There are a few factors to consider for company’s Solar system sizing:

• How much electricity your operations uses throughout the day,
• What time that consumption is at its peak.

These 2 give us your ideal solar sizing, however we will also have to assess your company’s roof space and general facility infrastructure to identify the practical sized solar system for your location. The greater the available roof space, the more Solar panels that can be accommodated, the greater the savings potential. Determining your optimal solar sizing is a simple process of identifying your total energy use, and then subtracting available rooftop space. Secondary considerations include panel efficiency, roof orientation, and any possible shading impact.

Every client is unique; to determine your potential savings, we have to consider several factors including:

• The optimal sizing of Solar system for your operations; the more Solar panels that can be accommodated, the greater the savings potential
• You daily consumption of grid electricity
• Your utility (KPLC or other) electricity charges
• Applicable taxation incentives on the Solar system investment
• Your location, and the average amount of sunlight received per year From there we can calculate your potential savings.

In the early days of the solar adoption many decades ago; solar panel and other component pricing were very expensive. Since then, there has been major technical advances in Solar technology, along with a very gradual reduction in solar pricing. In the last few years especially, pricing and technology have remained relatively stable. Solar panel performance is now very efficient, any most industry experts agree that any future technical advances are likely to be more incremental. Additionally, consider increasing KPLC/utility prices, plus national solar incentives, such as VAT exemption, that may be removed in the future. With these in mind, how much money does your company stand to lose while waiting for marginal improvements in pricing and efficiency?

Most of our client’s buildings have been compatible for solar, however we conduct our own reviews to be sure. Our site assessment includes:

• Confirmation with an independent structural engineer that your roof is structurally sound to bear the weight of the Solar System before proceeding with our technical design stage. If the roof is not recommended to be structurally sound; straightforward and inexpensive roof reinforcement works usually rectifies the issue.
• Verifying the roof space is enough to accommodate the solar panels and racking mounting system.
• Lastly, if you are leasing the building; you must ensure to get approval from the building owner.

The most critical factor in going solar is ensuring you have a reputable partner to simplify the process and make it easy for your company to transition to renewable energy. We pride ourselves in our turnkey Solar solution that removes the technical and financial constraints of adopting Solar energy. Our process is designed to ensure a smooth installation process from beginning to end:

• Consultive Sales: Ensuring our proposed Solar solution for our clients is optimal to their unique needs and budget. We agree on Solar components, preliminary Solar sizing, agreement and action on purchase option decided.
• Site Review: This is the pre-planning phase CP Solar performs a physical evaluation of the proposed site, including all utility interconnects. We also ensure an independent assessment on the structural integrity of the roof, prepare preliminary designs and sizing, and discuss final terms on Solar financing.
• Engineering & Design: Proposed concepts and plans are formalized into technical design drawings. Once agreed to by client, these drawings are considered final, and construction begins. CP Solar will also submit for necessary permits and approvals required.
• Installation & Commissioning – Timeline dependent on sizing and complexity of project. CP Solar ensures careful planning to minimize disruptions to client operations. Upon commissioning and final testing, we handover to client
• Operations & Maintenance: This is our final phase, and longest phase, as it covers the life of the solar system. Our affordable O&M contacts will ensure longevity and optimal performance, including our post-commissioning remote monitoring where we ensure your solar system is performing well; our team is readily available for troubleshooting incidents as they arise.

As with any major investment in an electronic item, it’s important to ensure it’s well made, has a good reputation for reliability and, most importantly, will have a long-lasting high performance.

Solar is a significant investment in your company’s energy savings, and we want to ensure the Solar panels used in our projects will keep producing electricity for the expected lifespan of 25 years, and that the manufacturer offers good warranty coverage. For these reasons, we only use Tier 1 Solar Panels for our Solar installations, including our preferred SunPower Solar Panels, recognized amongst the best globally for efficiency rankings and an exceptional 25 year warranty on both product and performance.

