How Do You Combine Solar and LED Lighting for Commercial Buildings?

Solar-powered lighting solutions for office spaces are a 21st-century business solution. Reducing our carbon footprint and moving towards a more sustainable energy model are top priorities for today’s company leaders. But you may be wondering, what is the best way to combine solar and LED? We’ll share the top criteria and what leading product we recommend for efficiency-minded office managers.

What Should I Look for in Solar-Powered LED Lighting for Commercial Lighting?

There are the three quality criteria to consider when it comes to choosing solar-powered LED lighting for your building:

01. Savings – Return On Investment

Just because a lighting system is more expensive, that does not guarantee or directly correlate with a greater return on investment. Keep that in mind as you begin to shop around for your new office lighting system. The best LED office lighting will provide ROI beyond your initial investment and far into the future.

Another thing to consider is product eligibility for grants and tax credits. Does your solar product qualify your commercial business for government grants or tax credits that could cut costs in half or even in full?

For example, the REAP Rural Energy for America Program is just one of the dozens of government grants that we at BizReps help our clients take advantage of. Currently accepting applications for 2021, here’s a brief overview of how this renewable energy systems and energy efficiency grant program works for small commercial businesses:

• Who may apply? Small businesses in eligible rural areas
• How may funds be used? Small and large solar generation, lighting installation, and replacement of energy-inefficient equipment
• What funding is available? Loan guarantees on loans up to 75 percent of total eligible project costs, grants for up to 25 percent of total eligible project costs, combined grant and loan guarantee funding up to 75% of total eligible project costs.
• What are the grant terms? $2,500 minimum, $500,000 maximum!
• What documentation is required? Energy efficiency projects require an energy audit or assessment.

How about tax credits? Our BizReps team specializes in helping you find every tax credit you may be eligible for when you invest in solar-LED lighting for your office. One of the best tax credit opportunities for business owners is the 179D commercial buildings energy efficiency tax deduction. 

This tax credit program enables building owners to claim a tax deduction for installing qualifying solar-LED lighting systems. According to the U.S. Department of Energy guidelines, a tax deduction of $1.80 per square foot is available to owners of new or existing buildings if all three segments are implemented; lighting, HVAC and building envelope.

Building owners are eligible for only up to $0.60 per square foot if only lighting is implemented that also meets the ASHRAE Standard. Interior lighting systems that reduce the building’s total energy and power cost by 50% or more in comparison to a building meeting minimum requirements set by ASHRAE Standard. 

Want to learn more about how to maximize your savings? Check out the 2021 Energy-Efficiency Lighting Guide for Businesses and Building Owners to find out how you can upgrade to solar-powered office lighting on any budget!

02. Internet of Things (IoT)

This criteria basically quantifies how your lights are working for you. Your solar-LED combo lighting should be a business asset that provides data and can prove that they are constantly saving you money. A lighting product equipped with an IoT system gathers data such as:

• How much carbon has been displaced
• Frequencies
• Light levels
• Real-time savings
• Feedback data to share with investors

03. Environmental Friendliness

As you shop around, you can evaluate a product by asking- will we actually be displacing carbon with this solar-LED lighting combo? That is the ultimate goal, after all, to reduce carbon emissions and minimize our carbon footprint. 

A lighting system that requires a complicated conversion process, laying ground wires to fields where a solar farm collects energy, is not necessarily environmentally friendly. Instead, look for a solar-LED combo kit that has quick installation and easy conversion to really have a positive environmental impact.

A great example of a cutting-edge, environmentally friendly solar-powered LED light for offices is the Fusion system. With this model, the solar panel is mounted on your roof and just three wires are needed to transfer the solar power from the sun to your LED lights inside. Two of the wires from the solar panel into the building are both DC, one is the positive and one is the negative. Both are need to complete the DC circuit. These two wires simply run into a box in your drop ceiling to deliver the solar energy to your LED office lighting indoors. The third wire coming into the building is a grounding wire that is per panel array, not per individual panel.

What else really matters when you make the big transition to upgrading your office lighting to solar-powered LEDs? Function quality!

