How do I know which solution applies to my site?

Start from the load shape, not the site size. If demand peaks in the evening, storage is the main decision. If demand is flat around the clock, backup duration and converter sizing dominate.

Can you size a system from my electricity bill only?

No. A bill gives total consumption but not peak demand, starting current or critical circuits. We use it as a cross-check against the load schedule.

Solutions by application

Prepared by Mars Solar Technical Team · Reviewed by Mars Solar Engineering Review · Last updated 4 November 2026

In short

The application decides the configuration more than the site size does. A factory is sized on motor starting current and demand peaks; a hotel is sized on the evening peak after sunset; cold storage is sized on continuous cooling load and outage tolerance. Each page below explains how the load shape changes the PV, converter and battery sizing.

A 100 kW load is not a 100 kW load. The shape of the demand curve over 24 hours decides how much battery you need, and how much PV can actually be used on site.

Ground-mounted PV array beside an industrial building

Factories & Manufacturing

Motor starting, shift patterns, demand charges. The hardest of the three to size correctly.

Roof-mounted PV array on a commercial building

Hotels & Resorts

The peak arrives after the PV output has fallen, which is what makes storage the main decision.

Cold Storage & Processing

Continuous load with a hard failure cost. Backup duration is a business decision, not a technical one.

Solar + Diesel Hybrid

Where storage reduces generator hours, and where it does not pay for itself at all.

What every configuration starts with

Input	Why it changes the design
Load schedule	Continuous kW, peak kW and which circuits must stay live. Without this, sizing is guesswork.
Daily energy profile	Decides how much PV can be self-consumed instead of exported at a low tariff.
Starting current	Motors and compressors can draw several times rated current. It sizes the converter, not the battery.
Grid status and export rules	Decides whether the system is grid-tied, export-limited, or grid-forming.
Outage tolerance	Decides backup duration, which is the single largest driver of battery capacity.

What we do not do: we do not size a system from a monthly electricity bill alone. A bill tells you total consumption; it does not tell you the peak, the starting current, or which loads you can live without. If a supplier quotes from the bill alone, they are guessing and calling it engineering.

Next step

Read the page for your application, then send the inputs listed there through the project assessment form. If you are an EPC, start with what we supply and what we do not instead.