Commercial solar panels themselves are not necessarily different to residential solar panels and differences are more to do with how the overall system is configured. In many cases a commercial solar panel system will need to provide greater power than residential solar panels and probably for longer periods of time.

A commercial venture that produces products may be using very high powered manufacturing equipment that has to run all through the business day or even 24 hours a day. The number of solar panels and the power ratings required are more likely to be much higher for commercial solar panel systems than for residential systems.

An average home can be supplied with power using anything from a 10 to 20 solar panel system offering 2kW to 4kW of power for prices around £3,000 to £8,000. Commercial ventures such as Worthy Farm (Glastonbury Festival) require more than 1000 solar panels generating 200kW of electricity and costing in excess of £500,000. Of course, Worthy Farm is an extreme example as it is the largest private solar panel system in the UK.

Commercial Solar Prices

A commercial solar panel system could be as small as 4.0kW if the power requirements are low enough or the solar panels are to only provide power for particular appliances. A 4kW commercial solar panel system could cost around £6,500 in the UK.

A 5kW system could be used for a an office powering several laptops, a printer and low energy lighting such as LED bulbs and cost in the of £10,000 to £12,000. An example of a larger sized commercial solar panel system would be a 10kW system costing around £20,000 in the UK including delivery and installation.

A larger system of 35kW can comprise of 125 x 280w solar PV panels which would obviously need a substantially sized building to position the panels on the roof top, or the land available to install them on the ground. A 35kW commercial solar panel system will cost around £60,000 in the UK but can earn owners £4,500 a year from savings and income from Feed in Tariffs.

Places for Commercial Solar Panels

Commercial solar panels can be roof mounted or fitted to the ground as with a Top of Pole or Adjustable Tilt Array configuration. They can be fitted on factory roofs with a Low Profile Tilt or as a Flat Roof configuration where more of a tilt is required.

A Fascade installation configuration is used to fit solar panels fitted to the front of a building to capture light falling on the front of buildings facing due south. Solar farms use commercial solar panels usually floor mounted on Top of Pole configurations or Adjustable Tilt and a large majority produce solar electricity mainly for profit.

Commercial Solar Panel Suppliers

The UK does have many suppliers of commercial solar panels but finding the right one with enough experience to advise you on the correct system design for your needs is more difficult. Many will use calculations deriving from a chart that they downloaded from the internet and may not take commercial solar panel system design as seriously as they should.

Using an experienced solar advice and information website with years of experience of working with the top MCS accredited solar energy companies, could be the best way to find qualified commercial solar installers in the UK.