Does a solar kit designed for a home suit a shop or workshop?

Not directly. A home mostly consumes at night, because of bedroom air conditioning; a business mostly consumes during the day, during opening hours, exactly when the panels are producing. The battery therefore carries proportionally less weight in a business kit, but power peaks — a drinks freezer starting up, a motor-driven machine, sales-floor air conditioning — matter more. You need to recount the equipment with this logic, not reuse a home's classification.

How do you count a shop's power use to choose a kit?

List your refrigerators and freezers (a chest freezer counts double compared to a refrigerator), sales-floor or workshop air conditioners, motor-driven machines (grinder, drill, blender, intermittent oven use), then lighting and the till or point of sale. It's the same principle as for a home — counting what you own rather than guessing kilowatt-hours — applied to a business's equipment.

What happens if my business uses more than 40 kWh a day?

Above 40 kWh a day, sizing is done on a custom quote: this covers light industry or hospitality. Below 32 kW of installed power, which covers all our kits including the custom entry point of this segment, Togo's regime is one of freedom: no paperwork with ARSE for self-generation.

Guide · Shop, workshop, business

Solar kit for a shop, workshop or business in Togo

Published 13 September 2026 · 6-minute read

In short. In a business, the logic changes compared to a home: consumption happens mostly during the day, exactly when solar is producing, which reduces how much battery is needed. What matters is the peaks — drinks freezers, motor-driven machines, sales-floor air conditioning — and continuity through opening hours. The 6-bedroom / business kit, with 30.72kWh of battery and 24 panels, is the entry point for this segment; above 40kWh a day, sizing is done on a custom quote. All our kits stay under 32kW, the threshold below which Togolese regulation requires no paperwork.

What changes compared to a home

A power outage costs a home and a business differently. For a household, it takes away comfort. In a shop, workshop or business, it interrupts a sale, stops a machine mid-cycle, or spoils refrigerated stock. It's a loss, not an inconvenience — and that is what makes the economics different for this segment. Every outage avoided is measured in goods saved and customers not turned away, not only in comfort restored.

Sizing changes too. An air-conditioned home mostly consumes at night: bedroom air conditioning runs while the panels are no longer producing, which forces a lot of energy to be stored in the battery. A business, by contrast, mostly consumes during the day, during opening hours — exactly when solar is producing. The battery then serves less to get through the night than to smooth out peaks and keep things running through service hours, including during a daytime outage. It therefore carries proportionally less weight in the kit than it would for the same power in a home.

What takes over is power peaks: a drinks freezer or cold room restarting at the same time as something else, a motor-driven machine drawing a high starting current, a sales-floor air conditioner running all day alongside lighting and the till. It is the simultaneity of this equipment, more than its number, that sizes the inverter.

How to count your power use

The principle stays the same as for a home: count what you own, not kilowatt-hours. For a business, four categories of equipment usually cover it.

Refrigerators and freezers. A chest freezer counts double compared to a refrigerator: it runs day and night, and its compressor restarts often.
Air conditioners. A sales-floor or workshop air conditioner generally runs the whole opening day, not just at night as in a bedroom.
Motor-driven machines. Grinder, drill, blender, intermittent oven use: it isn't the energy used over the day that matters most, but the current drawn at start-up.
Lighting and the till. Little power per unit, but continuity to keep through every opening hour, with no visible interruption for customers.

This list covers nearly every shop and retail business. A workshop equipped with heavier machinery may need a fuller inventory, provided on request before the quote.

Which kit for your business

The range logic described in the guide which kit for my home applies here too: each kit covers a band of daily consumption, and the bands touch with no gap. For a business, the entry point of the segment is the 6-bedroom / business kit: two 6.5kW hybrid inverters at 48V, a 30.72kWh battery and 24 panels of 550Wp, for a range of 26 to 40kWh a day — enough to cover seven to nine air conditioners, or an equivalent mix of commercial refrigeration, machines and lighting.

Above 40kWh a day, you leave the standard range: this is the case for light industry or a hospitality venue, and sizing is done on a custom quote, based on a detailed inventory of equipment and its hours of use.

On the regulatory side, all our kits, including the 6-bedroom / business one, stay under 32kW of installed power. In Togo, that threshold is the free regime for self-generation: no declaration, no authorisation to obtain from ARSE. As with a residential kit, the sizing chosen for your business is confirmed in writing before you order.

What solar doesn't replace, yet

A solar kit, even from the business segment, probably shouldn't stand in for a very powerful machine run continuously all day, or for equipment like an electric bakery oven: these are uses that call for sustained power on a different order than a typical retail business or workshop. For those cases, custom-quote sizing remains the starting point, as a complement rather than a replacement for the existing power supply.

Solar pump and solar air conditioner: coming to the AFRO-ENERGY range.

Frequently asked questions

Does a solar kit designed for a home suit a shop or workshop?: Not directly. A home mostly consumes at night, a business mostly during the day, when solar is producing: the battery carries proportionally less weight, but power peaks matter more. You need to recount the equipment with this logic.
How do you count a shop's power use to choose a kit?: Refrigerators and freezers (a chest freezer counts double), air conditioners, motor-driven machines, lighting and the till. You count what you own, not kilowatt-hours.
What happens if my business uses more than 40 kWh a day?: Sizing is done on a custom quote. Below 32kW, which covers our entire range, Togo's regime is one of freedom: no ARSE paperwork.