Enhancing Solar Projects with Battery Storage

Investing in solar energy offers many benefits to companies. Investing in a solar energy system alongside a battery storage solution (referred to as solar-plus-storage) can help businesses maximize those benefits over the long term.

Learn more about how to maximize your company’s solar energy benefits with battery storage, saving money on electricity bills and reducing the risk of outages in the process.

Financial Benefits of Solar + Storage

Energy storage maximizes the financial savings of a company’s solar system through peak load shaving and demand charge reduction.

Since commercial and industrial businesses often have higher power demands at peak times, utilities stipulate the maximum amount of power they can use. If a company exceeds the maximum over an extended period of time, the utility may apply a demand charge.

Peak load shaving is the process of reducing energy consumption during times of high demand in order to save money on electricity. With a solar-plus-storage system, a company can charge their batteries during off-peak hours, then later discharge those batteries during peak hours when the cost of electricity is the highest.

Companies can reduce or eliminate the amount of power being purchased from the utility with a solar-plus-storage system. This is especially valuable considering that utility rates tend to fluctuate and rise over time across the country.

There are additional financial and tax incentives for both solar and storage, such as the Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The ITC is a federal tax credit for commercial solar projects, and more recently energy storage systems, that is applied to the business’ federal income tax return debt. The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act increased the ITC from 26 percent to 30 percent for projects under 1MWac, improving incentives for businesses to support energy transition goals.

The Inflation Reduction Act also created new bonus credits that can be added onto the ITC. Companies can now claim an extra 10% for using a certain percentage of domestically manufactured equipment, another 10% for being located in an “energy community”, and an additional 10% for being located in a low-income community. With the new bonus credits, companies can now potentially write off 60% of project costs.

Solar+Storage Leads to Reliable Operations

Solar systems with battery technology provide reliable and resilient energy.

Today, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to rising global temperatures. Unfortunately, extreme weather often leads to power outages, which can pose significant costs for businesses. According to the Department of Energy, power outages cost American businesses approximately $150 billion per year.

Solar-plus-storage systems improve a company’s resilience to power outages by providing backup energy when the lights go out. Solar power systems with battery storage help ensure business continuity, since operations can continue to run on the solar power stored in the battery. This is how companies can truly take advantage of all the benefits solar has to offer.

How to Start Using Solar + Storage for your Organization

Partnering with the right developer is the first step in making the most of your existing or upcoming solar and/or storage projects.

Safari Energy is the solar partner of choice for commercial and industrial customers, real estate owners, and public sector organizations. We work with clients to identify ways to integrate solar systems and batteries to best serve customer’s business needs and sustainability goals.