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Solar panels reduce the amount of electricity purchased when production matches consumption. A battery can shift energy over time, alleviate certain peak loads, and provide flexibility. It is only when these functions are coordinated toward the same operational goal that the solutions begin to work as a system.
There is a clear limitation. The battery can offset part of the difference between solar production and load, but not throughout the entire season. Summer surpluses cannot be stored for winter in a standard commercial battery storage system. Even over the course of a single day, power output, energy capacity, and charge level impose limitations.
Therefore, anyone planning solar energy systems for commercial properties and industrial facilities needs to analyze them in conjunction with the facility’s energy load. Similarly, energy storage at the facility must serve a clear purpose. The fact that two technologies can be combined is not, in itself, a reason to invest.
When solar power generation exceeds local consumption, the battery can store part of the surplus for later use. This can increase self-consumption and reduce the amount of electricity fed into the grid.
The value depends on the price difference between electricity used on-site and electricity exported, after accounting for losses and wear and tear. If the facility already has a high daytime load, a large portion of the solar power is used directly. In that case, a battery may have limited utility specifically for storing solar power, even if it serves another purpose.
That’s an important point to consider. A higher rate of in-house use looks good on paper, but it isn’t a goal if the cost of achieving it is higher than the benefit.
A battery can supply power for short periods when grid draw increases. Under the right grid contract, this can affect the cost of power. Solar panels can simultaneously reduce grid draw during daylight hours, but are less helpful if peak demand occurs early in the morning, late in the evening, or during winter months when production is low.
The shape of the peak plays a greater role than its highest point. A battery with high discharge power may still be too small if the peak lasts a long time. If that same battery is also supposed to store solar power, the control system must ensure that sufficient capacity remains when the peak occurs.
Using measurement, forecasting, and control, the system can adjust charging and discharging based on solar production, electricity prices, grid conditions, and the facility’s priorities. Under certain conditions, the battery can also be used for flexibility markets or ancillary services.
In this case, the estimate tends to be overly optimistic. Market revenues vary, and capacity reserved under a contract is not simultaneously available to meet the property’s peak power demand. Fees, eligibility requirements, availability, and revenue sharing must be factored in from the outset. Read more in SBP’s guide on reducing your company’s costs with energy storage and ancillary services.
Electric vehicle charging, heat pumps, and electrified processes can cause power demand to change more rapidly than the grid connection can be expanded. Solar panels and batteries can provide more flexibility during certain hours. However, they do not always replace the need for a larger grid connection.
If the new load is high and prolonged, the battery will run out of power. It will also need to be recharged. The analysis should therefore compare storage with grid reinforcement, load management, and adjusted operating hours. For charging infrastructure, electric vehicle charging under the Chargeflow brand can be planned in conjunction with local production and storage.
Annual consumption reflects volume, not timing. A decision-making analysis requires hourly or quarterly consumption data, information on peak power loads, grid fees, electricity contracts, planned solar generation, and known changes in operations.
For industrial companies, shift operations, machine startups, and process interruptions can alter the picture. A peak that occurs only during a specific production sequence cannot be understood based on an annual average. Power quality requirements and the consequences of a control error must also be known.
In commercial real estate, a different kind of friction arises. Tenants may have their own meters, different operating hours, and agreements that determine who pays for the electricity and who reaps the savings. A technically sound solution can be difficult to justify financially if the benefits accrue to a party other than the investor.
The condition of the roof should also be factored into the schedule. If the roof membrane needs to be replaced soon, it is often better to coordinate the work than to install solar panels first and then remove them later. As for the battery, factors such as placement, space, fire safety, cable routing, and the grid operator’s requirements affect both cost and implementation.
A control system can charge using excess solar power, maintain capacity in anticipation of an expected peak demand, or respond to other price signals. But every decision has consequences.
If the battery is fully charged after a sunny morning, there is no room for additional surplus energy. If it is depleted too early, there will be a shortage of energy when the day’s peak demand occurs. If capacity is allocated to an external service, the building’s own needs may be given lower priority.
The decision-making documentation should therefore specify a main strategy and what happens if the forecast proves inaccurate. It should also clarify who is authorized to adjust the management approach when electricity prices, rates, tenants, or production change. Without clear operational responsibility, optimization can easily become something that worked during the initial launch but gradually lost touch with the actual operations.
Offices, retail spaces, and logistics facilities may have steady daily consumption, but they can also experience peaks due to cooling, ventilation, or charging. In such cases, the battery’s role may lie more in power management than in storing large amounts of solar power.
