Insights
A rooftop photovoltaic system reduces the need to import electricity from the grid and can thus improve the energy score of the building. How much the grade is improved depends on the size of the plant and the energy consumption of the building.
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If you have your own solar system on your roof, you have less need to import electricity from the grid. This positively affects the energy character of the building. How much the grade improves depends on the size of the plant compared to the energy consumption in the building. In our customers, we also see many examples where the solar photovoltaic system alone gives the building a better energy character.
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Energy labelling is mandatory for the sale and rental of both residential and commercial buildings. Energy labelling is intended to raise awareness about the use of energy and solutions that can make the building more energy efficient.
The energy label consists of two parts: an energy character and a heating character.
The grade gives an overall rating of a building's energy needs from A (best) to G (weakest). The energy demand is estimated from the number of kilowatt-hours per square metre of heated BRA that the building is designed to need in normal use. The energy rating is based on calculated delivered energy, regardless of actual measured energy use.
The following table shows the correlation between the calculated energy per square meter and the energy character A-G for the different categories of buildings.
At Enova you can read more about how the energy rating is calculated
The rating provides information on the energy requirements for heating rooms and tap water, and the scale goes from red to green. Energy needs can be met by energy sources other than electricity and oil. The heating character says nothing about how much energy the building or dwelling consumes, only in what form this energy can be used from the heating equipment provided.
At Enova you can read more about how the heating rating is calculated
When we deliver a solar system to a customer, it will be mounted behind the meter in the building. The plant thus supplies electricity to the building without using the mains. This reduces the need to import power from the grid. This, in turn, has a direct impact on the number of kilowatt-hours that the building needs from the mains, which in isolation will produce a positive effect.
This is what we at Sunday Power can help you find out. Since the energy character is calculated based on theoretical consumption, we need to look at how this theoretical consumption is affected by the solar plant's output per hour. For this to be absolutely correct, the farm owner must start from the energy simulation that is the basis for the energy character, and then enter the estimated production from the photovoltaic system into the same model. Then we can generate a new calculation of kilowatt hours per square meter that includes the consumption from the solar system. In many cases, this will move the energy character up a rung.
Read also: From B to A in energy characters-completely free of charge
It can be both time consuming and costly to conduct a full energy simulation with a photovoltaic system. We see that the building owner also does not always have access to the energy simulation that has been carried out earlier. Therefore, we have developed a simplified model that gives an indication of how much a solar system can affect its energy character.
The method we use is based on four factors: the current energy character of the building, the number of BRAs, the planned solar photovoltaic system and an estimated consumption of solar power. This allows us to calculate how much the photovoltaic system can affect kilowatt-hours per square meter and whether the plant can move up the grade scale.
See how a photovoltaic system can affect the energy character, apply to your commercial building.
Are you considering solar panels on your commercial building? Feel free to contact me or someone else in the team. We will be happy to help you further.
