Commercial solar installation that cuts operating costs.

Most business sites have an interval or smart meter that records usage in short intervals through the day. Your retailer or network can provide that data on request using the NMI on your bill, and with your written consent we can request it for you. Twelve months is the goal, so both seasons and any shutdown periods show up.

• The daytime base load on a normal weekday — the floor the system should sit under
• Weekends, public holidays and shutdowns, when generation may be exported
• Seasonal swings: refrigeration and cooling in summer, heating and short days in winter
• When the monthly peak happens, and whether the sun is up at that time

A demand charge bills you for your highest usage over a short interval in the charging window, so one bad interval can set the charge for the month. Solar trims it only when that peak lands in strong sun. A peak at 5pm, or on an overcast day, is untouched.

So we model demand savings from your actual peaks and, where they do not line up with generation, say so. Sometimes load scheduling or a battery is the better tool for that part of the bill.

Every kWh you use on site avoids your full energy rate. Every kWh you export earns a feed-in rate that is usually a small fraction of it — on the NSW residential benchmarks we model with, about 5c against 32c, and business rates differ. A system sized just under your daytime base load is consumed almost entirely, which is why a smaller system can pay back faster than a bigger one.

Every system needs the distribution network’s permission before it is connected. A larger system is assessed individually: the network looks at the local network’s capacity and can set export limits, require export control, or ask for protection settings and other technical changes. The bigger the system relative to the local network, the more detail it asks for and the longer it takes.

Because the answer can change the design — a tight export limit makes a smaller system the better buy — we lodge early and design to the outcome. Planning approval is a separate question: depending on the site and its zoning, a commercial system can need one, and we check before quoting.

Solar systems up to 100kW are small-scale under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme and create STCs up front, with a deeming period that falls each year until the scheme ends in 2030. Connected systems behind one meter point count together toward that limit.

From 1 October 2026, the Clean Energy Regulator extended STC eligibility to solar systems from 100kW to 1MW, with a fixed five-year deeming period. A mid-scale system can take STCs or create REGO certificates instead, but not both for the deeming period. Applications for mid-scale STCs open in mid to late November 2026.

Outright purchase gives the best long-run return when cash allows. Finance spreads the cost so repayments can sit near the bill saving. A power purchase agreement avoids the capital cost entirely, in exchange for a share of the saving. Our finance page covers the options we offer.

On tax: depreciation and any incentives depend on your structure and the rules in force when you install, so that is a question for your accountant. We do not give tax advice, but we provide the itemised costs and asset details they will need.

A commercial system without monitoring fails silently — an inverter trips, a string drops out, and nobody notices until the next bill. Our commercial systems include live monitoring with alerts, and the 100kW system is SCADA-ready.

Maintenance covers inspection of panels, fixings and cabling, electrical testing, inverter checks and cleaning where dust, birds or salt build up. Workmanship on our standard commercial systems carries a 10-yearwarranty, and panels and inverters carry their manufacturers’ product and performance warranties.