Other factors impacting the selection of panels include size, price, wattage, durability, and manufacturer stability are all important considerations when evaluating the best fit. Our experienced commercial team will be able to explore the various price options and savings scenarios to ensure the best fit for your company.

Solar panels generate the most electricity when they receive intense, unobstructed and direct sunlight. Cloudy, rainy, and darker days will therefore generate less electricity. However our exclusive SunPower Solar Panels uses “cells with a unique one-of-a-kind design that capture a broader range of the sun’s light — including red and blue wavelengths. They make more energy than conventional panels on a cloudy day, making them a good choice for cloudy climates or if trees partially shade your roof during certain times of day.” Please check this link for the full article source.

Short answer: No. With a grid-tied system, Solar does not generate electricity when there is a grid failure or disconnection. This is an important safety safety feature as during power outages, utility repair crews safety can be threatened if there is a local power generator (such as a solar system) sending power back into the grid lines. For this reason, we design our solar systems to automatically shut down during outages.

For clients needing full energy reliability, and experience significant downtime due to blackouts, we do have options that allow for continued solar energy savings during grid failure. Please contact us for further information.

We offer 3 financing options for our clients:

1. Outright Purchase: Client purchases the solar system as per CP Solar’s quotation, using Capital Expenditure.
2. Pay As You Save: We leverage our relationships with different lending institutions to offer our clients green financing at a competitive interest rates. In many cases, it allows for the loan repayments to be made from the monthly energy savings generated by the solar system.
3. Power Purchase Agreement (PPA:) CP Solar installs and runs the solar system and sells the power consumed by the client at a discount on KPLC/utility rates.

As with any significant investment for your company; there will be associated costs to ensure the continued performance and reliability of your Solar system including:

• Maintenance: Our Annual Maintenance Contract is an affordable measure to ensure your Solar investment. For warranty purposes, it is recommended only licensed, qualified personnel attend to the routine servicing of the delicate electrical components. Damages from interference by non-qualified parties to the Solar System can void any warranty coverage on the Solar Panels and Inverters.
• Insurance costs for the Solar System should be considered upon commissioning, and we highly recommend for our clients the “all risk cover” to include fire and perils.

CP Solar ensures your panels are properly installed and offers affordable maintenance contracts to ensure they remain in peak performance. Our Maintenance team comprises fully qualified technicians, and once the Solar components are adequately serviced, none of then should pose any danger or risks.

We have worked with over 60 commercial and industrial clients, with sizing from 30KW to 1.5MW on a single project, and are happy to share referrals from other companies in your indistry. Contact us today by clicking here!

Yes. You can power your home or business on Solar energy during the day while your Solar battery is charging. Any excess energy created will then be discharged at night. Provided there is enough battery storage capacity, you can power your home like this for a long time.

Battery backup solution is best for facilities in areas with no grid by providing continuous power supply throughout, these includes hotels, lodges, restaurants, camps, and all other hospitality facilities.

However, given the expense of battery backup power, we recommend it for critical loads only, especially if you have a fairly reliable power source (utility or other.)

There are 2 main battery options available in the market, lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries.

Lead-acid batteries are the oldest solar battery and have one of the lowest lifespans and Low depth of discharge (DOD) at 50% and below in the market. They cost less up front, but they have a shorter lifespan and require regular maintenance to keep them running properly.

This type of batteries also requires a lot of space for installation when used in C & I and Utility solar systems.

Lithium-ion batteries are a premium solar battery type with higher depth of discharge (DOD) at up to 90% and above. They are much more expensive up front, but they are maintenance-free, more efficient and have a longer lifespan.

Lithium-ion batteries are rated in higher capacities (kwh) and hence less installation space.

These types of batteries are best for C & I and Utility Solar Systems in areas with weak or no Grid.

Lithium-ion batteries have longer life span of up to 10-15 years. Lithium-ion batteries with big capacities (e.g. 200kwh- 3Mwh) are available in containerized systems hence easy installation and configuration. Most Lithium-ion batteries have online/ remote cell monitoring systems.

