar installation companies won't be able to provide loans or assistance to commercial scale projects. Instead, you'll have to come up with the cash or take advantage of low-interest loans in order to fund a solar project.

Businesses with the cash to pay for the project upfront will see the benefits of this investment the soonest. There will be no interest payments oh, no need to worry about financing, and the payback for the return on investment will be the shortest.

The other alternative is taking advantage of a low-interest solar alone. Of course, this depends on banks, the credit availability for your commercial business, and a number of other factors that make getting a loan for commercial solar power slightly more difficult.

While you'll start enjoying all of the commercial solar power benefits immediately, you won't see your return on investment for a slightly longer period of time, once the loan is repaid. 

Where To Install Your Commercial Solar Panels

We have found that the best place to install commercial solar panels is on a pitched south-facing roof that can accommodate a reasonable number of panels to provide Power for your business.

Understandably, not every commercial property is going to be able to meet these requirements.

Thankfully, it's possible and straightforward enough to install solar panels across a range of different configurations in a set up that you’ll be able to take advantage of the financial and environmental savings.

Some popular locations for commercial solar panels include on flat roofs, on pitched roofs, on carports, or ground mounted systems in low traffic areas.

There is always space for solar panel installation, it just depends on the space available and your Investments to determine how worthwhile it will be and how much electricity you’ll be able to generate.

Take Advantage of these Commercial Solar Benefits Today

It's hard to ignore all of these various solar benefits for commercial businesses.

Here at Sunly we work with commercial businesses just like yours to provide quotes, guidance, financing help, and walk you through the path towards installing a solar set up.

If you're interested in getting solar power for your commercial business, don't hesitate to contact us today!