A Complete Guide To Commercial Solar Panels: Costs, Benefits, And Guidelines

Commercial solar panels are a fantastic financial investment and environmental benefit for your businesses. They bring substantial savings on energy bills, and those who adopt commercial solar panels for their business can expect stable, double digit returns over the next 30 years.

In addition, they’ll drastically reduce your business’s carbon footprint. A typical 250 kWp solar PV system, i.e., a system that can generate 250 kilowatts of power at peak times, has the potential to offset approximately 54 tonnes of CO2. For context, that’s the equivalent of driving 300k miles in a car.

These statistics alone demonstrate why commercial solar panels are a no-brainer for businesses, but they represent a whole host of other benefits, as we’ll explore further down.

If you’re looking to join the ‘rooftop revolution’ but don’t know where to start, we’ve got you covered. As one of the UK’s leading solar panel companies, we’re perfectly positioned to guide you in the right direction.

Our article details everything you need to know about commercial solar panels, covering project development, installation, maintenance, and everything in between.

What are commercial solar panels?

Commercial solar panels are the industrial application of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels that work by generating electricity from the power of the sun. Capturing daylight and transforming it into electricity these panels can be used in a variety of commercial and industrial applications pre-dominantly “behind the meter” i.e. for consumption of the electricity on site.

By generating clean, low-cost electricity on-site, you’re reducing the amount of electricity you use from your electricity supplier. You can also sell any excess energy you produce and don’t use back to the National Grid.

Commercial solar panels can be applied in a variety of ways, but the most common is rooftop solar panels, which are mounted on the rooftops of commercial buildings. They make use of space that would otherwise be unused and are ideal for businesses with large roofs, such as factories, warehouses, and office buildings.

System sizes vary depending on numerous factors, including rooftop space available, electricity consumption needs and financial resources.

In 2024, commercial solar panels are typically 1.7m tall x 1.1m wide, weight around 20kg and deliver 400-500 watts per panel and are installed in quantities of hundreds, if not thousands and sometimes tens of thousands.

How much do commercial solar panels cost?

Let’s start with the two words nobody ever wants to read when looking for a straight answer to a straight question — it depends.

Namely, it depends on the size of your rooftop solar system, i.e. the number of panels you install at your premises, the health & safety considerations and integration into your building’s electricity supply. These are just some of the factors that influence the cost of commercial solar panels.

We mentioned kilowatts peak (kWp) in the introduction, and this is a significant metric in the context of a solar panel’s cost. kWp is the rate at which commercial solar panels generate energy at peak performance, i.e., during a sunny afternoon at optimal temperatures.

A 250 kWp solar system is designed to produce up to 250 kilowatts at peak performance. Using this example, if you installed a 250 kWp system at your premises, this would typically require around 500 panels at 500w per panel.

However, as a ballpark figure, businesses in the UK can expect to spend the following on commercial solar panels:

250 kWp solar system comprising over 500 panels will likely cost around £200,000.

500 kWp solar system comprising over 1000 panels will likely cost around £400,000.

1,000 kWp solar system comprising over 2000 panels will likely cost around £750,000.

Although these figures may appear significant, you’ll make your money back faster than you might think. It’s fairly typical to break even in less than five years, and benefit from long term stable returns for decades to come. Solar power is the cheapest electricity in history, according to the IEA, making it significantly cheaper and cleaner than generating electricity from fossil fuels.

We’ll explore the financial benefits of commercial solar panels further down.

How can I pay for commercial solar panels?

Typically, commercial solar panels are funded in one of three ways.

Capex

A Capex (capital expenditure) investment is where a company will invest its own money to install commercial solar panels.

As a result, the company will reap the full rewards of investment with the energy produced by the solar panels being essentially free, leading to substantial long-term savings.

The payback periods typically range from three to five years, with the prospect of double-digit returns and an equivalent electricity rate of 3-5 p / kWh.

Asset finance

Asset financing is different from Capex in that no money is paid upfront. Instead, your business borrows the money or leases the commercial solar panels, paying for them over a set time period or ‘term’.

Typically, asset finance is repaid over a five to ten-year period. This setup allows you to preserve your cash flow for other expenses whilst still experiencing the long-term financial and environmental benefits of commercial solar panels.

The equivalent electricity rate under an asset finance agreement is 5-7 p / kWh.

Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)

A PPA is a contractual agreement between two parties, typically a renewable energy producer and a consumer.

Under the terms of a PPA, the producer owns and operates the solar system on your roof and will sell you back the power produced at a discounted rate compared to your grid supplied electricity.

Such an agreement typically lasts between 15 and 25 years with the producer in essence, acting as a tenant on your roof space giving you the benefit of cleaner, cheaper power. At the end of the PPA term, you have the option to either extend the PPA under similar terms or buy the solar panels for a nominal fee — usually £1.

The solar producer is incentivised to ensure the system performs as its optimum to maximise their returns which also maximises the buyer’s cost and carbon savings.

A PPA delivers economic and ecological savings from day one at the equivalent electricity rate of 7-10 p / kWh.

Final considerations

Solar panels do need regular maintenance, which have ongoing operation and maintenance costs implications. These costs apply to all funding options except for the solar PPA, whereby the operational expenditure is covered by the funder.

