Thanks to the rise of solar energy, businesses are seeing falling costs and increased employment. Although this is exciting news, it’ll still be decades before every building implements eco-friendly energy practices. That said, it’s never too early to start making changes at your own facility.
There are two main reasons to consider solar energy. For one, it’s economically feasible.
Ensuring a structure is solar ready during initial construction helps reduce the carbon footprint of the building over its lifetime and lowers your power costs overall.
Additionally, it will allow you to take advantage of falling renewable energy prices in the future. After all, the cost of installing or upgrading critical components during original construction is significantly lower than the cost of performing those same upgrades after a building is already complete.
Although solar projects are appealing from a financial perspective, there are still many factors to consider. Before getting started, you’ll want to:
- Identify electrical panel locations for convenient interconnections, and keep space available in the electrical panel for a PV circuit breaker
- Specify panel capacity sufficient to accommodate the total power coming into the building
- Provide space and locations for the inverter and BOS components
- Install electrical conduits for the location of the proposed PV array
- Ensure your roof is capable of carrying the load of the solar equipment (usually between 3-6 psf), and include roof specifications on the record drawings
- Avoid shading from trees, buildings, etc., especially during peak sunlight hours
- Keep south-facing roof sections obstruction-free
- Check zoning laws and/or the master plan for the proposed site to ensure that future, neighboring construction will not cast shade on the array
Ready to get started? So are we! Call us today to request your consultation.
