What is the process to installing a high quality solar power system for a commercial business?

When designing a commercial solar system, consultation with the client is of utmost importance. We analyse the customer's energy bills and consumption and approach their energy retailer to get interval data from their meter. This data is then analysed using our software to design a system that caters to the customer's specific requirements. We then pair it up with their power rates and design the system to export just a little bit more to allow for some extra growth in the business.

Once the design is complete, we work with structural engineers to ensure that the system fits on the roof. The installation team then completes the design and sets up the monitoring portal which allows customers to monitor their energy usage and make changes to ensure cost savings. Commercial businesses benefit greatly from solar as they operate during the day, which is when solar has the greatest impact. For businesses with stable energy use, such as cold storage facilities, we try to maximise the solar output during the daytime.

So our job with the design phase of every commercial solar system starts with consultation with the client. And we talk about their energy bills, their energy consumption. We then approach their energy retailer to get the interval data out of their meter. So the interval data comes every 15 minutes from their meter, and then we analyze that through our software to design a system that specifically suits that customer requirement. Then we pair it up with their rates of power and design the system so that it exports just a little bit to allow for some extra growth in the business. Once we've designed all that out then we work out if it fits on the roof.

We talk to the structural engineers and then following that, look, once we've got approval for all those sorts of things with the distributor network and things like that and we get the installation team in to come and complete the design. The final step of the process is to set up the monitoring portal. We offer an online monitoring portal that comes free with every system. It will monitor what the solar's producing and also what the site is consuming and when, which is the important bit. And that way you can analyse some of your equipment. You can make some tweaks and changes that may make some more cost savings that weren't obviously apparent at the beginning.