The report found that British businesses could save over £5 billion per year in electricity bills, at current price and consumption levels, by installing fully-funded rooftop solar PV systems on south-facing commercial roofs. The total annual saving would be equal to 12.97 percent of the UK’s annual corporation tax bill, which would be effectively equivalent to a cut in the corporation tax rate of 2.72 percent (from 21 percent to 18.28 percent. The total annual saving on electricity bills would be equal to 0.32 percent of UK GDP and the average British business with a half-hourly meter could save £31,147 on annual electricity bills immediately with no capital outlay.
Just 61 percent (1,525 square kilometres) would need to be covered with solar PV systems to meet current annual business electricity demand.
“The case for commercial rooftop solar PV has so far rested primarily on the green credentials of the technology” said Gilbert McCarthy, MD of Kingspan Insulated Panels. “The lack of a definitive case for short-term return on investment on the capital costs of installing rooftop PV has been a barrier to widespread uptake. We believe that there is now a clear and compelling economic case for its adoption. The cost of solar PV panels has plummeted, and even though Feed-in Tariffs have been cut, the potential savings versus rising grid-based electricity bills have increased.”
Mr McCarthy added that energy security is a growing concern for UK businesses, particularly with regard to geopolitical instability and the threat of future blackouts.
These concerns inspired Kingspan to launch its fully-funded solar PV solution for commercial rooftops which, according to the company, eliminates the need for capital investment and removes the final barrier to widespread adoption.
Mr McCarthy said that the opportunity to the UK of commercial solar rooftop PV is vast, even without taking into account the inevitable long-term price increases of traditional grid-based power. The potential to make existing buildings in the UK more energy efficient to reduce electricity consumption would make the impact on UK PLC even more remarkable.
Kingspan says its solar PV solution allows businesses to immediately benefit from reduced electricity bills, index-linked to inflation, and reduced supply risk - without any capital or maintenance investment whatsoever.
Kingspan Insulated Panels is a division of the Kingspan Group. It specialises in the design, development and delivery of advanced building envelope products and solutions including rooftop solar PV systems. Another division of the Kingspan Group, Kingspan Energy, provides fully-funded solar energy solutions for industrial and commercial buildings, offering businesses low-carbon energy generation with no upfront capital investment. Its solutions include 25-year guarantees and free monitoring and maintenance. The company has previously delivered rooftop solar PV systems for Jaguar Land Rover and also the Kingspan Insulation plant in Selby, Yorkshire, the UK’s largest rooftop PV system refurbishment.
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