Rooftop Solar Will Help With Recession

The U.S. economy has remained on one of the greatest bull runs in history, but with mostly stagnant wage growth, increasing interest rates and record-high asset prices across all asset classes, it’s poised for a possible fall. No one understands how long the ride will keep going up, and many smart small businesses are supporting themselves for the downturn. Companies are increasingly turning to rooftop solar to reduce vulnerability to economic downturns by establishing both fact over and reduction in energy prices.

Businesses frequently are turning to rooftop solar to reduce vulnerability to economic downturns and increase savings on power.

Small businesses are used to working in a world of uncertainty. Defined by the Small Business Administration (PDF) as firms having 500 or fewer employees, small businesses face many of the same challenges as large corporations but without the promise of being "too big to fail." And everyone ought to care — most businesses are small, and they account for 99 percent of all U.S. businesses.

The business of rooftop solar have changed dramatically over just the past few years and, by now, those small businesses that haven’t embraced it are denying themselves an excellent risk management tool that may help them better endure the next economic downturn, while boosting profits before, during and understanding.

For power spend, small businesses are no joke. They spend more than $60 billion a year on energy, according to Energy Star (PDF), and the average commercial building wastes 30 percent of its power.

Unbelievable, I know, but the good news is there’s ample room for improvement, with higher building efficiency coupled with solar come great savings. At Carbon Lighthouse, we typically find that between 10 and 30 percent of a commercial building’s power spend can be decreased by improving the efficiency of existing equipment.

Efficiency Of Solar

Since 2010, the cost to install solar has dropped by more than 70 percent, according to Solar Energy Industries Association. Not even the Trump Solar Tariff has significantly driven up the costs of rooftop solar. That’s pretty awesome.

What isn’t awesome is that many small businesses still view solar projects as a nuisance rather than a source of great value. That’s because, historically, these projects were expensive upfront, had long payback periods, were disruptive to operations and took a long time to build. This was a major turnoff that still prevents small businesses that otherwise may have embraced solar and caused them (reasonably) to run for the hills.

Part of the problem lies in the fact that most solar firms are primarily interested in selling as much solar as possible. The bigger the array, the bigger the payday for them. But for the client, this means higher costs and longer permitting and construction times — and a longer payback.

Pairing Efficiency

Pairing energy efficiency with solar can reduce the number of panels needed by 40 percent.

Some companies include energy efficiency with solar and focusing on the overall energy savings and economics of a project rather than trying to maximize the number of panels installed; our engineers typically reduce the number of panels required by up to 40 percent. This allows us to a size smaller arrays, lowering costs by up to a third while delivering the same or better effect on the customer’s electricity bill. All with a much quicker turnaround.

There’s also the issue of energy production other leading solar providers back a guarantee by monitoring and taking actions to correct deviances long after the panels are installed. In this way, small businesses take less risk when adopting solar projects, which in turn allows them to make use of this excellent risk administration tool.

Just make sure, and promise us here at HahaSmart you will have a look at what we can offer you on the cost of solar panels and cost of solar installations. We will strive to find you the best prices available. Follow the solar experts. Try our price checker tool. It tells you how much solar power you need and how much you can save on your energy bills each month.