Energy management and analysis for replacing fossil fuels with solar cells in an SME: A case study of blue apple printing

The role of energy management has greatly expanded in industrial companies who are collaborating with energy service providers to implement energy management practices to improve efficiency. The effort to introduce energy management in small and medium scale enterprises (SME) is limited due to the lack of initiation, expertise and financial constraints. In manufacturing, energy cost is usually only a small portion of the total production cost, and therefore, energy cost receives relatively little attention. Another problem is the lack of knowledge regarding the underlying principles involved in energy management. There is an urgent need to educate SMEs on energy management concepts and practices. This paper aims to provide a guideline for entrepreneurs in implementing energy management. It reviews the methodology of energy management that was introduced in a German bakery with a clear and consistent path toward introducing energy management. The methodology, tools used, results and difficulties encountered during the study are discussed. In this study a methodology has been developed to compare a micro-business model in the UK and Kurdistan-Iraq. The comparison clarifies that even though Kurdistan is abundant in oil and gas, its climatic conditions favour the implementation of solar cells that can replace the existing use of non-renewable fossil fuel sources. Our study suggests that solar can replace a reasonable amount of the energy needed in the UK and a much higher proportion in Kurdistan, Iraq. Using 20% efficient solar cells, 28% and 83% of the energy requirements of the microbusiness in the UK and Kurdistan-Iraq can be replaced respectively. These percentages are encouraging giving confidence that solar is a viable alternative in the future as solar cell efficiencies continue to improve.