Key Takeaways:
- Solar ROI depends less on industry labels than on when and how a facility consumes electricity.
- Manufacturing and food-production facilities often suit solar well because substantial loads continue through daylight hours.
- Warehouses may have excellent roof space but weaker returns if electricity consumption is relatively low, while cold storage can present a very different picture.
- Offices and retail properties often achieve strong solar self-consumption, although limited roof area can restrict how much total demand solar offsets.
- We assess the commercial solar load profile alongside roof capacity because installing the maximum possible system is not necessarily the most financially sensible approach.
Introduction
Two businesses can install solar systems of a similar size and still end up with very different returns. What often makes the difference is not the system itself, but how much electricity the business is using while the panels are generating.
That is especially relevant in Singapore, where commercial and industrial users account for a large share of electricity demand. According to EMA’s Singapore Energy Statistics, Singapore consumed 58 TWh of electricity in 2024, with commerce and services accounting for 40.2% and industry for another 39.4%.
For businesses here, differences in solar return on investment (ROI) often come down to the characteristics of the site itself, including its commercial solar load profile, available roof space and operating hours.
Looking at solar energy by industry gives us a useful starting point, but the site’s actual load profile, roof space and operating hours ultimately shape the outcome.
Manufacturing and Industrial Facilities: Typically a Strong Solar Fit
Manufacturing facilities often have two characteristics that work well for solar: large roof areas and steady daytime electricity demand.
Machinery, compressors, ventilation, cooling and production equipment can keep electricity use relatively high throughout the working day. When that demand overlaps with solar generation, more of the electricity produced can be used on-site instead of being exported.
Take a factory operating from 8am to 6pm with a fairly consistent production load. It may be able to use solar electricity throughout most of the day. Another factory with the same roof size but only a short morning shift may not need a system of the same scale.
This is why we look beyond roof size when assessing solar panels for industrial buildings. The roof tells us what can be installed, but the load profile helps determine what is likely to deliver better commercial value.
Private-sector adoption is already significant. EMA reported that Singapore had reached 2,093 MWp of grid-connected solar capacity by the end of Q4 2025, with the private sector accounting for 65% of installed capacity.
F&B and Food Production: Stronger Where Daytime Loads Are Consistent
F&B businesses can have very different solar profiles, even when their overall electricity bills look similar.
Food-production facilities often run refrigeration, cold rooms, ventilation and processing equipment from early morning through the afternoon. Refrigeration can form an important part of that electricity use. NEA’s efficiency requirements for commercial storage refrigerators, for example, assess these units partly according to their annual energy consumption.
Where these loads remain active through the day, they can overlap well with solar generation. A central kitchen operating from 6am to 4pm may be able to use a large share of the electricity its system produces. A restaurant that is busiest from 6pm to 10pm, however, will have a different profile because much of its peak demand comes after solar output has dropped.
When we assess solar ROI for F&B facilities, we therefore look closely at when refrigeration, kitchen equipment, ventilation and air-conditioning are actually running. In practice, the timing of electricity use often matters more than the F&B label itself.
Logistics and Warehousing: Roof Potential Can Be Misleading
Warehouses can look ideal for solar because they often have large, relatively unobstructed roofs. In practice, though, roof space only tells part of the story. The more important question is whether the site uses enough electricity during the day to make good use of that generation.
A dry warehouse may rely mainly on lighting, ventilation, charging equipment and office functions. If those loads are relatively low, filling the entire roof with panels could produce more electricity than the building can use directly during solar-generating hours.
Cold storage is very different. Refrigeration runs for long periods and creates a steady baseload, so a temperature-controlled facility may be able to absorb far more solar generation than a dry warehouse of a similar size.
For us, this is one of the clearest examples of why roof size alone should not drive solar ROI calculations. We compare the site’s available roof capacity with its actual electricity demand before recommending a system size.
Retail and Shopping Facilities: Strong Loads but Limited Roof Space
Retail properties often have substantial daytime electricity demand from air-conditioning, lighting, lifts, escalators, refrigeration and other common services. Because these systems run through much of the day, their operating hours tend to align well with solar generation.
BCA’s Building Energy Benchmarking Report gives a sense of that demand. Its 2022 benchmarks recorded an average energy use intensity of 275 kWh/m²/year for large retail buildings, compared with 216 kWh/m²/year for large offices.
For many retail properties, though, roof area is the bigger constraint. A multi-storey shopping facility may use a great deal of electricity across several floors while having relatively little rooftop space available for solar.
In that situation, most of the electricity generated by the solar panel system may still be used on-site, even if solar only offsets a modest share of the building’s total demand. When considering solar power cost and potential returns, we therefore look beyond the percentage of total consumption covered and consider how consistently the system replaces grid electricity.
Offices: Good Daytime Alignment, but Scale Matters
Offices generally have a strong overlap between working hours and solar generation. Air-conditioning, computers, lighting and lifts are usually in use throughout the day, which can support high self-consumption from solar power systems.
The main constraint is often roof area. A high-rise office may have substantial electricity demand but relatively little rooftop space, while a low-rise office campus can offer far more usable roof area in relation to its total floor space.
BCA’s energy benchmarks also show that electricity use can vary considerably even between buildings in the same category. For that reason, we treat industry averages as a reference point rather than a substitute for assessing the building’s actual consumption profile.
Industry Type Is Only the Starting Point
Industry type can give us a useful indication of solar potential, but it does not tell the whole story.
A factory running one daytime shift will have a different load profile from a plant operating around the clock. Cold storage behaves differently from dry warehousing, just as a daytime production kitchen differs from a restaurant that sees its highest demand in the evening.
From what we see, stronger solar ROI usually comes down to three things working together: sufficient daytime electricity demand, usable roof space and stable long-term operations.
The balance matters. A business may have plenty of roof space but not enough daytime demand to use the generation effectively. Another may have strong daytime consumption but too little roof area to offset a meaningful share of its electricity use.
The Best Solar Fit Is About Matching Supply With Demand
Industry trends are useful for setting expectations, but they cannot predict returns on their own. Strong solar ROI usually comes from sizing the system around the facility’s actual daytime electricity use, roof capacity and operating pattern.
That is why two businesses in the same sector may need very different system sizes. One site may be able to use most of its solar generation directly, while another may reach the point where additional panels add less financial value.
At PMCE, we assess operating hours, electricity consumption, roof conditions and practical system capacity together so the proposed system reflects how the facility actually operates.
Speak with PMCE to assess your facility’s electricity profile, roof capacity and potential commercial solar returns.
