The importance of renewable energy technology cannot be overstated in reducing the use of fossil fuels and achieving climate goals. Sweden's goal of climate neutrality by 2050 requires a transition to sustainable energy production, which applies to several societal levels, including Swedish industry. This study aims to analyze solar cells and battery storage as a renewable energy system to reduce an industry's electricity consumption, creating environmental and economic benefits for Thermia AB's headquarters and factory in Arvika, Värmland.

The study includes a literature review, a model and interviews, as well as E-LCA and LCC. Based on the results from the environmental life cycle analysis (E-LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCC), linear programming is applied using the software MATLAB and Simulink to optimize the renewable energy system based on costs and climate impact, to evaluate the profitability and sustainability of the energy system.

Scenario analysis was also conducted to forecast the optimized systems for future scenarios, assuming an increase in electricity prices and a decrease in the climate and environmental impact of the Swedish electricity mix. Sensitivity analysis was performed for NPV regarding energy price increase and discount rate. Stakeholders of the facility were interviewed to understand the industry's challenges in implementing renewable energy systems, and researchers in the technology were interviewed to deepen the understanding.

The results showed that from a climate impact perspective, it is currently advantageous to implement solar cells, but the environmental impact and costs of batteries exceed the benefits of reducing electricity consumption. The costs of solar cells created sensitivity in the optimization, where small differences yielded significant differences in results. Price increases in the Swedish electricity market increase the payback time for solar cells. CAGR-forecast for the development of renewable energy in the Swedish electricity mix, the environmental impact of the Swedish electricity mix decreases and the environmental benefits contributed by solar cells decrease over time. Based on the optimization of the base scenario, a photovoltaic-panel size of 1300 square meters was dimensioned, resulting in a reduction of 15 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year due to the reduced energy consumption when optimization with sustainability perspective. Based on the study's results, there is potential for implementing renewable energy systems for facilities as studied despite some uncertainty regarding the system's costs, while the climate benefits of renewable energy technology are emphasized. To deepen this study’s result, the impact on the economic and sustainable profitability of renewable energy systems varies with a deeper analysis of recycling and reuse scenarios.