Against the backdrop of continuously rising electricity prices and the steady advancement of the “dual carbon” strategy, an increasing number of industrial and commercial enterprises are beginning to focus on rooftop photovoltaic power generation systems. As a clean, economical, and sustainable energy solution, rooftop photovoltaics not only significantly reduce corporate electricity costs but also reduce carbon emissions and enhance green brand image, offering multiple benefits.
In energy-intensive sectors such as manufacturing, electricity cost typically accounts for 10% to 30% of operating expenses. The advantage of rooftop PV mounting is that it enables the utilization of unutilized rooftop area for electricity generation and hence reduces the need to purchase electricity from the grid. For example, a factory building with a rooftop area of 10,000 square meters, when equipped with a solar power system, can generate approximately 1 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Under the industrial electricity price of 0.8 yuan per kilowatt-hour, the company can save approximately 800,000 yuan in electricity costs annually, with extremely significant energy-saving benefits.
The customer generation using rooftop solar PV systems is straightforward: the solar panels receive sunlight to generate direct current (DC), which an inverter converts to alternating current (AC) and feeds into the company's distribution system. A "self-generation for self-use, excess power fed into the grid" principle ensures electricity is prioritized for internal use, with the excess sold to the grid for maximum economic benefits.
The commercial and industrial rooftop photovoltaic system investment cost is currently at approximately 3.5–4.5 yuan per watt. Taking the example of a 500-kilowatt project, the overall investment is approximately 1.75–2.25 million yuan, with an annual power generation capacity of 500,000 kilowatt-hours, an electricity bill saving of approximately 400,000 yuan, and a payback period of only 4–6 years. Founded on the reality that a photovoltaic system's life exceeds 25 years, once the investment is recovered, the company can continue to enjoy nearly 20 years of "low-cost electricity dividends.".
It is worth noting that while photovoltaics can significantly reduce daytime electricity costs for businesses, there is still room for improvement in energy utilization efficiency for companies with high nighttime loads. In such cases, a Supporting facilities energy storage system becomes particularly important. Energy storage not only stores excess daytime electricity for nighttime use but also smooths out power fluctuations, ensuring stable equipment operation.
Take a factory project in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, as an example. The factory site utilized the rooftops of 12 buildings to construct a distributed photovoltaic power plant with a total capacity of approximately 2.8 MWp, and installed a 1 MW/2.15 MWh energy storage system from Hui Jue, including 10 air-cooled 215 kWh energy storage cabinets. After the project is completed, it is expected to save approximately 3 million kWh of electricity annually, significantly reducing energy costs.
In this project, the advantages of Hui Jue energy storage equipment were fully demonstrated:
High safety: Utilizes air-cooling design with high protection ratings, suitable for complex industrial environments;
Strong intelligence: Features real-time monitoring and energy dispatch capabilities, enabling flexible optimization of power usage plans based on corporate load requirements;
Significant economic benefits: Increases the proportion of self-generated and self-consumed solar power, shortening the investment payback period;
Convenient installation and maintenance: Modular energy storage cabinet design, compact footprint, and simplified post-installation maintenance.
In essence, the integration of photovoltaic and energy storage not only resolves the issue of “daytime power generation and nighttime power shortages” but also makes photovoltaic investments more profitable, helping enterprises achieve true cost reduction and efficiency improvements.
Besides electricity cost savings, photovoltaic rooftop systems also serve a thermal insulation function, actually lowering factory temperatures by 3-5°C during summer and, in turn, lowering air conditioning energy requirements. Hence, the active use of clean energy makes a company green in spirit, meets global ESG standards, and differentiates itself in supply chain competition and financial procedures.
Many companies also install monitoring systems to view power generation and consumption in real time, and even combine prediction functions for energy dispatching. The addition of energy storage systems makes “photovoltaic-storage integration” an ideal choice for commercial and industrial users. Chinese energy storage companies such as Huijue Group are leveraging efficient, safe, and intelligent product solutions to help commercial and industrial users achieve the dual goals of energy transition and cost optimization.
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