Solar power and small business savings

Q&A with Sally Hunter; founder of Geni.Energy, ahead of the Small Business Bill Saving Forum.

1. How are small businesses in Narrabri LGA going with their costs?

“Narrabri Shire businesses use a lot of electricity.”

“They are the highest consumers per business in the whole of the Essential Energy network, using an average of 398 kilowatt hour per day, compared with the network average of 141 kWh per day.

So often electricity is one of the biggest costs to a business.

“Electricity costs are going up so this cost will be increasing for our businesses.”

2. How does solar help reduce costs?

“Many businesses use the majority of their energy during the day, so they are perfect candidates for solar. Solar production is highest between about 9 am and 4 pm.”

“Businesses who use electricity during this time consume the electricity that they produce from their own system for free, instead of importing it from the grid and paying retail rates of 30 or 40 cents per kWh.

“Of course, there is an upfront cost to installing the system, which is why different finance options are useful.”

3. How long does a solar system take to pay off?

“For most businesses, the savings made from not having to buy electricity from the grid during the day offset the initial cost of the system.”

“The businesses we talk to usually save enough off their original bill to have essentially paid off the initial cost in four or five years.

“The panels have a 25-year warranty, and the inverter has a 10-year warranty, so the daytime energy is still free for those next years.

“However sometimes the initial cost is hard for a business to come up with, so finance options can help.”

4. What will people learn at the free event on Thursday, October 19 at 6pm at The Exchange?

“Businesses can hear from and speak to a range of finance providers. They can hear about the tax advantages and possible grants as well as ways to pay off their solar systems over time.”

“Businesses can get finance arrangements whereby their payback amount for the system is similar to what they would have been spending on their electricity bill anyway, but paying off their system until they own it.

“This allows businesses to have no upfront cost and have no greater cost than they would have had anyway. Then in a few years they own it and are generating free electricity during the day.”

5. What does the future look like?

“Businesses are being forced to consider their carbon emissions by their markets, customers, suppliers and sometimes even their staff.

“Using renewable energy for their electricity can have one of the biggest impacts on their emissions as well as on their budget.

“The future will also see businesses using electric vehicles and more energy efficient machines.

“Installing solar now helps businesses to start to understand their energy use and can help them get creative about other ways to save. Renewable energy now makes up one third of the electricity grid and is now the cheapest way of generating electricity.”