You can’t have failed to have noticed that wherever you go the watchword in business today is “green”. From biodegradable packaging to fuel-efficient airliners everybody wants to be seen to be saving energy and, needless to say, the planet. And why not? Morally and ethically, green is the right thing to be. If your carbon footprint is smaller than the sole of your air trainers, then you are doing something right.

Of course for big business it is comparatively easy. Reaping the benefits of having green credentials in an increasingly environmentally conscious world will itself offset any financial loss incurred by switching from nasty harmful plastic packaging or fossil fuels. But for the small entrepreneur working from home any green capital that is available will be at the peripheral end of the scale. Bringing home the weekly shop in a Bag For Life is a fine gesture, but it hardly compares.

A Sense of Satisfaction from Doing Your Part

But there is a great sense of relaxation and calm that comes from the knowledge that you are nevertheless doing your part. And quite apart from ensuring that uneaten food is composted and that nothing goes into the bin that can be recycled there is one thing that even a home-based business can do to make a big difference. That is to install solar panels as a source of energy for your home and for your enterprise, harnessing the rays of the sun to power your electrical devices.

Solar panels and other applications can be sourced from established providers such as HydroSolar.ca and put to use at a household level. Increasingly they are to be seen at individual private properties and in some areas local authorities will provide a financial incentive for their use. On top of this, once any initial investment has been paid for they become a source of cheap energy as well as providing a green energy solution which helps slow down environmental deterioration.

Drawbacks to Using Solar Energy

Aside from the sometimes prohibitive initial cost of installing solar panels and applications, there are times during prolonged periods of cloud when the energy harnessed may not be sufficient to continue providing unlimited power. On top of this when space is at a premium sometimes panels take up too much room. However both of these are inconveniences rather than defining deficiencies and neither is usually an insurmountable problem for the typical domestic user.

When you are running a small business and the bottom line is in the final figure on the balance sheet it can be highly useful to know that the energy you need to run your business is coming at little or no cost. On top of this the fact that the business you are operating has impeccable green credentials is often itself a selling point to customers who are of an environmentalist bent. All in all if you can cover the cost of installation without jeopardizing cash flow solar energy is a worthy investment to make on so many counts.