Solar panel technology - what business opportunities does it hide?
For years now we’ve been told that renewable energy is the future, but we didn’t listen and now we’re paying the price. After Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, energy prices around the world started to soar and those who had already invested in solar panels started to feel more than a little smug. But it’s not too late. Indeed, there has probably never been a better time to invest in solar.
Why are solar panels becoming so popular?
Lower costs – While you will need to pay to set up the panels and the system than actually draws power from them, once everything is set up you are effectively generating energy for free. There are no ongoing costs to speak of and, best of all if you produce more energy than you need you can sell that energy back to the grid.
Environmentally friendly – Yes, there are a negligible amount of greenhouse gases generated by the manufacturing of solar panels but it’s minute when compares to other energy sources. As the technology continues to improve, this is bound to reduce even further.
Zero grid dependence – A stable and constant source of energy with no dependence on the grid means that even in the event of a power cut, you’ll still be providing power to your home. This can be particularly useful in the event of a crisis and with the energy crisis currently facing the UK, it would appear the time is right.
Tax incentives – In the UK you can choose to receive payments for every unit of electricity you produce for 20 years under the Feed in Tariff scheme. Note, however, that the rates are fixed once you’ve signed up for the scheme.
Solar business opportunities
As it has so much to offer and the market is expanding with such voracity, there are dozens of po-tential business opportunities presented by solar panels.
Solar system installation and repair – With so many households and businesses now interested in going solar, a solar panel installation service is an obvious business opportunity. Of course, you’ll need to research the market and you’ll need decent capital investment but it’s certainly a sector on the grow. Also, note that it’s important to invest in PPE for your workers when they are installing or maintaining solar panels.
Solar farm – Remember when we said you could sell energy back to the grid that you don’t use? If you have the space and the resources, why not take that idea to its logical conclusion, and build a solar farm? This can be used to generate energy that you can sell back to the grid or directly to energy companies.
Solar energy auditing – Whenever solar panels are being installed an energy audit needs to be taken to ascertain the basic energy requirements of the household or business that’s looking to go solar. This is a business that’s very easy to set up and you can even operate from home. You will need to do a lot of research though.