County-Level Cold Storage Rooftop Photovoltaic Leasing and Electricity Bill Discount Green Power Revenue Sharing

📌 Background

Cold storage facilities are high-energy-consumption scenarios where refrigeration systems operate 24 hours a day. The rooftop photovoltaic generation curve matches the cold storage power load to a high degree, resulting in a high self-generation and self-consumption rate. With the implementation of the new green power policies in 2026, self-generated and self-consumed photovoltaics are recognized as zero-carbon green power, and surplus electricity fed into the grid can also be combined with green certificate trading. Coupled with carbon assessment pressure, cold chain park rooftops have become scarce resources competed for by capital. Nodes integrating photovoltaic, storage, and refrigeration have already been established in places like Nanyang and Sheqi in Henan, and the payback period is supported by actual measured data.

👤 Target Customers

Owners of county-level cold chain storage parks, operators of agricultural product origin cold storage facilities, and food processing companies facing carbon compliance pressures; the payers are the cold storage operators (saving on electricity bills) and green power/green certificate buyers.

💰 Revenue Streams

1) Rooftop rent or electricity bill discount price difference, supplying electricity to the cold storage at a discounted price lower than the commercial electricity rate to earn the price difference; 2) Revenue from surplus electricity fed into the grid and market-based green certificate trading; 3) Value-added service fees such as carbon footprint certification and green power tracing provided to surrounding food factories.

🧮 Cost Structure

One-time investment in photovoltaic modules and energy storage equipment, installation and construction, operation, maintenance and cleaning, insurance, as well as grid-connection and power trading compliance costs.

🛡️ Moat

Long-term exclusive leasing agreements for high-quality rooftop resources (typically over 20 years), technical capabilities in photovoltaic-storage-refrigeration coordinated dispatch, and grid access qualifications, securing scarce county-level rooftops with high self-consumption rates on a first-mover basis.

🔑 Keys to Success

• Lock in high-load, stable-electricity-consumption cold storage rooftops and sign long-term contracts.
• Photovoltaic-storage collaborative dispatch matches refrigeration loads to maximize the proportion of self-generation and self-consumption.
• Open up channels for green certificate trading and carbon certification value-added services.

⚠️ Risks

• Market-based fluctuations in electricity and green certificate prices compress returns.
• Deterioration of cold storage tenant operations leads to electricity bill defaults.
• Contract disputes caused by rooftop load-bearing capacity and ownership defects.

🏢 Cases

• Sheqi County Fengyuan Cold Chain put a 3.2 MW rooftop photovoltaic system into operation in July 2025. As of May 2026, it has generated a cumulative 18.62 million kWh of electricity, with a combined electricity savings and green power trading revenue of 5.27 million yuan and a payback period of 3.7 years.
• Yuhu Cold Chain Chengdu Trading Center has laid 81,000 square meters of photovoltaics on the rooftops of 10 cold storage buildings, reducing the park's electricity bills by about 14%.

📊 SWOT Analysis