Is Solar Right for Your Factory?

A large roof and a high electricity bill are good reasons to investigate solar. They are not enough to approve a project. The useful question is whether a specific system, at your factory, can deliver worthwhile savings without creating unacceptable operational or technical risks.

A feasibility study should turn that question into a decision: proceed, revise the concept, collect more information, or stop. It should explain what the recommendation depends on, rather than present a single payback number as a fact.

1. Start with when the factory uses electricity

Collect at least a representative year of bills, together with interval meter data where available. Record production shifts, weekend operation, seasonal shutdowns and planned changes to production. Monthly consumption totals can hide the difference between a factory running throughout daylight hours and one concentrating its demand at night.

Compare the load profile with expected solar generation. Identify how much electricity the factory could use directly and how much might be exported or curtailed. Do not value every generated kilowatt-hour at the full purchase tariff without checking the applicable commercial arrangements.

DOE's industrial solar guidance identifies facility loads, electricity rates, site availability and export arrangements as important project-specific viability factors. Solar output also depends on temperature, shading, orientation and the solar resource. [1]

Owner action: nominate someone from production, maintenance and finance to agree the baseline. A technically accurate model can still mislead if it represents last year's factory rather than the operation you expect to run.

2. Establish what the site can actually accommodate

Treat the roof as an engineering asset, not an empty rectangle. Check its condition, remaining service life, structural capacity, drainage, existing equipment and access requirements. If roof replacement is likely, resolve the sequence before installing equipment that may later need removal.

For ground-mounted options, investigate land rights, boundaries, access, drainage and ground conditions. Map shading sources and future developments, including planned buildings or extensions.

Ask the engineering team to identify constraints before optimizing capacity. EPA recommends assessing site and economic feasibility early, before equipment purchases or contractual commitments. [2] A useful feasibility report separates confirmed findings from items that still require surveys or specialist assessment.

3. Test a workable electrical and operating concept

Review the connection point, existing distribution equipment, protection requirements, cable routes and any needed upgrades. Establish how construction and connection work will fit around production, including shutdown access and responsibility for coordination.

Compare more than one system size where practical. A smaller system with strong daytime self-consumption may deserve consideration alongside a larger layout with more surplus generation. Ask for the design assumptions behind both options, not just their nameplate capacities.

The design also needs to consider maintainability. Equipment placement, mounting arrangements and access should suit the site rather than simply maximize panel count. DOE's design guidance explains that a PV system includes supporting structures and power-conversion equipment as well as modules. [3]

4. Make the financial assumptions visible

Request a model that identifies capital expenditure, electrical or roof upgrades, operating costs, insurance, component replacements and financing assumptions. Show how self-consumed and exported energy are valued, with the source and date of each tariff or commercial input.

Then test sensitivities: lower generation, higher installed cost, delayed commissioning and changes in factory consumption. Keep unconfirmed incentives and future tariff increases clearly separate from the base case. Include the effect of degradation and downtime using assumptions supported by the proposed equipment and operating plan.

For example, if an expansion shifts production into the evening, revisit the solar sizing rather than carrying forward the original savings forecast. The investment case should remain understandable when one important assumption changes.

5. Define the next decision and how SPP can help

Before requesting final offers, assemble a short project brief: the load baseline, site constraints, preferred concept, unresolved approvals, budget assumptions and required studies. Assign an owner and a closure action to each unresolved item. This gives prospective EPC contractors a consistent basis for pricing and reduces avoidable differences between offers.

SPP can support the decision through feasibility studies and engineering review, with GIS, environmental assessment or technical due diligence where the project requires them. Owner's engineering can help carry the agreed requirements into design review, construction oversight and testing.

The immediate objective is a defensible project scope, not a promise of a particular return. Share your recent electricity bills, available load data and a site layout with SPP to identify what needs checking before you seek firm proposals.