A new study indicates that UK businesses could save more than £5 billion each year collectively on their electricity bills by installing rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. By James Hunt:

This research, by Kingspan Energy, has revealed that the £5 billion savings would result from installing fully funded rooftop solar PV systems on commercial roofs. The study finds that installing solar PV on 61% of the UK’s 2,500km2 of south facing commercial roof space would meet the country’s total current electricity demand.

The study draws on Government figures and performance data from existing UK solar PV projects, and shows that British businesses of all sizes consumed 199,738GWh of electricity last year. Based on the average cost per kWh to UK businesses, this translates to a total bill of around £20.4bn.

The typical UK business having a half-hourly meter (effectively, says Kingspan, ‘any medium-sized business or larger’) could save £31,147 on annual electricity bills.

The organisation says that the total potential saving of using its fully funded solution would be equivalent to 12.97% of the UK’s annual corporation tax bill - equating to a cut in the corporation tax rate of 2.72%, from 21% to 18.28%.

Increased competitiveness

Commented Gilbert McCarthy, Kingspan Insulated Panels’ MD: “The economic case for solar PV is clear, especially with the removal of the capital cost barrier from the equation. The immediate savings produced by adopting commercial rooftop PV can only increase the competitiveness of UK businesses.

“When you consider the increased savings over time compared with the grid, the opportunity becomes even more compelling,” he said.

Government on board?

It is believed that Government ministers are now more keen on rooftop solar PV because its use reduces confrontation with the ‘nimbys’.

Speaking at the launch of what is believed to be the UK’s largest rooftop solar renovation project at Kingspan Insulation’s manufacturing plant in Selby, North Yorkshire, Amber Rudd MP, Minister for Energy and Climate Change, said: “Our solar strategy sets out our ambition for the growth of solar on roofs and brownfield sites and, as Kingspan has identified in its own research, the benefits from solar to business are huge.

“Its rooftop array shows how companies can benefit, by cutting costs and reducing emissions.”

This 2.5MWp system was installed as part of a wider programme of energy efficiency measures designed to make the organisation a Net-Zero Energy business – one that generates as much electricity as it consumes over the course of a year - by 2020.

In addition to the new rooftop solar PV system, other measures include a new energy-efficient roof and an LED lighting upgrade. In total, these are projected to save 79.2GWh at the site over 25 years - sufficient to power nearly 7,000 homes.

In another recent installation, Kingspan Energy fitted a rooftop solar PV system at Jaguar Land Rover’s new West Midlands Engine Manufacturing Centre.

This 5.8MWp system occupies 35,000m2 of roof space and is expected to generate 30% of the plant’s yearly energy requirements. This output, enough to power more than 1,600 homes, will be used on site to reduce the building’s primary energy consumption from the grid.

The system, which includes more than 21,000 275Wp polycrystalline PV modules linked together by over 100 miles of electric cable, is also expected to save over 2,400 tonnes of CO2 every year, the equivalent of burning 1,225 tonnes of natural gas.

See the study

Of course, many might argue that, since the study was ordered by Kingspan, which has an interest in installing solar PV systems on rooftops, it might use the data obtained to its advantage. Whether or not this is so, Voltimum UK users can make up their own minds by downloading the study using the link below (PDF – 2.6MB file size).