Combining Solar and LED on the Same Alberta Farm Project: How to Sequence It Right

A lot of Alberta farm operations are candidates for both solar and LED lighting upgrades. Both investments make financial sense. Both have grant programs that improve the economics. And when done right, they reinforce each other — LED reduces the load, and solar offsets the reduced load more efficiently.

But the sequencing matters enormously. Getting it wrong doesn't just leave money on the table — it can mean spending tens of thousands of dollars more on solar than necessary, and underperforming on both investments.

Why Sequencing Matters

Solar systems are sized based on your energy consumption. The larger your load, the larger the system you need to offset a meaningful percentage of it. If you install solar first — before reducing your load with LED upgrades — you're sizing the solar system against an inflated baseline that LED will subsequently reduce.

After the LED upgrade, your consumption drops. Your solar system now produces more energy than you're consuming during many parts of the day, and that surplus is exported to the grid at the net metering rate — typically lower than the rate you'd pay to consume that energy yourself. The system that was sized to offset your old load is now oversized for your new load, and the economics of the excess generation are weaker than self-consumption.

The result: you paid for more solar than you needed, and you're not getting full value from the capacity you installed.

The Right Sequence

Step 1: Energy Audit

Before any investment is made, understand your full energy cost picture. A QuotePath energy audit reviews your rate structure, demand charges, billing history, and load profile — identifying where your costs are coming from and which upgrades will have the highest impact.

The audit also identifies which parts of your operation have the largest lighting loads, which fixtures are highest priority for LED replacement, and what incentives you qualify for across both LED and solar programs.

Step 2: LED Upgrade

Once the audit has identified LED opportunities, execute the lighting upgrade first. This permanently reduces your baseline consumption — the load that solar will subsequently be sized against. It also reduces demand, which may lower demand charge billing on your account and improve the overall solar ROI calculation.

Apply for any LED-specific grant funding before work begins. OFEM and other programs have documentation requirements that need to be met prior to project commencement.

Step 3: Solar Sizing

Now design the solar system against the post-LED load. The system is smaller, less expensive, and achieves a higher self-consumption ratio — meaning more of the solar generation is consumed directly rather than exported.

The solar system sized against the post-LED load is the right size for your operation. It's not undersized relative to your actual needs — it's correctly sized against what you actually consume after you've already addressed the easy savings.

Step 4: Solar Installation

Install the correctly sized solar system, apply for ASIP and other solar incentives, and set up your net metering connection. The combined savings from LED and solar are now maximized because each was optimized for the post-optimization load.

Sample Numbers: LED-First vs. Solar-First

Consider a central Alberta grain operation with a $4,500/month average electricity bill, 40% from demand charges and 60% from energy charges. The operation has a large grain handling facility and heated shop with significant lighting loads.

Solar-first approach: A system sized to offset 70% of energy charges requires approximately 120 kW, costing $250,000 installed. After LED (done later), 30% of the solar generation exports to grid at lower net metering rate.

LED-first approach: LED upgrade costs $45,000, reduces energy consumption by 22%. Solar now sized to same 70% offset requires only 94 kW, costing $195,000. The $55,000 saving in solar capital cost exceeds the LED cost — the LED project effectively paid for itself through the solar savings it enabled, plus the operation also gets direct LED energy savings of approximately $12,000/year.

The LED-first operation ends up spending less total capital and generating more value from both investments.

When Solar First Makes Sense

There are situations where solar first is reasonable: when lighting loads are small relative to total consumption, when the farm has no significant indoor lighting infrastructure, or when a grant deadline makes solar timing inflexible. An energy audit identifies these situations and recommends accordingly.

The audit takes the guesswork out of the sequencing decision. Book your free energy assessment here or call 403-608-3750.