In Pennsylvania, energy-intensive businesses are increasingly turning to on-site renewable energy solutions to cut costs and reduce emissions. Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan 2021 is charting a course to meet ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets of 26% by 2025 and 80% by 2050, using 2005 levels as a baseline. This comprehensive plan encompasses implementation schedules, emissions reductions, economic considerations, and proven technologies like on-site solar energy and battery storage.
On-site renewables—including solar PV— lower operating costs and boost sustainability goals at the same time. Further, they require no change to operations, allowing your business to generate its own clean, renewable electricity, offering a dual benefit.
Simultaneously, nearly 15,000 Pennsylvania businesses and residents have installed on-site solar power (also known as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems) to reduce energy expenses, lower carbon footprints, and demonstrate a commitment to sustainability and resilience.
The proliferation of solar creates an opportunity for energy storage (typically in the form of battery storage) to enhance resilience and reliability across the electricity grid and play a crucial role in maximizing the benefits of Pennsylvania's growing renewable energy sector.
Solar-plus-storage, which combines solar PV with a battery storage system, can reduce costs and carbon emissions and can offer more benefits than solar PV on its own.
What are the Financial Incentives for On-Site Renewable Energy in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania offers two key incentives for businesses looking to add on-site renewables.
Pennsylvania’s Solar Energy Program (SEP) offers financial incentives to support the installation of solar PV. SEP’s primary goal is to promote the adoption of clean and renewable solar power, reduce energy costs, and contribute to environmental sustainability by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, the Pennsylvania Solar Renewable Certificates program encourages solar PV investments by business owners—meaning your business earns one renewable energy credit (REC) for every megawatt-hour (MWh) of solar electricity generated.
If you’re not familiar with RECs, RECs are designed to compensate you for the environmental benefits of producing renewable electricity. RECs can be held or sold to utilities or other companies seeking to offset carbon emissions, providing an additional revenue stream from your on-site solar system.
With the ongoing debate surrounding the REC program (i.e., the perception of buying RECs in the environmental community versus producing renewable energy), it's important to integrate on-site renewables soon to ensure you can maximize the REC program in its current form.
The benefits of participating in these programs can be significant cost savings: businesses like yours can expect to save millions of dollars on electricity with on-site solar, the value of which is boosted by state and federal incentives. In addition to lowering electricity costs—on-site solar energy can help mitigate against fluctuations in energy prices that your business may experience—and stabilize future costs.
The right partner can help you vet—or stack—these options and incentives to insulate your business against rising energy costs.
Last but not least, solar energy supports many businesses' corporate social responsibility (CSR) objectives by allowing you to advance your sustainability goals and rely on a greener energy mix.
Should I Consider Energy Storage with Solar? How Does Energy Storage Add Value to Solar PV?
In a majority of cases, on-site energy storage maximizes the value of solar PV and reduces business energy costs. In addition to reducing energy costs, solar-plus-storage provides a hedge against future cost increases (both supply and transmission).
The more solar energy on the grid, the better—but solar only produces power when the sun is shining. Energy storage can “firm up” solar energy, maximizing its value to the grid. In addition, energy storage can reduce the cost of electricity (storing energy when it is cheapest, dispatching it when it is most expensive). When paired with solar, (solar-plus storage), the system can store and discharge solar energy rather than energy from the grid.
Reducing a facility’s consumption during the most expensive hours on the grid, known as “peak shaving,” can yield seven-figure savings on a facility’s utility bill.
How to Get Started with On-Site Renewables (and Your Energy Cost Savings)
Convergent Energy and Power (Convergent), a leading developer of on-site renewables in North America, was founded more than a decade ago. We take the hassle out of on-site renewables by building, owning, and operating systems on their behalf. We’ve lowered our customers’ energy bills up to 40%. The more you spend on your energy bill, the more you can save with on-site renewables.
The best part: there’s no capital required from your business. The shared-savings contract Convergent offers means we share in the upside and only make money if our customers do.
Our tagline is “Powered by Results.” We have delivered millions in savings to our industrial customers while enabling them to access cleaner, more reliable power. This opportunity is a win for all involved, including our planet.
To learn more about how on-site solar PV or solar-plus-storage (paired solar PV and battery storage) can benefit your business, schedule a free, no-obligation introductory call with our team today.
