Professional services office
Small Office, Nakuru
Hybrid essential-load backup · illustrative
A hybrid backup design for a small office that needs computers, connectivity and lighting to stay available during outages.
Commercial
Retail Business, Nairobi
A rooftop solar design for a retail business with refrigeration and lighting loads that closely follow daylight trading hours.
- Property type · illustrative
- Single-storey retail premises
- Location · illustrative
- Nairobi
- System type · illustrative
- Grid-tied rooftop solar
- Category
- Commercial
Stock photography used for illustration. Not images of this scenario.
Project overview
This project looks at a grid-tied rooftop system for a retail business open six days a week. Most of the electricity is used during trading hours for refrigeration, lighting and air conditioning, which aligns well with when solar generates.
The challenge
A fictional scenario
In this fictional scenario, the business's electricity costs have become a significant overhead. The owner wants to understand whether solar can reduce daytime grid consumption, without the added cost of batteries, and how a system would work around Sunday closures.
Proposed system configuration
A flat-roof array sized to the shop's daytime baseload so that most solar output is used on site. The inverter is configured not to export to the grid. A monitoring platform tracks generation against consumption.
Installation considerations
- Structural and waterproofing assessment of the flat roof before finalising the mounting method.
- Review of metering data to size the array to weekday baseload rather than peak demand.
- Installation scheduled around trading hours, with a short planned shutdown for final connection.
- Inverter sized and configured with the Sunday closure in mind to limit unused generation.
Illustrative outcome
What the design aims to achieve
- 01
A share of weekday daytime consumption is intended to be met by solar, with the exact figure depending on actual load and weather.
- 02
The owner can track generation and consumption to judge performance against the proposal's assumptions.
- 03
The design leaves room to add battery storage later if outage support becomes a priority.
Outcomes describe design intent for a fictional scenario. They are not measured results or a guarantee of performance. Real-world results depend on actual consumption, weather, equipment and site conditions.
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