Ciaran Cotter technical director at Solivus explores the enormous solar potential for the UK’s unused commercial roof spaces and why it’s time to seize the opportunity.
According to the UK green building council, the built environment – that includes everything from construction and refurbishment through to operational emissions - is responsible for 25% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.1 That is a staggering amount. To put it into context, it’s just shy of the 26% contribution from transport – the UK’s highest carbon emitting sector.2
While electric vehicle sales are soaring, a report by the World Green Building Council found that well under 1% of the world’s commercial buildings and homes were net zero.3 A recent analysis also revealed that approximately 80% of all UK commercial property is below EPC ‘B’.4 I could go on throwing out statistics but the bottom line is that there is huge scope for the UK’s buildings to become more sustainable and, if we achieve this goal, it could go a long way to solving the climate crisis.
Of course, recognising the issue is just the first step. We have to ask ourselves, with sustainable buildings making both economic and environmental sense, why are developers, property managers, landlords and tenants not taking more action to implement green practices. Though there may be a myriad of reasons, chances are a lot of it has come down to complexity and cost. Inherently, sustainable materials and technologies have often come with a higher initial price tag, which may have discouraged those focused on immediate profits. In some cases, integrating green practices has also been more complicated, requiring additional planning and expertise. To make a real impact, technologies and techniques to become sustainable need to be more accessible. We need to empower stakeholders with sustainable solutions which are flexible, scalable, easy to use and make obvious commercial sense. Amid ongoing government focus and continued energy market volatility, this will become even more critical not just in terms of meeting sustainability targets but gaining energy independence and safeguarding from future price hikes.
One critical climate tech innovation example amongst all of this can be found in the latest generation of lightweight solar. Inherently, solar hasn’t always been a viable option for many commercial operators. This is because traditional rigid roof-mounted solar has simply been too heavy for commercial buildings without a permanent solid rooftop structure to support it such as hangars, warehouses, construction cabins, stadiums and the like. Not anymore. Thanks to advances in technology, the latest generation of innovative lightweight solar panels are a fraction of the weight of conventional panels and have more universal applications for fixing methods which have opened up new roof space opportunities.
The associated benefits of this relatively new opportunity are vast. Foremost, there are the cost gains to be had – and some seriously substantial ones. In fact, by fully utilising the available rooftop space it is estimated that commercial buildings could save £35 billion, with lifetime savings reaching £703 billion. In energy generation terms that translates to 117 TWh of electricity annually. That’s enough to power approximately 30 million homes for a year, more than the number of households we currently have in the UK.4
Place this into the context of an increasingly volatile energy market as prices continue to rise and renewable integration poses challenges for grid stability, and self-generation is becoming an increasingly attractive proposition for commercial operations. This is not only in terms of securing energy dependence but, when partnered with storage, through the ability to manage energy costs more effectively by leveraging peak shaving, load shifting and maximisation of solar self-consumption.
Underscoring this all too is the environmental benefit. As leading economies look towards a more sustainable future, we will continue to see the introduction of new decarbonised industry standards and green government demands. The result is increased onus on the environmental measures which can drive efficiencies and optimise energy consumption levels while helping to future proof and maintain greater links to the wider world.
And that’s just the start. Eventually, the majority of commercial buildings will rely on solar energy production and usage not only to reduce energy costs and meet sustainability goals, but to ensure energy security and participate in innovative energy markets. When integrated with advanced AI-driven energy management systems, commercial operators will become much more efficient in how they prioritise solar generation and even control when energy is drawn from the grid or stored. Combined with storage, smart tech and smart grids, we’ll have an incredibly powerful set of tools which will allow us to create ultra-efficient and highly responsive buildings that use considerably less energy and resources to maintain.
Clearly, the commercial building realm remains on the cusp of an energy transition as the challenges of climate change, energy market instability and decarbonisation become too hard to ignore. Those early adopters who seize the commercial solar opportunity now will not only reap the financial and environmental benefits but blaze the trail in a future where it will most certainly be the survival of the greenest.
1 https://ukgbc.org/our-work/cli...
2 https://www.gov.uk/government/...