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Solar for Cafés, Restaurants and Accommodation, Northern Rivers

Short answer. Cafés run fridges and coffee machines in daylight, which suits solar, while accommodation and night-time restaurants often need a battery to use solar after dark. We design the system around your trading hours and tariff, starting with a free on-site assessment.

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Hospitality has a distinctive power pattern: fridges and cool rooms that never stop, kitchens and coffee machines that peak at service times, and, for accommodation, big evening and morning loads. Solar and a battery can fit that pattern when the system is designed around it.

Commercial rooftop solar system in the Northern Rivers NSW by Sun Connect Solar, local commercial solar installers
A commercial rooftop solar system in the Northern Rivers by Sun Connect Solar.

Cafés and restaurants

  • Refrigeration runs all day, so there is a steady daytime base load for the solar to meet.
  • Kitchen peaks. Ovens, fryers and dishwashers produce spikes. Solar helps with the base load, but a short peak can still come from the grid.
  • Trading hours matter. A café open from 6am to 3pm uses most of its power in daylight. A restaurant that trades at night uses much less solar directly, and a battery is worth considering.
  • Roof access. A shopfront in a town street may have a small or shared roof. A site visit shows what is possible, and whether the roof is yours to use.

Accommodation: motels, caravan parks, B&Bs and retreats

  • Evening and morning peaks from heating, cooling, hot water and lighting mean a battery often matters more here than in a daytime-only business.
  • Laundries and pools are large daytime loads that can run on solar.
  • Seasonal trade. Northern Rivers tourism has busy and quiet seasons. We look at a full year of bills so the design is not sized for one peak week.
  • EV chargers. Guests with electric cars are a growing reason to choose somewhere to stay. See commercial EV chargers.

Batteries, backup and your tariff

Many hospitality businesses are on time-of-use or demand-based tariffs. A battery can store solar for the evening and, on some tariffs, reduce the peak you are charged on, but only when the peaks are short and predictable. We read your tariff and tell you honestly whether it helps. We install Sigenergy (premium) and GoodWe (mid-tier) systems, along with Sungrow, Solax and Tesla. If you want the cool room, card terminals and lights to stay on in an outage, we can set up backup for those circuits. See whole-home vs essential-circuits backup.

Switchboard and supply

Commercial kitchens and older buildings often have crowded or old switchboards. We check yours on the site visit, including whether it is single-phase or three-phase, and tell you what must be upgraded to meet current safety standards. See switchboard upgrades and RCBOs and single-phase vs three-phase.

Approvals and your landlord

Every system needs a connection application to Essential Energy, which we prepare and submit, and larger systems can have export limits (see solar export limits). If you lease your premises, the landlord’s agreement comes first, so we help you put the question to them clearly.

Our commercial service area is the Northern Rivers, from Tweed Heads south to Evans Head and west to Lismore, and it includes Casino. See the areas we service.

Finance and rebates

Business finance for commercial systems is arranged through our finance partner, Solaris Finance. The NSW household 0% loan is for homes and does not apply to businesses. Rebates depend on system size: small-scale systems up to 100 kW can earn STCs, taken off at point of sale. The Clean Energy Regulator has announced that the scheme is to be extended to systems from 100 kW up to 1 MW, for mid-scale solar installed from 1 October 2026, subject to regulations being in place, so we confirm the position for your size when we design it. Ask your accountant how solar is treated for your business tax. We provide the paperwork they need.

How we handle it on our jobs

  1. Free on-site assessment first. For commercial sites, including Casino, we start with a visit to your site, with your power bills or interval data in hand.
  2. Design from your data. Our own in-house electricians size the system from when you actually use power. Our background is 25 years in solar and large commercial electrical work.
  3. Approvals. We prepare and submit the Essential Energy application and deal with any export limits.
  4. Install around your trade. No subcontractors, and the work is planned around your trading hours. Then monitoring set-up and a sign-off call.

We design commercial systems up to 1 MW, and our 25-year workmanship warranty applies to our installation work on commercial jobs too. Equipment is covered by the manufacturers’ warranties.

Questions we get asked

Will solar suit a café or restaurant that only trades in the day?

Often well, because your fridges, coffee machines, cooling and lights run when the sun is up. If you also trade at night, a battery can carry solar into the evening.

Can I put solar on a rented shopfront?

Only with your landlord’s agreement. We can look at the roof and the switchboard and explain the options to take to the landlord, such as who owns the system and what happens at the end of the lease.

Does accommodation use more power at night?

Usually, yes. Heating and cooling, lighting and hot water peak in the evenings and mornings, which is where a battery helps. We size from your bills and your guest pattern.

Can solar keep my cool room running in an outage?

With a battery and backup set up for that circuit, yes. We design backup around what you cannot afford to lose, such as cool rooms, payment terminals and lights, rather than everything.

Will installation disrupt trading?

We plan work around your trading hours and keep the site safe and running. Roof work is outside, and any switchboard work is scheduled with you.

Sources

Last checked 6 October 2026. The extension of STCs to systems from 100 kW to 1 MW is described by the Regulator as an intention subject to regulations, so we confirm what applies when we design.

Related pages

Related guides: how commercial solar works and whether it is worth it

Talk to us

Book a free on-site assessment · Leave your details → · 0483 903 020 (Mon-Fri 7am-6pm, Sat 7am-4pm) We’ll text you within minutes.

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