Green washing? Why are Amazons and Googles buying electricity from your solar site?

What’s green washing and why corporates are paying a fortune for your excess solar electricity.

More and more asset managers are waking up to the idea of solar PV systems on their properties, not just as a sustainable solution, but also as a response to escalating electricity prices.

However, one crucial business opportunity often goes unnoticed, leaving a lot of potential rooftop space unused and reducing the financial viability of these projects.

The SEG, an initiative designed to reward low-carbon electricity generators, allows solar installations to export their excess electricity to the grid. While this scheme has brought with it numerous benefits, the remuneration offered often falls short. Major utilities, such as EDF and E.ON for instance, currently offer 3 p/kWh and 5.5 p/kWh respectively for exported solar electricity — only a fraction of retail electricity prices.

Price of retail electricity in the UK vs default solar export tariff (Image by Author)

As a result, many properties with solar installations either opt for systems sized for self-consumption, leaving potential rooftop space unused, or install fully sized systems that generate excess energy, but miss out on maximising their financial returns.

RoI from solar sized for self-consumption vs Maximising roof space (Image by Author)

The Solution: Offtake Contracts

This is where offtake contracts come into play. In the context of solar energy, offtake contracts are agreements between a power generator and a corporate consumer, whereby the consumer purchases the generator’s surplus electricity that would have otherwise been sold to the grid through the SEG.

This solution provides clear benefits to all parties involved. It results in higher returns on solar investments and better utilisation of rooftop space for the generator and contributes to the consumer’s decarbonisation targets while reducing their electricity costs.

Benefits of off-take contracts for different stakeholders (Image by Author)

How can we help?

PowerMarket can purchase your excess electricity at rates 2–3 times higher than those offered by the SEG. Subsequently, we can resell this electricity to other corporate off-takers at a price below their retail rate, creating a win-win situation for all parties involved.

Typically, we consider:

• Solar installations above 30 kWp
• Located in urban areas or business parks
• With predictable electricity export patterns

If you own or manage properties with potential for solar installations and you’re not maximising your return on investment, we invite you to explore the potential of offtake contracts. At PowerMarket, we’re committed to helping you unlock the full potential of your assets. Speak to us and we can analyse how such a solution can impact your business.

How PowerMarket off-take contracts work (Image by Author)

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PowerMarket is a B2B software-as-a-service, solar management platform. It uses satellite imagery and advanced AI to automate and digitalise:

• Solar planning and feasibility analysis
• Solar execution and project management
• Solar monitoring and portfolio management

Saving you over 90% of your time and resources, so you can focus on what you do best!

Originally published at https://powermarket.ai.