Why Rooftop Solar Power System Essential for Warehouses?

by Jack Dolson SEO

An overview

Warehouses normally have large areas of rooftop space that are not utilized & houses an extensive lighting and refrigeration assemblies. Warehouses are generally located in and around off-grid or grid-scare locations, making them heavily dependable on diesel power. Rooftop solar for warehouses is an exceptional source of power with many benefits but there are a few constraints that should be taken care off before taking a decision on the configuring rooftop solar power system.

Rooftop solar power can meet up to 20% of a warehouse’s electricity requisites. If your warehouse has a lot of diesel consumption for power generation, rooftop solar can reduce that up to 15% on your diesel bills, subject to load shedding .100 SF of shade-free rooftop space can provide 4 kWh of solar power on an average/day.

What are the advantages?

Rooftop solar plants are capable to deliver power during load-shedding and making sure that critical loads are always running. Rooftop solar power has a cost of Rs. 8/kWh (or less), relatively lower compared to diesel costs at Rs. 18/kWh (or more). Additional your energy cost is now fixed for the next two decades, unlike diesel power which keeps rising. A solar power plant has no moving parts, ensuring reliable power. A solar plant requires very little maintenance from the energy consumer. Solar panels can be installed on different kinds of roofs, including metal roofed warehouses, as long as the structure/mounting points can bear the weight of the panels. They are also very much scalable, with ranging in capability from more than 1 MW to less than 1 kW

Constrains involved.

While warehouses usually have large roof spaces, the nature of the roof may make them unsuitable for solar installations e.g., some warehouse roofs have portions with transparent roofing to enable natural lighting. Solar panels cannot be installed on the transparent portion of the roof as the panels will block the light. The weight of the panels on the transparent roofing is also an area of concern Roof requirements are discussed in detail here; a rule of thumb is that you will need about 100 SF of shade-free roof area for 1 kW of solar panels. The inadequate available area will mean that the capacity of the solar plant that can be installed on your roof may be sufficient enough to meet only part of your electrical load. When evaluating the available roof area any alternate uses of the roof, including seasonal usage, should be kept into consideration.

Solar power is dependent on the sun shining, and output varies depending on meteorological conditions e.g., passing clouds can temporarily reduce the solar plant’s output. Hence solar power for significant equipment should be used in combination with another power resource.
Solar power is only available when the sun shines hence in the night time, applications will require other sources of power.

Cost Involved.

The cost involved in the rooftop solar plant including subsidies and returns from substituting diesel is explained further. According to the thumb rule, a 1 kW solar plant that generates 4 kWh of solar power per day (on average) will cost around Rs. 1 lakh (without considering subsidies, including installation charges but excluding batteries). Batteries may add around 30% or more to the cost of the plant, depending on the required battery backup.