Considered solar 5 years ago

Sustainability — sponsored by Blue Diamond

If you’re a savvy hire and rental business owner looking to cut costs and better your bottom line, you will no doubt have investigated solar energy. But just as you and your customers adapt to new technology, better efficiency, and higher demand, so too has solar, which has continued to change and adapt at a record pace.

Options you explored five years ago may be considered relics in comparison to what’s available today.

Choice Energy prepared the following update for Hire and Rental Magazine, to help you re-evaluate going solar today.

A wider market

Commercial solar energy’s popularity has brought more manufacturers to the party, offering a range of budget to premium options in both commercial and residential solutions.

Like all machinery and appliances, you get what you pay for. While cheaper components are available and may knock a few hundred dollars off your panels and system, the past five years has proven where the real quality lies. A commercial solar system is designed to last 20 to 25 years, making it a long-game investment for significant savings on energy bills. Just as you invest in tools and machinery that can go the distance for your customers, solar functions similarly: invest in quality and reap the rewards for years to come.

Understanding quality and receiving support also requires certified experience and expertise. According to the Sunny Side Up report from the Consumer Action Law Centre, close to 700 solar companies have gone out of business since 2011. This leaves around 650,000 Australians with no assistance or recourse if their systems fail, and no answers about output. The past decade has challenged the longevity of ‘cheap as chips’ companies, revealing firms like Choice Energy as those invested and available when it comes to the long-term run of your solar system.

Here’s what’s changed and why solar could stack up for your hire business now.

Maximising output

Like all burgeoning tech, solar panel output met challenges in the past, that are now resolved with clever and affordable options. One critical advancement is optimisers.

Optimisers allow your solar system to overcome previously common issues with underperforming cells or panels. Once, a single panel in a semi-shaded spot would compromise the output of the entire system. Now, a range of Panel Level Optimisers (PLOs) reduces this block by allowing the system to disregard the feedback from that reduced panel.

Solar Panel Optimisation means your new system can work harder to push up that output and potentially cut costs further. For hire businesses needing to maximise their rooftop footprint, this can be a game changer at locations challenged by neighbouring buildings or overhanging trees.

Government support

Investing in solar energy has gained support from the government for some time, but recent circumstances have made solar even more affordable. The Australian Government’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) offers two types of Technology Certificates, which act as a rebate on a solar system, giving an immediate discount.

The Instant Asset Tax Write Off (IATWO) scheme is a layer added to offer further affordability to solar, not seen five years ago. This tax write-off revision gives options for businesses, including the investment in your renewable energy solution. The IATWO allows businesses to write off the full cost of a commercial solar system installed and operating by June 2023 and was raised to an unlimited amount for purchases made after October 2020.

Sustainability — sponsored by Blue Diamond

Rising electricity costs

As solar prices have dropped, electricity costs have climbed at an alarming rate. Even if the price of solar panels and systems remained consistent, electricity prices are going up, year on year. Like most volatile markets, there are moments of relief. Most evident was the recent drop in the wholesale electricity price during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the trend shows an unrelenting mark upwards, especially in comparison to inflation in other markets.

Thanks to a range of causes, the cost of commercial solar has fallen in the past five years. A more competitive market, technology updates and engineering innovations have seen a reduction in cost, especially when coupled with government incentives. Hire and rental businesses are now able to make the most of a supported, affordable solar industry in contrast to a rising electricity market.

If it’s been a while since you’ve considered solar, you could be missing out because solar has continued to innovate, making modern solutions more effective and less costly. As Australia sees a continued rise in grid energy costs, solar is a proactive step in protecting yourself from a further pinch. Choice Energy is an Australian owned and operated energy management firm and HRIA’s energy partner. Learn more about how high quality commercial solar could save you at www.choiceenergy.com.au.

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Without an optimiser, a partially shaded panel brings down the output of all other panels

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FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSE ONLY Optimisers reduce this issue and allow panels to act independently