Lithium-ion batteries are available for use in high voltage systems of up to 1000VDC Bus system voltage hence lowers cost for Battery cables.

Basically, the cost of all solar systems varies with the system size. As a result, the higher the energy demand (kwh) the higher the battery bank capacity needed and higher system cost.

Whilst battery storage costs have been on the decline the last few years, it is still considered an expensive investment compared to a grid-tied Solar system. Many factors need to be considered for final sizing and determinant costing, including electrical load, consumption patterns, battery manufacturer, battery type, battery size, solar system size and the amount of sunlight at your location. Contact us today so we can help you determine your ideal storage solution.

Everyone’s energy consumption patterns differ across users, so there is no simple answer to this question without more information on your energy use.

The first step when sizing a battery system is to determine the required amount of energy storage, usually measured by kWh per day. The minimum value can be calculated based on the wattage and runtime of all critical or potential loads to be supported by the solar battery storage system. The final battery sizing can be adjusted based on budget and operational needs (daily operations vs backup power.)

You can also average the kWh based on recent utility bills. This will give an idea of how much energy from the grid your business uses; this is the energy that a solar battery solution will fully or partially replace.

If you already have a Solar system, you will likely need to add additional solar panels to increase the solar energy available to charge the battery storage solution.

This depends on the battery sizing and the relative electrical loads it supplies. Most home-owners and businesses prioritize critical loads for battery storage, enough to power for a few hours to overnight. Your needs may be different, Contact us so we can help you determine your ideal solar battery requirements today.

Yes, it can if your battery has that setting. At CP Solar, we are very familiar with this design configuration.

In most solar battery backup solutions, grid is used as a backup source of power. During the day the solar PV inverter powers the loads and excess power goes to the batteries, when the loads’ power demand goes down, all the power available from solar will be used to charge the batteries and when there is less power from the solar e.g. during cloudy days and batteries have low state of charge (SOC) the inverters then charges the batteries from the grid. During days when batteries were fully charged, batteries will be powering the loads during morning hours before the sun rises.

Depending on the system design, batteries can be recharged at night with other AC source of power including utility grid and diesel generators and not from the solar PV modules since there is no sunlight at night hence no solar output from the solar modules.

Lifespan of solar batteries depends on the type and individual usage of the batteries. Basically, for lead acid batteries have lifespan of up to 3-7 years depending on the battery brands. Also, the usage of the batteries determines their life span, i.e. lead acid batteries should not be drained above 50% DOD and should be maintained regularly as stated by the manufacturer. If the systems owner violates these, lead acid batteries as a result have lower lifespan.

Lithium-ion batteries have longer lifespan of up to 10-15 years depending on the battery brand and usage. These batteries have longer lifespan and more cycles as compared to lead acid batteries.

Most of the solar batteries are not allowed to be exposed to direct sunlight and rain hence are recommended to be installed in an enclosed place. However, high rated capacity Lithium-ion batteries are available in a containerized cage and hence can be installed outside without any harm.

There are several factors that impacts on the lifespan of solar batteries both negatively and positively. Generally, the following factors may impact negatively on lifespan of solar batteries;

• Under charging and over discharging of batteries- batteries have limits for maximum charging and discharging, when one of these are violated, this results to lower batteries lifespan. The batteries should have enough solar power to fully charge the batteries. Also, batteries should not be over discharged beyond the allowed limits depending on battery brand.
• Wrong/poor batteries installation and configuration- when batteries are not properly installed and configured, this may result to faulty and damages on batteries cells hence lesser lifespan.
• High room temperature – solar batteries should be installed in a well-ventilated area this is to make sure that batteries lifespan is not cut short by higher temperatures and heat buildup.
• Small/wrong battery cables sizes- batteries should be connected with proper sized battery cables to minimizes loses and overheating of the cables that may results to damages of batteries terminals.

At CP Solar, we are very familiar with battery design and configurations, and work directly with manufacturers on best practices and techniques for installation, Contact us today to get your customized quote for an optimal solar storage solution