A commercial laundry is one of the most electricity-hungry buildings you can run. Washer extractors, tunnel washers, tumble dryers, ironers and compressors all work through the working day, and the biggest loads usually land when the sun is at its strongest. That is a good match for rooftop solar, and it is why solar panels for commercial laundries deserve a serious look if your energy bill has become one of your largest overheads.
Why a laundry’s energy profile suits solar
Solar only pays when you use the power as it is generated. Laundries do exactly that. Most plants start early, run flat out through the morning and afternoon, and keep going until the last van is loaded. That means the electricity your panels produce is used on site rather than exported.
The load is also steady. Motors, pumps, extraction fans, ironer drives and compressed air all pull power for hours at a time. Many laundries also use electric heating elements, heat pumps or electrically driven boilers for process water and drying, which adds to the daytime demand. The more of your use that falls between roughly eight and five, the more of a solar system’s output you keep.
Laundry roofs tend to help too. Industrial units usually have large, flat or low-pitch roofs with few obstructions, which makes layout simple and installation efficient.
What solar can do for your bill
Every kilowatt-hour generated on your roof is one you do not buy from the grid at commercial tariff rates. For a laundry with a strong daytime load, a big share of your daytime electricity can come from the roof instead of the grid, which takes pressure off one of your biggest running costs and gives you more certainty over future energy spend.
Battery storage can add to that where you have an evening or early-morning shift, letting you use stored solar after the panels stop generating. We size every system around your actual consumption, so you are not paying for capacity you cannot use. A payback of 4 to 6 years is typical for a well-matched commercial system, and the panels carry on generating for decades afterwards.
Fully funded solar with no capital outlay
Many laundries would rather keep their cash for machinery, vehicles and linen stock. If that is you, there is a route that avoids upfront spend. Through a fully funded arrangement, often called a power purchase agreement (PPA), the system is paid for by a funding partner and you buy the power it generates at an agreed rate.
We have done this for real organisations. At Leek Town FC we delivered a fully funded 46.8 kWp system, so the club could cut its running costs without putting up the capital. The same model can work for a laundry, subject to your roof, your tenure and your credit position. If you lease your building, we can talk through what your landlord will need to agree.
Experience across demanding commercial sites
We install for businesses where energy is a real cost and downtime is not an option. At Cowdrys Wholesale Bakery in Ferndown we installed a 21.42 kWp rooftop system with battery storage for a production site with early starts and heavy daytime equipment use. At Gorseway Nursing Home on Hayling Island we installed an 82.3 kWp system, and at Blossom Fields Care Home in Bristol, part of Allegra Care, a 39.36 kWp system. Care homes are often laundry customers, and their 24 hour buildings with large laundry rooms show how well solar suits sites that never really switch off. You can also read how solar suits other round-the-clock operations in our guides to gyms and leisure centres and hotels and wedding venues, both of which run heavy laundry and pool plant in daylight hours.
What we look at before we recommend a system
A laundry is not a one-size-fits-all job, so we start with the facts of your site.
- Your electricity bill and half-hourly data. This shows when you use power, which decides how big a system makes sense.
- Your roof. We check the structure, age, covering, orientation and any shading from stacks, extraction or neighbouring buildings.
- Your supply. Larger systems need the agreement of your network operator, and we handle that application for you.
- Your plans. If you are adding machines, switching to electric heating or buying electric vehicles, we size for where you are heading.
Accredited, directly employed installers
DES Renewable Energy is MCS accredited and is NAPIT registered, and our installers are City & Guilds qualified. We are based in Wimborne, Dorset, and our own directly employed teams carry out the work, so you deal with the same people from survey to commissioning.
Start with a free business energy bill check
The quickest way to find out what solar could do for your laundry is to send us a recent electricity bill. We will review it, tell you whether solar looks worthwhile, and explain your funding options, with no obligation.
Request your free business energy bill check
Or contact Madeleine directly on 01202 985 888 or at madeleine@desrenewables.com.