Unlocking the Future of Clean Energy

from Mann Report April 2023

EARTH YEAR

BY DEEP CHAKRABORTY, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER AT ENACT SYSTEMS

It’s no secret that the planet is facing a climate crisis. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres claims that “We are on the highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.”

This is a bleak, but sobering reminder that we risk causing irreparable damage to our planet if decisive action isn’t taken soon. Whilst solar energy alone won’t fix the climate crisis, it has a powerful role to play in reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the harmful effects of climate change on our people and planet. However, the future of clean energy will never come to fruition if the process of designing, deploying and managing solar panels, along with energy storage where needed, remains inefficient and inaccessible to all.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued a stark warning that without an immediate and severe reduction in carbon emissions across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will be impossible. To prevent this, all nations collectively need to reduce carbon emissions by 43% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by the start of 2050. Whilst every industry and individual has a responsibility to meet this goal, the real estate sector, in particular, has a key part to play.

The built environment is estimated to be responsible for 40% of all global greenhouse emissions, and if no action is taken, this figure is predicted to double by 2050, according to The Climate Group. Operational emissions such as heating, cooling and lighting contribute to 27% of this overall number, according to “Why the Built Environment?” on the Architecture 2030 website. The majority of the opportunity to reduce real estate’s carbon footprint, therefore, lies in reducing the electricity used in a building.

There is no straightforward solution to solve the climate crisis. However, if we hope to mitigate the environmental damage done by the real estate industry, we must make the transition to clean energy in our buildings.

Solar: An Underutilized Solution

Solar power offers a clean, emission-free and renewable energy source for buildings. During its lifetime, each solar panel prevents hundreds of kilograms of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere. There is also an added financial incentive here: U.S. households save on average $1,500 a year with solar panels, and businesses deploying solar on a larger scale have even greater potential savings. On top of that, the Federal government has a 30% income tax subsidy for consumers and businesses to procure solar, as well as energy storage where needed. Clean solar energy is therefore the perfect, viable and proven long-term solution for the real estate industry to cut costs, reduce carbon emissions and ultimately lessen its damaging impact on the environment.

So why does solar power contribute less than 3% of total energy production in the U.S., compared with fossil fuels which provide a significant 61% percent of total energy, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration?

For too long, solar power has been regarded as inaccessible. Solar panels can be prohibitively expensive, and the process of deploying a system is complex. From selecting the right provider and financing solutions, to choosing from design and equipment options, it is often unclear which solution is optimal. This means many will avoid solar altogether or invest in a solution that underperforms.

If real estate wants to unlock the full potential of solar power and reduce its carbon footprint, the industry needs to take an altogether new approach to clean energy and solar power. To be truly accessible and practical for homeowners and businesses, the entire process of solar design, deployment and monitoring needs to be straightforward, affordable and transparent.

Enhancing the Design Process

Firstly, the solar design process should be more transparent and efficient for consumers. Each location is unique, and variables such as nearby tree shade and the age of a roof can impact the performance of solar panels and influence how best to install them. These factors can easily be overlooked and result in subpar solar design and, therefore, limited performance. By combining satellite imagery-powered software, data analytics and the insights of an expert advisor, customers can be sure that their solar system is optimized to their individual needs. This combination of technology and industry expertise removes the guesswork from the design process and means solar panel performance will be optimized.

Eliminating Confusion

The second major pitfall preventing real estate from fully embracing solar is the confusion caused when choosing the best equipment vendors and financing options. With hundreds of OEM brands for panels, inverters and other solar equipment and many financing schemes to choose from, the process can be incredibly time-consuming, and leave customers unsure they’ve made the right investment. What’s needed is a unified, open marketplace of trusted providers, which enables customers to evaluate and compare the best options.

There are also many misconceptions about solar power that prevent consumers from accessing clean energy solutions. For example, many assume that solar power only works in sunny weather, however, solar panels can generate energy even in rainy conditions. Some consumers are also concerned that solar panels will damage their roofs. In reality, the way panels are mounted means they act as a protective covering that can help preserve the roof of a building. Dispelling these myths will build more transparency and trust within the solar industry, therefore encouraging more building owners to make informed choices about solar power.

Adding Transparency on ROI

The third and perhaps most important opportunity for the solar industry to improve is by becoming more transparent. The Number One concern individuals have when considering solar panels or energy storage for their home or business is their return on investment. Solar panels require a considerable upfront commitment both in terms of time and money. Without a clear understanding of your return on investment and the confidence your system is performing well, it’s difficult to make this commitment.

Full visibility on solar panel performance bolsters consumer confidence and maximizes their efficacy, and ultimately, the money and carbon saved. Monitoring technology that gathers data from solar systems to analyze their performance can provide insights for accurate and up-to-date information on the exact return on investment, giving users the assurance that their system is performing well. Data is also available that can generate insights into the health of the system and detect any faults ahead of time, thus avoiding field issues and costly outages.

These challenges in the design, deployment and monitoring of solar and storage projects are slowing the speed of adoption by real estate clients. Sales and decision-making cycles are too long, and that in turn hurts the viability of sales efforts. Although Fortune 100 companies started deploying solar over a decade ago, it is yet to be picked up by mainstream mid-tier companies. Less than 5,000 commercial solar projects are deployed in the U.S. per year today, with millions of buildings to go.

This is why I co-founded Enact Systems in 2014 and have since been making strides to accelerate the transition to clean energy by transforming how solar and energy storage projects are designed, deployed and managed. Our platform helps simplify and improve the experience of solar ownership for commercial and residential properties. Enact’s technology platform is now making solar and energy storage accessible to businesses and homeowners in more than 25 countries, and open to all major equipment providers and financiers, as well as thousands of installation professionals.

Our technology makes the entire solar and energy storage process simple and eliminates the common issues that prevent rapid market adoption. We are an independent platform – so neither the manufacturer, nor the constructor or financier of a project. Hence, our clients trust our independent data and insights to help them make the purchase and investment decisions across large portfolios of sites. For eight years, we’ve been raising the standards of the solar energy industry and making the necessary changes to facilitate both residential and commercial real estate’s transition to clean energy.

GIFT OF LIFE

6.8.23 AT CHELSEA PIERS, NYC

THE LIGHTHOUSE