In short
- A Sydney club or pub uses roughly half to two thirds of its solar, because the busiest hours are after dark. Solar still pays, but it needs sizing to the daytime load, not the roof.
- The daytime load is bigger than most venues think: air conditioning, cool rooms, kitchens and a gaming floor that opens mid-morning all run while the sun is up.
- New South Wales has a business battery discount that suits a venue with an evening peak better than almost any other site type.
Solar pays on most Sydney clubs and pubs, but less per kW than on a warehouse, because a venue's biggest hours are in the evening. The honest version: a system sized to the daytime load, which for a large club is bigger than it looks, pays back in about three years in the example below. A system sized to fill the roof of a big RSL exports half its output for a few cents. What's different in Sydney is the battery discount, which exists in no other state and fits a venue's evening peak well. The general case for hospitality is on solar for clubs and pubs.
| Quick facts | Club and pub solar in Sydney |
|---|---|
| Distributor | Ausgrid (inner, north, east) or Endeavour Energy (west, south-west) |
| STC zone | Zone 3, rating 1.382 |
| State help | No solar rebate. Battery discount through the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme |
| Share of solar used on site | about 55% for an evening venue, about 65% with a strong lunch trade |
| What to send | one recent bill; we get the interval data from it |
What's different in Sydney?
1. The daytime load, and where the venue sits
Sydney's registered clubs are concentrated in the west and south-west, Penrith, Blacktown, Campbelltown, Liverpool and Bankstown, which is Endeavour Energy territory. The inner-city pubs, the northern beaches clubs and the eastern suburbs venues are on Ausgrid. The two networks have their own connection rules and export limits. A big club with a bowling green and a car park may also have more than one meter.
- Up to about 30kW: a simpler connection on both networks. Many pubs sit here.
- Around 100kW: a full application with an export assessment, which a large club's roof and daytime load can justify.
- Above 100kW: a negotiated connection. Rarely needed for a venue sized to its daytime load.
The Sydney commercial solar page covers both networks.
2. STC zone 3
Sydney is zone 3, rating 1.382. A 100kW system installed in 2026 earns 100 × 1.382 × 5 = 691 certificates, rounded down; a 50kW system earns 345. The zone table is on the Clean Energy Regulator's site.
3. The battery discount fits a venue
There is no NSW rebate on solar panels. What NSW has is the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme, an upfront discount on business batteries from 20 kWh to 30 MWh, larger when new solar goes in within 90 days. A club's demand peak lands between 6pm and 9pm, when the solar has gone and the kitchen, the gaming floor and the air conditioning all run at once. A battery charged from midday solar that would otherwise have been exported, discharged into that peak, turns the venue's weakest solar hours into its strongest. Run the two cases together on our commercial solar batteries page. The NSW Energy Savings Scheme can also discount lighting and refrigeration upgrades done at the same time.
4. Air conditioning is the daytime load
A Sydney venue's summer air conditioning starts before opening and runs until close. Add cool rooms, cellar cooling, kitchen refrigeration and a gaming floor that opens at 9 or 10am, and the daytime base load of a large club is often 40–60kW before a customer walks in. That is what the solar covers. The evening peak on top of it is what the battery case is for.
A worked example for a Sydney club
Here is a worked example with made-up figures. These are example figures, not our prices or a real site. The price is the one our commercial solar cost page uses for a 100kW system.
- A 100kW system in Sydney, assumed to make about 1,380 kWh per kW a year, so about 138,000 kWh a year.
- The club trades mainly in the evening and uses about 55% of the solar, 75,900 kWh. The other 62,100 kWh goes to the grid.
- At $0.28 for each kWh it no longer buys: 75,900 × $0.28 = $21,252. At $0.05 for exports: 62,100 × $0.05 = $3,105.
- Yearly saving $24,357. At an example price of $73,000 after the STC discount, that pays back in about 3.0 years.
A venue with a strong seven-day lunch trade and a big gaming floor uses more like 65%: 89,700 kWh × $0.28 = $25,116, plus 48,300 kWh × $0.05 = $2,415, which is $27,531 a year and about 2.7 years. Either way the first kW earns far more than the last: each kW of this 100kW system earns about $244 a year on the evening venue, and a smaller system sized to the daytime base load earns more per kW because less is exported. The proposal should show two sizes with the sums.
What to send
Just one recent electricity bill, every page. Using the meter number on it, we get your interval data, which shows the daytime base load, the evening peak and the demand charge. You don't need to request anything from your retailer.
Mention opening hours, whether the gaming floor runs all day and any planned refurbishment. Send a bill and an accredited installer prepares a costed proposal sized to the daytime load, with the battery case alongside. Already have a quote? Compare it line by line with our checklist, including whether it assumes a self-use share a night venue can't reach.