Commercial rooftop solar installation at the Atlantic Tech Office, Halifax NS

●Client Case Study

Atlantic Tech Office: 42 kW Commercial Solar in Halifax, NS

A rooftop array on a growing tech company's Halifax office, offsetting a significant share of annual electricity use and supporting the company's sustainability commitments.

Aerial view of the Atlantic Tech Office commercial solar installation, Halifax NS

Atlantic Tech Office, Halifax NSCompleted rooftop installation, flat commercial roof

Project at a Glance

A Growing Tech Company With Predictable Daytime Load

Atlantic Tech operates out of a two-story office building on the edge of downtown Halifax, with a flat commercial roof and a workforce that runs standard business hours. That combination made the building a strong candidate for solar: nearly all of the company's electricity use happens during daylight hours, which is exactly when a rooftop array produces the most.

The company's leadership had made public sustainability commitments to clients and investors, and wanted a measurable way to back those commitments up. Their annual electricity usage ran 58,000 kWh, with a monthly NS Power commercial bill averaging $1,240. Beyond the environmental angle, the finance team wanted a project that also made sense on a straightforward payback basis.

System Size

kW DC

Panels

440W mono

Inverters

string inverters

Production

45,800

kWh/year

System Specifications

Solar panels: 96 x 440W Tier-1 monocrystalline modules with a 30-year linear performance warranty.
Inverters: 3 commercial-grade string inverters with remote monitoring and fault alerts.
Racking: ballasted flat-roof mounting system, no roof penetrations, engineered for local wind and snow load.
Monitoring: production dashboard shared with the building's facilities team for sustainability reporting.
Installed by: the OYO Energy commercial crew, coordinated around normal business hours to avoid disrupting operations.

Financial Breakdown

Commercial Payback Math

Figures reflect current NS Power commercial rates and the federal Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit applied against eligible equipment costs.

Atlantic Tech Office, 42 kW

Commercial rooftop, ITC-eligible equipment

System Investment

System cost, pre-tax$117,600

Federal Clean Technology ITC-$35,280

HST (15% NS, recoverable input tax credit)$17,640

Net investment after ITC$82,320

Energy and Bill Impact

Annual electricity usage58,000 kWh

Solar annual production45,800 kWh

Solar offset percentage79%

NS Power bill before solar (avg)$1,240/mo

NS Power bill after solar (yr 1 avg)$340/mo

Payback and 25-Year Outlook

Simple payback period~7.6 years

Total NS Power spend without solar (25 yr)$536,000

Total NS Power spend with solar (25 yr)$147,000

~$307,000

Net 25-year savings after net investment

Footnotes: Commercial rate model uses current NS Power commercial pricing with projected annual escalation consistent with approved residential increases. ITC eligibility and rate depend on business structure and should be confirmed with a tax professional. These are non-binding estimates. Actual results depend on weather, equipment performance, and program continuity.

Key Takeaways

What This Project Teaches

Daytime-heavy loads make the strongest commercial case. A standard office schedule lines up almost perfectly with solar production hours, which is why this project's offset percentage ran higher than most residential installs.
The federal ITC changes the payback math substantially. Without the Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit, this project's simple payback would run closer to eleven years instead of under eight.
Flat commercial roofs need engineered ballasted racking. No penetrations were made into the roof membrane, which matters for a building still under its original roof warranty.
Sustainability reporting was a real business driver, not an afterthought. The monitoring dashboard now feeds directly into the company's investor and client sustainability reporting.