Solar panels can help businesses in the hospitality industry to save huge amounts on their energy bills at a time when energy costs are a serious concern for countless businesses.
Commercial solar panels can help bars, restaurants, and hotels to reduce their operating costs while also improving their carbon footprint and future proofing their business.
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Are Bars, Restaurants, and Hotels suitable for solar panels?
Many smaller businesses such as bars and restaurants can have rooftop solar panels installed with little more difficulty than a domestic solar installation.
Hotels, which are typically larger buildings than others in the hospitality industry, will tend to have more roof space for solar panels.
Hotels with particularly large grounds may also have out of the way space for ground mounted solar panels to complement any rooftop installations.
Why does the hospitality industry need solar power?
Solar panels can help businesses in the hospitality industry to defray energy prices which can easily drive them out of business.
As of the summer of 2024, more than half of businesses in the hospitality industry are concerned about rising energy prices and the impact it is having on their businesses.
Applications for Solar Power in the Hospitality Industry
Businesses in the hospitality industry have high energy bills due to the dual factors of energy intensive appliances and the need for extensive heating the case of hotels.
A commercial kitchen can be operating many appliances involved with catering which consumer far more than their domestic equivalents, and will be operating throughout the day.
| Catering Appliances | Daily Electricity Consumption |
| Refrigeration | 70 kWh |
| Fryers | 11 kWh |
| Combination Ovens | 35 kWh |
| Bain Maries | 27 kWh |
| Grills | 37 kWh |
Cold Storage
Restaurants and hotels will always have large amounts of food being kept refrigerated or frozen. Solar panels can help to reduce the energy costs of industry scale freezing and refrigeration units. With extra blackout protection, they can also keep fridges and freezers running in the event of a power outage so that stock isn’t lost.
How Many Solar Panels are needed for a restaurant or hotel?
The exact amount of solar panels needed for a business in the hospitality industry will depend on the size of the business and how energy intensive its activities are.
A bar or restaurant on its own will use less power than a hotel which typically contains both of those activities, along with guest accommodation.
Restaurants and Public Houses used an average of 42,475kWh of electricity in 2022, far more than is consumed by offices, healthcare facilities, or businesses in the retail sector.
Exact electricity usage will depend on the size of the business in question. These CSO figures show that restaurants and bars consume an average of 196kWh of electricity per square metre.
Hotels are also likely to have far more roof space available for solar panels than restaurants or bars due to their greater size, though this is not applicable in all cases.
A 15kWp solar panel system could deliver an average of 13,075kWh of electricity each year, nearly a third of the mean electricity usage for restaurants and bars. This would require approximately 35 solar panels covering an area of roughly 55m²
Of course, smaller restaurants may not have the roof space for such a solar PV system, and larger hotels may have significantly greater requirements.
How much can hotels, restaurants and bars save with solar power?
How much solar power can reduce the operating costs of a business in the hospitality industry will depend on the size of the solar PV system and how much they spend on electricity.
| Solar PV System Size | Annual Electricity Output | Electricity Consumption Saved |
| 5kWp | 4,375kWh | €1,567 |
| 10kWp | 8,700kWh | €3,117 |
| 15kWp | 13,075kWh | €4,685 |
| 20kWp | 17,300kWh | €6,199 |
| 50kWp | 43,300kWh | €15,514 |
| 100kWp | 86,600kWh | €31,028 |
| 150kWp | 130,000kWh | €46,579 |
| 200kWp | 173,300kWh | €62,093 |
Estimates assume south-facing solar panels with a 30° inclination. Savings based on Electric Ireland 35.83c per kWh 24-hr rate.
How much of this will reduce a business’s overall operating costs depends on what portion of those costs electricity makes up. Heating and hot water are the single largest part of a hotel’s operating costs, but heating is frequently done through gas for larger businesses.
With electric heating for some or all of a business’s heating needs, or using solar PV to help with hot water generation, further savings can be possible.
Cost of Solar Panels for Hotels, Restaurants & Bars
The cost of having commercial solar panels installed on a business in the hospitality industry will depend on the size of the business in question, and the complexity of the project.
Commercial solar panels typically cost between €850 – €2,000 per kWp, with prices varying depending on the project and installation costs. A larger hotel will have a significantly more complex and expensive installation process than a small restaurant.
Grants for Solar Panels in the Hospitality Industry
The main source of grant funding for restaurants, bars, and hotels to install solar panels comes from the SEAI, which offers commercial solar panel grants of up to €162,600. The value of the grant is dependent on the size of the solar PV system.
A restaurant installing a 10kWp rooftop solar PV system, for instance, would be eligible for a grant of €3,300 to help with the cost. Whereas a hotel larger solar PV installation meant for a hotel of 150kWp – 220kWp could receive €32,600 to €45,600.
Selling Surplus Electricity from the Hospitality Industry
All businesses with solar panels installed are able to sell any excess electricity generated by their solar panels when it exceeds what is being consumed on the premises. How this is done will depend on the size of the solar PV system.
Restaurants and bars will be able to avail of the Microgeneration Support Scheme, which enables smaller solar PV systems, while larger systems installed on a hotel might avail of the Small-Scale Renewable Electricity Support Scheme.
Case Study – Brandon House Hotel
The Brandon House Hotel in New Ross, Co. Wexford is saving huge amounts of money since installing hundreds of high-end rooftop solar panels which are significantly cutting its electricity bills.
The hotel installed 508 Longi solar panels which give the solar PV system an overall capacity of 210kWp.
This has resulted in reducing electricity consumption from the grid by 184.5MWh for the hotel each year, accounting for nearly 14% of the hotel’s total energy consumption, and saving 60 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
Get in Touch
Contact us to learn about how solar power can help your business to save more and become more sustainable today.
To learn more about solar energy for your business, speak to Energy Efficiency today! Ireland’s leading experts in solar energy. Speak to a member of our team and find out how much you could save in energy bills.