Function Quality of LED Lighting for Commercial Buildings

Adjusting Your Lighting Based on Photovoltaic Power via Solar

When you combine solar and LED, there is going to be a difference in the alternating current power that comes off your grid and the photovoltaic power that is coming in from the solar panel. It is uncommon and ill-advised to rely solely on photovoltaic power to power your lighting system because it is not dependable. The weather alters its performance and effectiveness. 

For example, variables such as overcast cloudy days and winter snowstorms obscure solar panels on the roof and interfere with the output of photovoltaic power. These are environmental variables that you just can’t get around and instead have to account for in advance.

Many people assume that this is just a natural pitfall of solar lighting and some lighting retailers selling poor quality products will try to say that a little dimming is to be expected and even normal. But don’t be fooled! Consistent visible light levels are critical for your employees’ health and your overall office atmosphere, and there absolutely is a solution.

The best way to combine solar and LED for office lighting is to invest in a smart system with software that monitors both PV levels and AC levels. That way when a big cloud does roll in, your LED lights don’t dim; instead, the software in the lighting system combined with the solar PV, monitor the current five times per second. Then, the system can supplement AC power to keep visible light levels even and consistent, all day every day.

Monitoring Your Solar Power for Optimal Energy Efficiency

True LED smart lights should know their assigned light levels that you have set and have a software system that will adjust accordingly throughout the day; using not minimum or maximum power, but keeping a steady output for energy efficiency and savings. In addition, they can monitor foot-candle levels which are extremely important for safety, and ambiance levels which set the professional atmosphere you desire in your workspace.

Now you understand the important criteria for selecting reliable and efficient products. Want to narrow down your search a little further? We’ll share our pick for the solar-powered office lighting.

What are the Best Solar-Powered LED Lights for Offices?

FUSION is by far the premier stand-out product. It has both commercial and industrial applications, from office troffers to production area high bays. In our professional lighting opinion, the FUSION solar-powered LED lighting system is the best on the market right now. Its efficiency outranks any other LED office lighting. FUSION LED systems can provide all or a majority of light from solar panels when electricity costs are at their highest.

What makes this product the best solar-powered office light? Its innovative technology, which garnered the Plant Engineering 2018 Product of the Year Award. The FUSION Energybank LED system features:

• Photovoltaic solar
• Solid-state lighting
• IoT (Internet of Things)
• Environmental stewardship

In this way, the FUSION systems deliver energy and grid parity costs at the point of use. Traditional grid systems for solar power can be expensive to install and maintain and actually lose lots of power during transfer. FUSION eliminates all of the expensive, high-maintenance, and inefficient equipment and processes required for a traditional grid-connected system and makes the most effective use of the solar energy harnessed.

What’s the economic value of a FUSION system?

• Reduce lighting operating costs by up to 93%
• Federal Tax Credit eligible as a renewable energy source for the complete FUSION Solar-Powered LED lighting system (labor, lights, solar panel, distribution module, controller, etc.)
• Eliminate/minimize lighting maintenance costs

Don’t want a  bulky, hulking solar grid to elaborately set up on the roof? Don’t worry. Making the switch doesn’t have to be laborious or end up being an eyesore. The ease of installation is yet another reason this solar-powered LED system is our go-to choice. 

Compatible with most roof anchor products, every component in the FUSION system is made with aluminum and stainless steel to ensure complete corrosion resistance, while also resisting the extreme wind and snow forces experienced over a building’s lifetime. It’s compact, simple, and quick to install. Integrated LED high bay fixtures and troffers for your interior are completed powered by solar during the day. As daylight levels change, AC power controlled by the Genius IoT controller automatically keeps the light output constant.

Ready to learn more stepping into the future of energy efficiency with solar-powered LED office lighting? Book a call with our team at bizreps.ca/schedule! We work with companies that are ready to take the next step into better lighting, more efficient lighting that’s going to save money and energy. There are many possible LED lighting solutions that we’re ready to share with you.

This guide will help you:

• Know what legislation may be on the horizon that could affect commercial lighting in 2021 and beyond.
• Understand the potential ROI of your lighting
• Explore some of the top tax rebates and incentives available to help reduce, if not fully eliminate your material and installation costs.
• And so much more!