Solar PV With Heat Pumps for Business: Heating and Hot Water From Your Own Power

A heat pump moves heat rather than burning fuel, so it delivers several units of heat for each unit of electricity it draws. That electricity can come from your solar array. Replacing a gas or oil boiler with an electric heat pump turns heating into an electrical load, and part of that load can be met by power you generate on your own roof rather than buying it all in.

The pairing also supports carbon reporting. Moving off fossil fuel heating and covering some of the remaining electricity with on-site solar cuts both the direct and the bought-in emissions a business reports. Confirm how this fits your own reporting with your advisor.

The honest answer is: some of it, not all of it, and the share depends on timing. Heating demand peaks in winter mornings and evenings, exactly when solar output is lowest. In spring and autumn, when there is decent daylight and buildings still need heat, the overlap is good and solar can cover a real slice of the pump’s demand.

A battery helps by storing midday solar for evening heating, and a hot water tank does something similar by letting the pump heat water while the sun is up. Half-hourly consumption data and a proper design are the way to size this, because every building’s heat and occupancy pattern differs.

You can buy the solar, the heat pump or both outright, use hire purchase or leasing, or fund the solar through a PPA. Under a PPA there is no upfront cost for the array, the rate per kWh is guaranteed at least 30% below the grid, and the system becomes yours for £1 at the end of the term.

Sizing the two together matters. An array sized only for today’s lighting and plant load may be too small once a heat pump adds a large new electrical demand. It is worth planning the solar with the heat pump in mind from the start, so the system is big enough to serve both. We can introduce funders and installers who model the combined load.