Q&A with Duncan Booth, Managing Director, ORKA Solutions
As more Scottish businesses review rising energy costs, fleet electrification and future electrical site capacity, conversations around commercial solar, battery storage and workplace EV charging are becoming increasingly connected.
We asked ORKA Solutions Managing Director Duncan Booth about the conversations businesses are starting to have more often - and where companies can accidentally create more cost later by treating infrastructure projects separately.
Q: What conversations are businesses having more often now?
A lot of businesses initially approach us about one specific project - usually EV charging or solar - but very quickly the wider infrastructure conversation starts appearing.
Site capacity, future expansion, operational electricity demand and long-term planning all start becoming part of the discussion.
Businesses are increasingly recognising that these projects don’t really sit in isolation anymore.
Q: Why can treating these projects separately become a problem?
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is reviewing solar, battery storage and EV charging as completely separate conversations.
In reality, they affect each other through electrical demand, infrastructure planning and future operational requirements.
That doesn’t necessarily mean businesses need to install everything at once, but reviewing infrastructure together early usually creates better long-term decisions.
Q: What issues tend to appear later if businesses don’t plan early enough?
We often see businesses revisit infrastructure decisions later because future requirements weren’t considered early enough.
That can mean additional cabling, upgraded distribution equipment, relocated chargers or wider electrical upgrades later on.
Those reactive changes are usually more disruptive and more expensive than phased planning from the start.
Q: Is this mainly a sustainability conversation?
Not really.
For many businesses, this is becoming much more operational.
Electricity demand is changing, fleet requirements are evolving and businesses are trying to future-proof sites properly while managing long-term operational costs.
The conversation is becoming less about individual products and more about how infrastructure works together over time.
Q: What should businesses be thinking about now?
The earlier businesses start reviewing infrastructure planning, the more flexibility they usually have later.
Businesses don’t need to overcomplicate things, but they do need to think beyond simply installing one product at a time.
The companies that plan infrastructure properly early usually avoid more reactive and more expensive decisions later.
Q: Why are businesses finding themselves having these conversations more often now?
Electricity demand is changing for a lot of businesses.
Fleet electrification, workplace charging, operational growth and rising energy costs are all contributing to that.
Businesses are increasingly exploring how their energy infrastructure can support future operational requirements rather than simply reacting when electrical capacity becomes an issue.
That's why these conversations are becoming more common.
Summary
Businesses reviewing commercial solar, battery storage or workplace EV charging don't necessarily need to invest in all three at once. But understanding how they work together can help ensure today's decisions support tomorrow's operational needs.
For ORKA Solutions, the objective isn't to encourage businesses to install more technology. It's to help them understand how commercial solar, battery storage and workplace EV charging fit together, so the decisions they make now continue supporting the business as its needs evolve.
https://orka-solutions.co.uk/news-insights/solar-battery-storage-ev-charging-planning