Why do some business owners still hesitate to install rooftop solar? (Part one)

Solar is Too Expensive!

This is the biggest and the most common belief of many people in Vietnam. Whenever asked about solar, “It is very expensive!” is the first thing many people would say. This misconception on the solar energy use being expensive has caused them to have a lack of interest and the inability to relate to it.

The truth is otherwise. According to Bloomberg, New Energy Finance’s record, it shows that the price of solar cells (silicon based) had dropped drastically from 1977 to 2014. Despite being used since 1977, the solar energy price had only become reachable to the public less than a decade ago.

As more advance technology is being innovated, the creation of higher efficiency rate with a longer product lifespan of solar panel has directly resulted in the price of solar energy use to become more affordable for business owners. Moreover, with VSSES’s Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), using rooftop solar energy will be even easier for business owners as all investment, installation, operation and maintenance costs will be taken care of by VSSES.

Not in a Hurry! Want to Wait for the Best Solar Technology

We all want to use the newest and hottest technology in this day and age. Who doesn’t, right? Many people would often have a fantasy whereby they want the best of all solar products put together perfectly at their house or factory.

While there is nothing wrong having such desire, they should ask themselves if they will wait to purchase the best cellphone for calling or the most intelligent computer for conducting business. If the answers are no, why is the constant wait for the best solar technology needed?

Solar technology will evolve to be more advanced inevitably for the betterment of its industry.  However, there is no reason to wait because the technology is already doing it jobs. The current solar products are already capable of providing business owners with clean energy.

Given that the solar energy use has reached the grid parity, this will allow the business owners to enjoy yearly savings from the price increment of EVN’s electricity use.

One thing that is waiting for these business owners who decided not to go solar now is an expensive annual electricity bill that will accumulate over time without them noticing. VSSES does not wish that anyone will suffer from the “cost of doing nothing”. Therefore, VSSES always selects top Tier 1 international manufacturers for solar panels that has the technology for best performance to ensure the highest savings for our customers.

No FIT, No Solar?

In some countries, the development of solar requires some actions from the government to encourage the public to go solar. For example in the US, being qualified for the federal solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) will allow people to earn up to 26% tax credit on their solar installation costs. In Vietnam, the Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) introduced in 2017 had incentivized solar energy asset owners to earn some extra revenue based on the excess generation of solar energy exported to the EVN’s grid.

From 2017 to 2020, there have been two times where the FIT were announced and they went from 9.35 to 8.38 US cents per kilowatt-hour for rooftop solar. Now, in 2021, FIT for rooftop solar remains unclear but is expected to drop significantly as compared to the previous values. This certainly has affected the intention of many people to go solar as they are now unable to earn as much revenue from the exported energy.

For this reason, some businessowners have lost their taste in the rooftop solar deployment and decided to wait until the new FIT is announced so that their investment benefits will be firmed and calculated factually. But in fact, instead of waiting, business owners will only need to have the right solar system capacity that has a generation that matches with their annual load demand.

As a developer in rooftop solar energy, VSSES is able to help sizing this solar system right such that it can be optimized to substitute the customer’s current electricity use during peak and normal hours with solar energy at a lower price. VSSES capitalizes on the rooftop’s availability and provides business owners the highest possible amount of clean energy to be consumed entirely during the daytime that helps them maximize their yearly savings.

VSSES’s rooftop solar systems at H.B Fuller Company Limited (Vietnam), EPE Packaging Vietnam Co., Ltd. and Digital Age Dental Laboratories Ltd.