The following applies: If trade, commerce and industry use as much of the cheap solar power as possible, the total profit increases. In addition to the profit from the system, independence from the development of electricity prices increases, says Franz Pöter, managing director of Solar Clusters Baden-Württemberg. This enables company owners to better calculate their costs.
The state feed-in tariff for the solar power generated is currently around 6 cents per kilowatt hour for medium-sized roof systems. If you add the profit from the proportion of solar power you use yourself, you can still get an annual return of over five percent.
With 440,000 companies, Baden-Württemberg offers great potential: In addition to the mostly large areas on the roof, there are countless open spaces in industrial and commercial areas. The costs for solar power systems have fallen by around half in the last ten years. A commercial rooftop system currently costs between 800 and 1,000 euros per kilowatt of installed capacity, depending on its size. The solar power from the roof costs around 6 to 7 cents per kilowatt hour if it is operated for 20 years. Including maintenance and possible repairs.
Feed-in tariffs are not the only income. Since the companies usually use part of the solar power themselves, there are also lower electricity costs. In addition, the electricity demand of a company is covered by the solar power supply from the roof: the modules primarily supply electricity from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. In this way, companies can achieve self-consumption rates of 70 percent without solar power storage and achieve an attractive return.
If companies combine the photovoltaic system with a battery, this can be used for load management. In addition, solar power storage systems have recently become cheaper, larger battery systems have dropped from around EUR 1.00 to EUR 850. From March 2021, the Baden-Württemberg state government will support the installation of larger storage tanks. Other federal states also have funding programs.
Franz Pöter emphasizes: “You shouldn’t neglect the image gain either.” With a solar power system, companies have demonstrated that they care about climate-neutral business practices. A medium-sized solar system on commercial property with an installed capacity of 350 kilowatts avoids around 220 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
Source: Solar Cluster Baden-Württemberg / Delia Roscher
–
