Industrial solar installations – dos and don’ts for facilities managers

If you run an industrial facility you’ll be well aware of the benefits of grid-tied solar PV solutions. Running cheaper and more efficiently than utility-provided power (such as Eskom), solar PV provides substantial savings for industrial facilities as a source of reliable alternative power. However, there are many solar companies purporting the benefits of solar power, and not all facilities managers are able to discern the best option for their facility. The below guide highlights 5 dos and don’ts for facilities managers to ensure that the procurement of solar is an effortless one.

Do: Practice due diligence when procuring solar PV.

Procuring solar PV is a 25 year decision. If chosen correctly, solar PV can provide 25 years of affordable and clean energy to your industrial plant. As such, it is important that the procurement process is done thoroughly and due diligence is practiced. It can be easy to rush into buying solar – particularly when the savings look promising. However, practicing due diligence when procuring solar will pay off in the long run. Start by asking a few simple questions about the solar PV procurement.

• What is the objective of the PV system? If you are using it to save money, are you looking to make operational savings through a Power Purchase Agreement, or add value to your building through acquiring a solar asset? Perhaps a bit of both?
• If you are looking to buy a solar system outright, do you have sufficient finance to do this? Is a PPA a better option for your business?
• What is your typical energy load, and how much of it occurs during the day? Setting up metering can really help in determining what the right sized solar PV system would look like. 
• Where would you place the solar PV system? Although wheeling arrangements allow power to be generated in a remote solar PV facility, the majority of small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) occurs on site. Having either a stable roof or a suitable piece of land is an important consideration when writing up your request for solar quotation.

Do: Get a reputable company to carry out your industrial solar installation

The most important part of your decision will be based on getting a reputable company to build the industrial solar installation. This means choosing a company with a solid track record of solar projects, particularly in industrial facilities. The chosen company should be able to get good prices on high-quality solar components such as modules; design efficiently and thoroughly, and carry out construction safely and within the budget and timeline. 

If you’re opting for a solar PPA option – where you don’t own the solar PV facility but simply buy the energy that it generates – you’ll want to ensure that the company you choose has sufficient available finance to build and maintain the system. Making sure that the company has credentials to stick around for the full term of the PPA is important.  Make sure that the solar PV service provider can meet basic requirements, such as:

• Design credentials. Does the company have the relevant design experience and credentials to effectively design a PV system for your site? 
• Adherence to minimum standards. In South Africa, this includes adherence to all relevant SANS codes, and ensuring that items such as wind load calculations are carried out according to SANS standards
• Compliance with Municipal and National electricity standards municipal/eskom standards, including carrying out the relevant application processes to ensure that the PV system is legally compliant (such as Small Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) applications)
• Ensuring that a Practicing Engineer (Pr. Eng) is able to sign off on the system design and construction, yield estimation accuracy, 
• Qualified site supervision, and construction that complies with all Occupational Health and Safety standards

Do: Compare Apples with Apples

Getting comparative quotes is always recommended: it helps you to compare different solar PV companies and pricing, which helps to make a better decision. However, make sure to compare apples with apples when comparing quotes. It is important to consider that different PV companies structure their pricing in different ways, so be sure you understand exactly what each company is offering before comparing their pricing. 

When comparing proposals from various companies, consider the following: 

• Equipment selection: the selection of tier 1, quality equipment will likely push the price up slightly, but it will mean that the system is better able to perform over its 25 year lifespan.
• Inverter and panel derating characteristics: the derating of inverters and panels will affect the ability of the PV system to produce power over time
• The sizing of the PV system: Is is optimally sized in order to meet your load requirements? A system that is too large or too small won’t save you the optimal amount of money. A slightly higher AC-DC ration will also affect price.
• Lifetime savings and guaranteed savings: make sure you compare these two metrics, as the initial EPC price might differ but offer more in the way of lifetime savings, etc.  
• Total guarantee/warranty package, insurance and liability: what parts of the system are insured and have warranties? This will affect the costs of upkeep and maintenance of the system. 

If you are thinking of entering into a solar Power Purchase Agreement (eg. buying solar energy directly), consider the following when comparing quotes:

• The length of the PPA. Generally, the longer the PPA, the more affordable the tariffs will be. The length of the PPA will need to suit your business’s needs over the long term, considering things like whether the business would like to take ownership of the PV system.
• The tariff escalation. At a first glance, a PPA tariff might appear higher, but it will have a lower escalation throughout the length of the PPA. Understanding the escalation is important to consider
• Any upfront payments – again, a lower tariff might be because of a large upfront payment, so it is important to consider when comparing quotes. This is also the case with any bullet payments during the term or at the end of the PPA. 
• Whether insurance and part replacement is included in the tariff. Again, a lower tariff might have excluded these items, making the costs more over the long run.
• Forex – how forex is calculated and included on the agreement will affect the price. 

Don’t: Delay the solar procurement process

As much as it is important to practice due diligence when procuring solar PV, delaying the process unnecessarily is also seriously detrimental to the solar PV process. Solar PV savings start from day 1 – meaning that delaying the process is also delaying the cost savings. If the process is delayed, there could be unnecessary complications and expenses, such as 

• Availability of the construction team and build schedule – most companies have tight timelines and their availability could mean that the process is further delayed if your project is not booked into the build schedule timeously.
• SSEG applications – delaying choosing a solar PV provider can result in a delayed SSEG application, which can result in delays to switching the PV system on (and thus benefiting from the clean energy that it provides!)
• Structural assessments – delaying the procurement process can also affect the structural assessment process, which is an essential part of rooftop solar PV systems. This can result in an overall delay of constructing the project. 

Dont: forget to calculate your cost savings through solar – both monetary and environmental 

At the end of the day, the solar PV system will save your business significantly in terms of operational costs. However, there is also significant benefit in terms of environmental savings. Keeping track of the carbon emissions savings is an important way to acknowledge the value of the solar PV system. 

Making sure that you have a competent Operations and Maintenance Service Partner will ensure that you can keep track of the relevant cost savings on a monthly basis and ensure that the plant is performing optimally. This can help to diagnose and solve any issues early, saving money for your operations.

If you have opted for a solar PPA, ensure that your partner provides you with carbon emissions savings with your monthly invoice, so that you can use the data when calculating your overall carbon savings. Solar PV is a choice that not only saves money – it is a conscious choice that ultimately will sustain generations to come. It’s something to be proud of, and use in your marketing strategy.

In conclusion, solar installations are useful for industrial facilities. Saving costs and carbon, they are a surefire way to increase cost savings. Following the above dos and don’ts will ensure that your solar installation is ultimately the right fit for your business.