Commercial solar

Commercial solar installation in the Edmonton region: feasibility, design coordination, rooftop and ground arrays, interconnection and micro-generation approval.

Why businesses go solar

Commercial buildings use most of their electricity during the day, which is exactly when solar produces. That means a large share of the output offsets power you would otherwise buy. Businesses also use solar to meet sustainability goals, hedge against rising energy costs, and make use of large flat roofs and parking lots that otherwise do nothing.

• Offices, retail and warehouses with large flat roofs
• Farms and acreage operations with ground space
• Light industrial buildings with daytime loads
• Parking lots, where carports add shade and snow cover
• Multi-family buildings for common-area loads

Solar also pairs well with other projects. If a roof replacement, a parking lot rebuild or an electrical upgrade is already planned, adding solar at the same time shares the access, permits and shutdown windows, and reduces the total disruption to your operations.

Design and coordination

Commercial projects involve more people: the building owner, a structural engineer to confirm the roof can carry the array and the snow it traps, a roofer for penetrations or ballast, and often an electrical engineer for larger systems. We coordinate the electrical work with all of them.

Arrays are kept back from roof edges and rooftop units for access and fire department requirements, and laid out so snow can shed without piling against equipment. Wiring is routed in proper raceway, with combiners, disconnects and rapid shutdown placed where they can be reached and are clearly labelled.

Connecting to your service

Most commercial buildings have three-phase services at 208 V or 600 V. The inverter and connection must match, and the connection point may be in the main switchboard or on the supply side of it. We check the existing equipment ratings, available space and fault levels, and plan any switchgear upgrades needed.

All grid-connected systems go through the distribution utility's interconnection process under Alberta's Micro-generation Regulation, with larger systems subject to more review. Our micro-generation service covers that process.

For buildings with a lot of daytime load, we can also look at how solar affects your peak demand. Solar alone does not reliably reduce demand charges, because a cloudy afternoon can coincide with your peak, but paired with load management or storage it can help. We will be straight with you about what to expect.

Operations and maintenance

Commercial arrays need occasional inspection: checking connections, inverter fault logs, roof penetrations and ballast, and making sure snow or debris is not blocking drainage. Monitoring alerts you to inverter faults or production drops. We can include solar in a commercial maintenance plan, with reports through our online job management system.

What drives cost

Main cost drivers include system size, roof type and structural capacity, mounting method, the electrical connection point and any switchgear work, distance from array to service, and the scope of monitoring. Utility interconnection requirements for larger systems can also add equipment. We give you a clear scope so you can compare apples to apples.

For owners comparing proposals, we recommend asking each contractor for the same items: expected annual production, equipment models, structural review responsibility, the connection point and any switchgear changes, and who carries the utility application through to meter exchange.

• Expected annual production and assumptions
• Structural and roofing responsibilities
• Electrical connection point and shutdown needs
• Monitoring, reporting and maintenance scope

Questions we hear