As people and as businesses, we are all trying to improve our green credentials and save money where we can. In this article, we investigate panels as a good idea for campsites. We aim to answer this with some examples and some scenarios for you to consider.
Key takeaways
- How can solar energy be used in commercial site campsites?
- Five things you may not have considered powering with commercial centres.
- How do you engage with a supplier to get a quote and get things moving?
Can Campsites Use Solar Panels?
The simple answer is yes! And if you haven't considered it, we shall certainly cover some of the best reasons for considering using solar panels on your campsite.
If you are a UK campsite, you can certainly consider commercial solar as a way to reduce your power output. In recent years, grants from the government and payback schemes have been available, but these are not as available as they were. Working with a commercial supplier will help you navigate the opportunities for development grants.
Have you considered commercial solar for your Norfolk Campsite?
Camping businesses need to manage their margins, and one of the biggest outlays for any camping business is power. Although the customer pays for the electric hookup, a significant amount of the bill still lies at the foot of the business.
Therefore, it's commercially savvy to consider ways to reduce your power output, and one of the obvious ways to do this is with solar power. There are two great reasons to do this as a camping business. The first reason is that your busy times are typically during Sonia periods, so your campers will be using the most power while the Sun is shining.
The second reason for choosing commercial solar is that some of your supporting services, such as swimming pools, absorb a huge amount of power when heated. This may include shower rooms and clubhouses, for example, which are communal areas and tend to leak a huge amount of power and require heating to a certain temperature.
What would you need to consider before implementing commercial solar?
Before implementing commercial solar, you need to consider a few things, and it is a good idea to speak to professionals who can help you with the implementation planning and any other important aspects of the process.
We spoke to Ben Boon of Solar East Anglia; Ben is an expert in the installation of commercial solar panels in Norfolk. This includes factories, offices, and, of course, solar panels for campsites.
"Being in East Anglia, we are used to helping campsites implement commercial solar arrays to save money and to help with ongoing costs. We provide installation and servicing for commercial businesses, and as such, we explained why commercial solar panels are a good idea for campsites. If you're interested in finding out more, follow the link on this page, and we will be very happy to provide you with the quote. We will also do a site assessment to assist you with the best advice possible."
This perspective is also shared by CRR Hospitality, which highlights solar as the top five ways to reduce power consumption for campsites.
How can solar energy be used in commercial site campsites?
Some considerations for using solar power in a commercial capacity on your campsite.
Swimming pools are one of the biggest outlays for any campsite, as they use a huge amount of power to warm the swimming pool and changing rooms, especially if there are pools for toddlers and babies, which by law have to be much warmer than traditional swimming pools.
Again, it is important to maintain a temperature in toilet blocks for showering people and also a significant amount of warm water for showers and hot water taps.
Clubhouse power campsites have clubhouses or communal spaces that are warmed, lit, and maintained, which means that commercial solar will reduce heat and lighting costs significantly.
So it's not particularly difficult to understand the importance of using commercial solar for your campsite or the areas that you might use it specifically. If you need more convincing, here are three additional reasons a campsite should invest in solar energy.
Why Campsite should invest in Solar Energy
Campsites and holiday parks should invest in solar energy because it will help reduce their operating costs. Also, providing consistent power sources during peak periods reduces carbon footprint, which proves eco-credentials. Quietly generating green, clean energy while the sun shines and the holidaymakers are enjoying themselves makes sense for any campsite or caravan park with an appropriate aspect.
- Reliable supply - It is easy to lose customers if your power is not reliable and cuts off mid use at certain times during the season day. Therefore, to avoid negative feedback or reviews, you need to have significant infrastructure in place that will permit growth now and in the future.
- The opportunity to sell back unused solar energy. This is a great opportunity to increase profit and pay back costs for the solar panel infrastructure quickly.
- Energy security and costs can be accurately managed. This means that as a campsite manager or owner, you can forecast growth and plan for personnel expansion based on the knowledge that your power overhead is known.
These are three great reasons for campsites to invest in solar.
Solar Charger
Solar charge controllers can be used to determine the best ways to use solar panels on your campsite. Smart solar chargers can store solar power in battery packs, meeting the campsite's power needs. The energy produced can then be distributed through the campsite grid infrastructure to core areas. Here are some of the offending items.
What are other common campsite types that would benefit from commercial solar?
Touring sites – these types of sites can be high users of powerful electricity depending on the size of the campsite, which will determine the amount of power used and whether or not it's a good candidate for commercial solar.
Static caravan parks - are another example of where high energy use can be measured; this is also true, and this is also based on the size of the site. If you imagine 50 static caravans using, for example, surgeon usage, it could be used from batteries that charge during the week using solar panels.
Glamping sites - as the name suggests- are glamorous camping sites, and therefore, there is an expectation of additional heat, hot water, flushing toilets and other amenities that are otherwise not available. As a result, the needs of sites exceeded the traditional caravan sites.
List of appliances and their power usage. (Source camping and caravanning club)
Final Thoughts
This article has provided sufficient evidence to support the use of commercial solar by campsites and caravan parks to drive down energy costs and their carbon footprint. It is important to future-proof the consistency of power for customers and also to help maintain costs so that campsites and caravan parks can grow accordingly.
The next step is for any business interested in commercial solar to find a commercial solar provider like Solar East Anglia.
We hope that this article has been useful in highlighting some of the areas you may not have considered to display the agency value of engaging the commercial partner for your solar development.
