Solar energy for the automotive industry

Our company has extensive practical experience in the implementation of various renewable energy projects, including the construction of commercial solar power plants for businesses. Avenston sees great interest in companies and enterprises in installing solar power plants and PV equipment. Below we consider the feasibility and prospects of using photovoltaic solutions for companies in the automotive industry using the example of such enterprises as petrol stations, car washes, and service stations.

Of course, each PV system’s owner has his own motivation and vision of the need to use photovoltaic solutions, and everyone imagines the result differently. Our main role as an installation company is to guide these ideas in the right direction and help our customers get what they want as much as possible. Each project is a separate special story.

Petrol station operators in Ukraine have various success stories related to solar energy. Some of them installed solar power plants, because the “green” tariff mechanism was available and effective, which allowed such projects to be considered as investment projects even if cheap electricity from the grid. Another good implementation option is the installation of PV panels on solar trackers. In this case, customers are guided more by the aesthetic component and try to emphasize the status of their company and ecological outlook. Unlike rooftop stations, trackers are much more visually appealing and immediately visible from the outside. This allows visitors to see that the company (for example, the same petrol station or car service station) thinks about the future of nature and tries to compensate for the damage to the environment associated with traditional fuel. More recent stories with solar panels installed on roofs or canopies relate to the use of renewable energy sources by businesses for their own electricity needs (self-consumption).

One of the main economically justified reasons for installing a solar power plant today is the reduction of electricity costs in the face of rising utility tariffs. To make it cheaper, solar power plants are used for self-consumption, but more expensive and complicated hybrid solutions with batteries are increasingly being installed. In Ukraine, due to the war and blackouts, the last option has become the most relevant and very popular in recent months. Energy efficiency and energy saving are smart ways to systematically protect the environment. But at the same time, it also means the opportunity to use cheaper energy, gain energy independence and gain flexibility in a broad sense. Photovoltaic solutions have a positive impact on the environment as well as economic efficiency, so they encourage others to consider this option. Increasing energy efficiency and energy saving is becoming a strategic direction of economic and social development around the world in the near term and in the future.

Returning to the issue of using solar batteries for petrol stations and service stations, it is impossible not to note the undeniable potential for installing equipment on roofs, canopies and chargers for electric vehicles. Of course, the most popular and most economically profitable are still the roof-top installations. Another way to use solar panels is to install them on facades or roofs instead of traditional covering materials (BIPV – Building Integrated Photovoltaic). The popularity of this technology is increasing every year, despite some technical and economic limitations that may slow down this trend. Their use is possible when prestige, visual beauty and aesthetics come to the fore and then they bring an advantage. As the price decreases due to the improvement of technologies, embedded solutions will be more attractive. Another good option is to install solar panels on a tracking system near the building.

Undoubtedly, the attractiveness of applying solar energy solutions is growing every day. We see the main progress in the gradual increase in the efficiency of solar panels, which allows us to get more energy from the same surface by increasing the amount of electricity produced. In addition, an important factor for wider use is the constant trend of decreasing ESS battery prices. Cheap and accessible energy storage is a key support factor for the implementation of small and medium-sized hybrid and backup PV systems. Global trends show that clean, cheap and useful solar power is very attractive to commercial enterprises of all industries and sizes, from small companies to large enterprises.