New £100m solar business targets commercial sector

"We are already in advanced contract negotiations with a number of well-known businesses and are in discussions with a variety of food processors, hotels, licensed premises, GP surgeries, retail outlets, manufacturing companies, facilities managers and ground rent portfolio landlords," Taylor said. "We are forecasting that within two years the company will have invested around £100 million in solar power generation systems and will be completing more than 30 commercial and 500 residential installations every month."

OAREL is offering its systems free to businesses under the Government’s Feed-in Tariff (FiT), which incentivises solar panel installations through tariff payments for the electricity they generate. FiTs are guaranteed and index linked for the next 25 years. In addition, there are export tariff payments available for any unused electricity that is fed back into the National Grid.

OAREL joins a growing number of companies offering business and residential customers free solar installations and maintenance. It will pay 100 per cent of capital expenditure for supplying and fitting the solar panels, plus maintenance and insurance for 25 years in return for a roof or land lease over the areas where the panels are mounted. For the period of the contract customers will have free access to all the electricity generated that they can use, with OAREL receiving the FITs and export tariff income. 

OAREL said it was targeting the commercial sector because it believes the savings on electricity costs will be biggest for owners of small commercial and industrial premises where daytime usage of electricity is high. For example, over a 40-year period, a 50 kilowatt pence installation in Leeds could save £1.355 million and 717 tonnes of CO2.
Longer term the company aims to move into the supply of other forms of renewable energy generation, including wind power and anaerobic digestion.