Demand Management

Demand charges (i.e. the costs for peak energy draw from the utility company) often comprise more than half of the cost on most Commercial electricity bills. Adding additional solar panels over and above actual consumption doesn’t fix the problem.

Most commercial systems require in-depth analysis of utility rate “Interval” data to assess the impact of “Demand Charges” on the overall cost of the utility bill. For example, locally in SCE territory, any customer drawing more than 20kW of electricity at any point in a given month will be assessed a Demand Charge that is typically much more costly than the typical per kWh rate. Further, the demand charge is tallied by finding the highest demand required during ANY 15-minute interval during a full billing cycle.

Therefore, HPM Solar uses sophisticated analytical software to read “interval” usage and determine a custom package of battery storage or demand management so that demand charges are well understood and mitigated as much as possible.

It’s important to reiterate that no matter how many solar panels are installed, demand charges are likely to be a major percentage of the overall bill because peak demand could take place on a cloudy day, at night, or at a time when solar panels are not able to keep usage below the 20kW threshold.

Ask us about demand management solutions for your building. We have effective tools to help you mitigate demand charges.