1. Why energy saving is important?
With the growing concerns about climate change and the increasing energy costs, businesses of all sizes, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as large businesses are putting measures in place to save energy and the environment. Many of these businesses are switching to renewables or implementing energy-saving measures to reduce their carbon emissions while gaining their competitive edge at the same time.
Energy saving is an interesting concept, but at the same time, a concept that requires careful thought in planning and consideration in order to save energy by influencing behaviors, improving knowledge and skills. Technological changes both locally and internationally imply that today there is a shift that is in favor of clean and energy-efficient technologies that can be applied to save energy and protect the environment at the same time.
Energy saving is also a concept that many businesses are incentivized to implement because energy costs make a significant expense and reducing such costs will help companies gain a competitive edge in the long run.
2. Energy saving is possible with continuous improvement
Energy-saving will require companies to set up a plan of implementation once a comprehensive energy audit has been conducted. An energy audit by an energy professional will help to determine the amounts and types of energy consumed in your business.
Energy audits provide data when it comes to knowing how your energy is consumed and where the energy wastage is taking place – that is, it is not possible to manage what you do not measure. Hence, the data collected and analyzed during an energy audit is key to making decisions about how much energy saving can be realized over time depending on your baseline.
Once an energy management plan has been drafted, energy saving should be integrated into your company policy to introduce continuity or sustainability in the implementation of energy efficiency. To encourage behavioral change to energy efficiency, all levels of the organization should be involved, including senior management. The implementation plan would also include setting up an energy-saving committee while organizational policies and procedures should include the need to save energy and other utility costs.
3. Solar PV is a great candidate for energy saving for many businesses.
Solar PV is a great example of a technological change that can reduce your energy costs dramatically both in the short-term and long-term. Solar PV may have a high initial investment, but in the long-term, it will help you save a significant amount of energy and contribute to your efforts of contributing to sustainability. With solar PV, once your solar panels are paid off perhaps after 5 to 7 years depending on their payback period, going solar can save you anywhere from 20% to 100% of your energy costs.
How much energy you save with solar panels will depend on what other energy-saving measures you implement, for instance, switching from incandescent light bulbs to energy-saving lights. Implementing such low hanging fruit energy-saving measures will help to reduce your investment cost for solar panels.
How many solar panels you need for your PV system depending on your energy profile. To find out how many solar panels you need, you can use a solar panel cost calculator to allow you to see your current PV system based on your roof size and how much sunshine is hitting your roof.