The metering structure and lease agreements must be clear. If the property owner pays for the system but the tenant reaps all the benefits, a business model is needed to address this. Otherwise, the problem is not technical but contractual.
Starters, ovens, compressors, or parallel processes can create spikes that strain the connection. A battery can sometimes provide backup for short periods, while solar panels reduce the amount of energy purchased when they are generating power.
The sizing must account for the duration of the peak, not just its maximum value. The operations team also needs to know what happens if the battery is out of service or has an incorrect charge level when the process starts. Production requirements take precedence over a theoretically optimal battery curve.
A real estate company with multiple properties can apply common principles for procurement, data, and monitoring. This does not mean that all locations should receive the same package. Load, ceiling height, utility connections, and development plans vary.
A better approach is to prioritize the projects where the combination has the clearest use cases. Lessons learned from the first phase can then improve the requirements specification for the next phase, without turning a single facility into a general template.
The value of directly used solar power, stored energy, and power management should be reported separately. This will make it clear if the same benefit has been counted more than once. Also include efficiency, degradation, maintenance, insurance, control systems, and future component replacements.
Use multiple scenarios for electricity prices, grid fees, generation, battery usage, and operating costs. If flexibility revenues are included, the calculation should show what happens when the compensation decreases or the availability requirements become more stringent. It should also show how an outage or a change in load affects the outcome.
An in-house investment may be suitable for companies that want to own the system and have the necessary capital and management capacity. Energy-as-a-Service can reduce capital tied up in the system and consolidate financing with ongoing obligations. In both cases, the contract term, indexation, guarantees, and terms and conditions in the event of changes need to be reviewed.
With Energy-As-A-Service, solar power, battery storage, and charging can be implemented with lower initial capital investment and clear overall responsibility. A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA ) is a relevant model for comparison, but SBP does not offer PPAs as a standard arrangement. Financing does not resolve the issue of incorrect sizing.
Solar panels, batteries, the electrical distribution panel, the grid connection, the control system, and any chargers all affect one another. Separate contractors can work, but someone must be responsible for the interfaces. Who handles communication with the grid operator? Who is responsible for fire safety, integration, testing, monitoring, and troubleshooting?
SBP’s comprehensive responsibility—from analysis to operation and optimization —brings all these issues together into a single chain of responsibility. This doesn’t make every project easy, but it reduces the risk of important issues falling through the cracks between suppliers.
After commissioning, monitoring should show solar production, direct self-consumption, energy charged and discharged, efficiency, availability, and the impact on power peaks. Measurable operational targets make it possible to determine whether the system is performing as projected or whether the control settings need to be adjusted.
SBP has delivered more than 250 commercial Greentech installations since 2016. Please see our references from commercial energy projects for examples of various properties and solutions.
- How much solar power does the facility use directly, without a battery?
- What problem should the battery solve first?
- Do the power output and energy capacity match the shape and duration of the peaks?
- Which functions compete for the same capacity?
- How do new charging points, processes, or tenants affect the system design?
- What requirements do grid operators, emergency services, and insurers impose?
- Who is responsible for control, monitoring, maintenance, and optimization?
- Which assumptions have the greatest impact in a conservative scenario?
If some of the answers are missing, it’s often better to conduct further analysis rather than lock in the scope of the project. In some projects, the conclusion is that solar panels are the right choice now and batteries later. That’s a perfectly valid decision.
No. The benefits depend on the load profile, power peaks, the rate structure, solar generation, battery costs, and how the system is controlled. Each location needs to be analyzed.
It depends on the use case. Power in kW and energy capacity in kWh must be matched to metering data, solar generation, and future loads.
Yes, but the functions may compete for the same capacity. The control system must set priorities, and the calculation must not count the capacity twice.
Yes. Joint capacity planning can coordinate production, storage, charging, and available grid capacity. Charging patterns and expansion plans should be included in the analysis.
SBP’s alternative for reducing the initial capital commitment is Energy-As-A-Service. A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is a relevant model for comparison, but SBP does not offer PPAs as a standard arrangement. Price, liability, contract term, and terms and conditions need to be evaluated.
Would you like to determine whether solar panels and batteries should be sized as a single system for a property or portfolio? Contact us at SBP for a review of consumption, power output, solar potential, future loads, and business models. The next step should be clear, even if the analysis shows that the battery should be postponed.
We look forward to investigating how your property is suitable for green energy.
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