If you’re looking to invest in solar power for your business, it’s well worth exploring what potential grants or forms of tax relief are available. Your company may be likely to benefit from Enhanced Capital Allowances which can make a significant impact on the financial business case for investing in commercial solar panels.

If you’re interested in exploring finance options, we work alongside a select network of solar finance partners who can provide tailored solutions to meet your objectives. To find out more, contact us at: info@inecoenergy.com.

What maintenance do commercial solar panels require?

Commercial solar panels need regular maintenance to optimise energy generation and protect your investment. Monitoring is the foundation of a maintenance package to ensure that your system is available to generate, any faults are alerted and swiftly resolved with your system primed for peak performance.

Annual testing & inspection of the system will provide an opportunity to check the system and prolong the longevity of components. Often we get asked if solar panels need cleaning, which ultimately depends on the site specific environmental factors, as outlined in a separate blog: “do solar panels need cleaning?”

Without these maintenance services, all kinds of potential issues could go unnoticed. If not addressed or minimised over time, these issues could lead to serious problems further down the line if regular maintenance isn’t carried out.

That’s why solar installers like us offer solar panel maintenance packages to businesses, to give them total peace of mind.

As an example, we inherited a system from a client whose installer had gone bust and hadn’t maintained their system for over a decade.

This lack of maintenance ultimately led to system failure, which lost the client £300k in annual savings as repairs were being made. An annual maintenance package of £10k would have mitigated most of the issues which led to this point.

Commercial solar panels are exposed to the elements, and, like all electrical components, can fail over time, even in spite of their reliability. But in an ideal world, a panel will work to its optimum at all times, particularly during the peak generation window from spring to autumn.

Maintaining your system enables you to get the best possible return on your investment by drastically reducing the risks of failure over its lifespan.

How do I choose a commercial solar panel installer?

As we’ve explained, choosing a reputable, trusted commercial solar panel installer is the difference between getting the best return on your investment and losing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

But how do you know what a ‘trusted’ solar partner looks like?

We’ve heard many horror stories of companies coming and going from the solar market and burning their clients along the way.

With this in mind, you have to ask yourself these important questions when you’re talking with a potential installer:

How long has the company been around?
Does the company have a proven track record in delivering projects like yours?
Does the company have the necessary accreditations to complete the required work?
Do you trust the company to deliver for you?
Do you think you could work with the people involved?

These are some of the qualifications and accreditations to look out for:

Electrical – NICEIC, NAPIT, ECA
Solar – MCS, RECC, SEUK
Health and Safety – SafeContractor, CHAS, Constructionline

By knowing the answers to the above and you should hopefully protect yourselves from getting burnt.

We have written a blog “8 key considerations for commercial solar panels” to provide the key considerations if investing in commercial solar panels.

Are commercial solar panels worth it?

Our answer to this question should hopefully be self-explanatory by now, but, in short — yes.

Energy from commercial solar panels costs a fraction of what you’d spend with a utility company, and you could make savings of hundreds of thousands of pounds every year by making the switch. Depending on the size of your system and your energy usage, you could be looking at savings in the tens of thousands.

You can also recoup money by selling excess energy back into the National Grid, as we explained above, which, again, can result in huge savings across a year.

And the best part is, you’ll reap these rewards over a sustained period, provided you take good care of your solar system. The typical lifespan for commercial solar panels in the UK is between 25 and 30 years, with some older systems still generating 40 years later.

From a sustainability perspective, commercial solar panels will reduce your carbon footprint and empower you to lead the push for climate change. By producing your own clean energy, you’re protecting the planet from fossil fuel production, which creates air pollution and generates toxic emissions.

So what’s the catch? Well, solar panels are intermittent they don’t always generate when you want and at present you may not be able to get enough capacity on your roof to meet your needs. However, with the evolution of battery storage technology many people are now becoming completely self-sufficient. Generating power from the ultimate energy source, the sun and storing it for when you need it is a booming global industry as we transition towards a cleaner, cheaper electricity system.

Overall, commercial solar panels are a long term, stable investment opportunity that supports long-term cost reduction, sustainability goals, and environmental credentials.

Conclusion

Commercial solar panels bring a myriad of benefits to businesses. But in order to fully realise these benefits, you need to select a trusted solar partner.

They will help you access the right funding options and use their engineering expertise to guide you through the grid process, providing proactive solutions to any challenges that may occur.

Furthermore, they will design your system right first time, install it to the applicable standards, and maintain it on your behalf throughout its lifecycle. Resulting in a profitable investment that delivers a win-win business case.

Need commercial solar panels for your business? Reach out to Ineco Energy today

We design, supply, and install commercial solar panels for businesses in the UK. Established in 2016, we have since saved thousands of tonnes of CO2 and delivered huge cost savings for our clients.

We specialise in providing commercial solar panels for the rooftops of various commercial and industrial applications across the UK along with solar carports, solar canopies, and ground mounted solar farms amongst other technologies.

Furthermore, we hold all the necessary accreditations, including NICEIC, MCS, Safe contractor, CHAS, and Constructionline, so you can rest assured we abide by strict professional and health & safety standards.

To speak to us about your installation project, reach out to us on 029 2002 1777 or email info@inecoenergy.com.