Industrial Solar Installations: Solar for Factories and Warehouses

In 2021, Industries accounted for over 41% of India’s energy consumption. In comparison, domestic consumption was 26% and commercial consumption was 8%.

This energy-intensive industrial sector also spits out an astounding amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But in developing countries such as ours, industries form the backbone of the economy. Scaling down operations could have a devastating effect.

To balance the two contrasting objectives, of maintaining the nation’s growth on one side and taking steps towards the net zero targets, the Indian government is pushing industries towards renewable energy, especially solar power.

So, let’s discuss how going solar can benefit the industrial sector and the types of installations consumers can get to extract the maximum benefits from the clean energy resource.

Cost Saving- As industries consume massive amounts of energy, their monthly electricity costs are also high. This raises the overall operational cost of the business.

Solar power, which is cheaper than thermal energy, allows businesses to generate their power and save big on monthly bills. Further, if the state government allows net metering, the company can also raise its profits by selling the surplus energy back into the grid.

Green Business- Nowadays, consumers and investors are gravitating towards businesses that are environmentally conscious and sustainable in their operations. This is why many carbon-intensive businesses have set net-zero targets and are increasingly investing in renewable energy.

Recently, India’s largest crude oil and natural gas producer, ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) announced plans to develop a 1GW solar plant in Rajasthan to meet its energy needs. On a similar note, Coal India too declared a plan to build a 1.19GW solar power plant to meet its domestic requirements.

If oil and coal industries can benefit from a renewable resource like solar, then the potential for other industries is endless.

Consider the cement industry:

Energy expenses in a cement factory account for almost 30-40% of the overall manufacturing cost. Processes such as cement grinding, raw material grinding, crushing, mining extraction, clinker burning, and cooling along with lighting and pumps require electricity. Switching to solar would allow a cement factory to de-carbonize all these processes through solar power.

Similarly, other industries such as textile, steel, rice mills, atta chakki, and FMCG industry which utilize manufacturing units and warehouses can use the clean resource to bring down their energy expenses.

Here are some businesses that have adopted solar power for their factories.

Industrial units such as manufacturing facilities and warehouses have a major space advantage. Due to this factor, businesses can choose to install either rooftop solar power plants or ground-mounted solar projects in their factories.

In rooftop solar systems, solar panels are mounted on the roof of the building. In contrast, ground-mounted solar projects use large open land space for the mounting panels.

In open-access systems, solar power gets produced at state-owned solar farms and then transmitted through the utility grid. Consumers with an electric load of over 1MW can directly buy this power from the open market.

As solar tariffs are much lower than traditional electricity, industrial consumers who use open-access solar power are able to reduce their monthly energy costs.

Businesses that are building a new facility, or replacing an old roof have an option of saving the cost of the sheet roofing. They can directly install an integrated solar InRoof where solar panels function as the primary roof.

This Ornate InRoof structure is completely leakproof and can be installed over large open areas such as industrial sheds, warehouses, as well as smaller areas such as rooftop restaurants, carports, corridors, and pergolas, etc.

Better Area Utilization: Ornate InRoof accommodates 26% more solar panels than traditional PV systems in the same roof area.

Cost-Effective: The structure not only saves energy costs but saves the additional cost of metal roofing

Higher Power Output: The highly efficient solar InRoof generates up to 10% more electricity than a traditional system

Fully Leakproof– With a special climate-resistant seal, the solar InRoof guarantees assured protection against water ingress.

More Sustainable– The structure generates clean energy and avoids CO2 emissions of up to 9.85 tons/ 100sqm, by saving corrugated sheets.

For their brand-new production facility in Bagru town of Rajasthan, Canada-based stone manufacturing company Pangaea Natural Stone installed a 530 kW Ornate InRoof. The structure will help the company offset 18,346 Tons of CO2 emissions.

Plant size: 530kW
Roof Area: 35,000 sq. ft
Estimated Payback Period: 3.9 Years

Other Recent InRoof Projects

• B.L Agro- Uttar Pradesh
  Plant Size: 745kW

• GEM Technologies
  Plant Size: 36Kw

• Fronius India Private Limited
  Plant Size: 17.5kW