Investing in solar offers sustainable business models to grow your practice.
You don’t have to be a corporate mogul to make solar investments and practice corporate sustainability. Entrepreneurs, small business owners, and CEOs can all benefit from the lessons of corporate sustainability.
What is Corporate Sustainability?
Corporate Sustainability means engaging in a different type of growth for your business. Rather than relying on the traditional measures of growth, like maximum profit and increasing numbers, businesses embrace opportunities that derive from environmental impacts, social justice, and economic development, while also understanding the importance of profit and growth. This is where solar comes in.
Environmental Sustainability
When businesses switch to solar, the most obvious reason is for environmental sustainability. Investing in solar is the first step to reducing your company’s carbon footprint. Solar solutions don’t require electricity generated by fossil fuels, a nonrenewable resource, which gives you power over rising electricity costs. By going solar, you’ll be doing your part to help our planet.
Take Cedar Creek Energy’s client, Aveda, for example. The cosmetics company’s mission “is to care for the world we live in, from the products we make to the ways in which we give back to society. At Aveda, we strive to set an example for environmental leadership and responsibility, not just in the world of beauty, but around the world.” For these folks, it only made sense to go solar! They’re not only walking the walk, they’re talking the talk.
Social Sustainability
The second pillar of corporate sustainability revolves around society. The social impact of business sustainability can greatly increase customer growth.
Having a solar system builds your brand name and customer loyalty—it’s an investment not only you’ll appreciate, but that your customers will respect. They’ll be proud that you operate your business using solar power, and are helping to save the environment by decreasing carbon emissions.
Plus, potential customers will find your company’s commitment to sustainability appealing; you can actually attract these customers just by publicizing your new solar system. And, on top of that, having a solar system will increase your awareness as a responsible corporate citizen. You’ll be making a stand for the planet, your customers and yourself.
Economic Sustainability
Lastly, some of the biggest draws of investing in solar are the economic impacts. On average, most solar investments cash flow in four to seven years, depending on the size of the project. This includes tax advantages and rebates, as well as utility green energy bonuses.
The cost to install the system will remain proportional to the size of your business, and there are many rebates and grants available to cover some of the upfront cost. A commercial solar installation in Minnesota will improve your bottom line by decreasing your monthly utility bills drastically. You’ll be free to reinvest this money into growing your business. Plus it can increase the value of your property!
In a few short years, you’ll be paying off the loan you took for your installed solar system, rather than paying a utility bill. Regardless, you’ll also be working toward energy independence, something the folks at Aveda are already on their way to achieving!
The Aveda array is projected to produce 1,518,000 kWh annually, resulting in savings of $118,000 each year. An additional PV demand credit through Xcel Energy is calculated at a savings of $43,500 annually. The solar panels will also reduce Co2 emissions by over 1.2 million pounds every year.
Businesses large and small can benefit from following a corporate sustainability model by investing in solar. Contact us today for your free solar bid and to learn more about how you can benefit from solar.