Commercial Solar
Solar PV Systems are one of the best investments a business can make today.
The Government pays for about 1/3 of your investment. That’s Free Money.
Where else can you get Internal Rates of Returns from 38% to 26%
Installing a Commercial Solar PV System Reduces Electricity to 4.8 c/kWh
Water and Energy Savers have and are providing advice on, designing and installing Commercial Solar PV systems to significantly reduce electricity costs for poultry producers, wineries, plastic manufacturers, warehouses, motels, laundries, shopping centres, schools, colleges, clubs, food processors, manufacturers, office warehouses and health clinics.
Most clients start with a 30 kW Commercial Solar PV system, as we can get quick approval from your network provider for commercial PV Solar systems up to 30 kW. Once the electricity cost savings are seen, generally within a week, clients quickly expand their Solar PV systems to their maximum roof capacity available or 100 kW. Where roof space is limited, a number of clients have opted for ground mount systems to realise the maximum savings available.
Commercial Solar PV systems over 100kW may be classified by ORER as a small scale power station. Exemption can be sought, but takes time and delays your opportunity to access the electricity cost savings available now.
If you do not have the capital available now, commercial finance is available from a variety of sources. Generally the monthly lease costs are less than the electricity cost savings and the electricity generated over the next 20 years is essentially free.
How to get started?
Either call us on 1800 1 Solar or 08 9386 2366 for a preliminary discussion or better still send us an email, solar@water.net.au or wes@water.net.au with your contact details and site address and we will contact you.
If you want to advance the process and have a more detailed discussion, email solar@water.net.au or fax us a copy of your last 12 months of power bills (08 9386 2366) and we will undertake a free analysis of the opportunities available and calculate the payback periods and internal rate of return on your investment.
Once you are convinced the electricity cost savings are there we will attend your site, undertake a detailed assessment and provide you with a quotation based on our findings and your electricity bills.
We estimate that there is a 6 month window before the cost of Commercial Solar PV systems start to rise again. Silicon prices are starting to rise, hence, solar cell prices will rise, and/or the electricity retailers start to take actions to reduce their loss of revenue due to Solar PV system generation.
Be one of the smart business people that get in before the window of opportunity closes.
Cost of Electricity Generation using Commercial Solar PV System
The cost of Solar PV System generation has now dipped below the cross over point where it is cheaper to produce your own electricity from your own commercial Solar PV System than paying your electricity retailer every month.
Why has this occurred? The prices of Solar PV systems have reduced due to a fall in silicon prices, there is over capacity amongst wafer and cell producers. Most importantly electricity retailers and network providers have been skimping on maintenance or have had artificial price limits imposed on what they can charge. The price rises you have seen over the last two years have a further 5 to 7 years to go before they level off. Commercially they will get worse as business starts to subidise domestic customers.
To avoid being hit with a further 50% price rise over the next 3 to 5 years, take advantage of the situation. Generate your own electricity and lock in your electricity tariff by installing your own Commercial Solar PV system.
Water and Energy Savers have a planned maintenance program available for all Commercial Solar PV systems we install. It is to our advantage to ensure your Commercial Solar PV system is performing and producing at its maximum yield possible.
Accountants generally use two methods of measuring the feasibility of an investment, whole of life and payback period – Whole of Life Analysis and Payback Periods and Internal Rate of Return.
• Whole of Life Analysis
Over 25 years the cost of producing electricity from your own Solar PV system is in the range of 4.8 to 6.2 cents/kWhr compared to 28.2 to 41.2 cents/kWhr which most primary producers, manufacturers, educational sites and commercial companies are currently paying. The beauty of installing a Commercial Solar PV System is that the price of generating 4.8 to 6.2 cents/kWhr remains fixed for the life of the system, generally 25 years.
• Payback Periods and Internal Rates of Return
Most Commercial Solar PV systems have a payback period ranging from 2.6 years to 3.8 years, depending on system quality and roof type and space available. Once the system is paid off, all electricity produced is essentially free.
Typical internal rates of return on Commercial Solar PV Systems range from 38.5% to 26.3%.
In most states, any power fed back to the grid attracts a feed in tariff of 6 to 8 cents/kWhr, for Solar PV systems up to 100 kW, which is approximately equal to the cost of production so any feed back to the grid also pays off your Commercial Solar PV System. I some states this can be as high as 25 cents/kWhr.
System Sizes
Subject to roof space and electricity consumption, Commercial Solar PV systems generally range in size between 30 kW to 100 kW.
Most clients generally install a 30 kW system, to confirm the savings (typically 15% to 20% of demand), and have asked that we plan and design for a 100 kW system so that additional capacity can be added with minor infrastructure upgrades in the future. We do not generally recommend you aim for 100% replacement as you need a backup system and your existing electricity supply is the most cost effective backup system available.
In Victoria a 100 kW Solar PV system will provide a peak production of 520 – 550 kWhr/day in summer and an average daily production in the range of 330-350 kWhr/day over the year, depending on the quality of the panels and inverters used.
We suggest that you start with a 30kW system to prove to yourself that what we advise is correct. We can get quick approval from your network provider to install a 30kW system. Larger systems have longer approval times.
System Costs, Quality and Yield
Solar PV Systems have three critical parts – inverter, wiring and solar panels. Water and Energy Savers use only premium quality inverters such as SMA, ABB and Fronius, irrespective of the quality of panels a client chooses. The difference in cost between premium inverters and other brands is generally less than 10%.
Solar panels can be classified as premium, high quality, economic and never touch. The difference in the panels is related to the quality of construction and quality of the cells and hence yield or electrical output of the panels. The higher the quality of the panel used the higher the yield. Over a 25 year system life yield becomes an important factor. Quality is generally reflected in the cost of the panels and thus the final installed cost of the Commercial Solar PV Systems.
For large systems, system losses are also important. Distances to sub boards and distribution boards and wiring thickness become important and affect yield. Water and Energy Savers designs each Commercial Solar PV system for each site to maximise yield.
As Consultant Engineers, we generally recommend the high quality or premium panels for Commercial Solar PV Systems.
Copy of Power Bills
We can provide a more detailed analysis of benefits, payback periods, Internal rate of return, net present value and optimum system size once we have analysed your last 12 months of electricity bills. If you can arrange for your staff to forward copies of these bills, both pages, and particularly the page that provide details of the tariff charges and usage, we can run these through our analysis models and forward you the results.
Funding
Most clients have indicated that they can source the funds to pay for the solar PV system. If capital funds are not immediately available there are a number of funding and leasing options available which can be used under a “Payment by Savings” arrangement. The power savings can be used to pay off the Solar PV System on a monthly basis over an agreed period generally matched to the payback period. This allows the purchase to be placed under the operating budget rather than capital budget. Once you have paid the system off all power generated is essentially free other than a small annual maintenance cost. The maintenance cost is included in the internal rate of return calculations.
Meeting and Initial Onsite Inspection
Water & Energy staff are available to meet with you to discuss the advantages of installing a commercial Solar PV System and undertake an initial site inspection.
We recommend that now is a great time to take advantage of the opportunities available to reduce and fix your electricity costs to as low as 4.8 cents/KWh for the next 25 years.
Contact us now!
Email: info@vic.water.net.au or solar@vic.water.net.au
Melbourne: 1800 1 Solar Adelaide: 1800 1 Solar Brisbane: 1800 1 Solar
Sydney: 1800 1 Solar Perth: 1800 1 Solar or 08 9386 2366
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