Business Solar

How to guide

Powering your business with solar

Installing solar on your business is a smart strategy for boosting energy resilience, reducing long-term energy costs, and cutting carbon emissions.

This guide walks you through the key steps to get started, supported by free, independent advice from the Queenstown Electrification Accelerator.
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If you rent out your property or lease the building you operate from, check out the QEA Solar for Renters page for tailored guidance.

Step by Step Solar

1. Solar Quotes

Solar quotes often vary, especially for businesses, hence its important to get at least 2 to 3 quotes to identify the best option. Use the QEA Solar Quote Comparison Tool to compare quotes.

2. Understand your electricity consumption

(Optional Step): Understand your current electricity consumption by asking your retailer for 12 months of consumption data. This will give transparency over usage patterns and the scale of opportunity for solar. The QEA team can help analyse your consumption data.

3. Solar financing

Once you have chosen your preferred solar installer, evaluate the financing options available to you. QEA’s Guide to Solar Financing can help you evaluate different options.

4. Build the business case

If required, showcase the return on investment, asset depreciation, capital vs operational cost, emission reduction, resilience benefits, marketing and brand value etc. The QEA team can assist in developing the business case.

5. Install the solar system

Work with your preferred solar installer to install the solar system.

6. Monitor and maintain

Track performance via your monitoring system. Schedule annual inspections to clean panels and check system health. Review your electricity bills to ensure savings are tracking as expected.