In short
- A processing plant uses almost everything its panels make: chillers and freezers never stop, and the boning room runs through the middle of the day.
- Solar cuts the daytime energy part of the bill. Overnight refrigeration, the fixed charge and most of the demand charge stay.
- Washdown hot water is the second question. Moving it from gas or overnight electric to a daytime heat pump turns spare solar into a saving.
Yes, solar usually pays well on a meat or food processing plant in Australia, because the plant is using power whenever the sun is up. Chillers, blast freezers and carcass chillers run around the clock, the boning or packing room adds a full day-shift load on top, and refrigeration works hardest on hot afternoons when panels make the most. The limit is not the roof. It is the overnight load, which solar cannot touch, and the demand charge, which solar alone rarely cuts. This page is the processing-plant version of our guide to solar for cold storage, which covers the refrigeration side in more depth.
| Quick facts | Solar for a processing plant |
|---|---|
| Share of solar used on site | often 90% or more on a well-sized system |
| What solar cuts | daytime energy, and sometimes part of the demand charge |
| What it doesn't cut | overnight refrigeration, the fixed daily charge |
| Second lever | washdown hot water moved to a daytime heat pump |
| What to send | one recent bill; we get the interval data from it |
What does a processing plant's load look like?
Three loads stack on top of each other, and they decide the answer.
- Refrigeration, 24 hours. Carcass chillers, holding chillers and freezers run day and night. This is the base the whole plant sits on, and it rises with the outside temperature.
- Process load, day shift. The boning room, packing line, conveyors, saws, vacuum packers and the compressed air behind them run from early morning to mid-afternoon on most plants. Some run a second shift. This load sits almost entirely in solar hours.
- Washdown and hot water. Every plant cleans down at the end of the shift, and the water for it is usually heated by gas or by electric storage units set to heat overnight. On many sites this is the third-biggest energy cost, and it is the one most plants forget to put in the solar conversation.
The first two loads are why self-use is so high. The third is where the spare solar can go.
How much will solar save a processing plant?
A worked example with made-up figures. These are example figures, not our prices or a real site.
A Brisbane processing plant runs one boning-room shift and refrigeration around the clock. It installs a 100kW system, which makes about 145,000 kWh a year.
- With refrigeration and the day shift both running through the middle of the day, the site uses about 92% of the solar itself.
- 133,400 kWh × $0.28 = $37,352, plus 11,600 kWh × $0.05 to the grid = $580. Yearly saving $37,932.
- At an example price of $73,000 after the STC discount, that pays back in about 1.9 years.
That is close to the cold store figure on our commercial solar cost page, and for the same reason: the plant is using power when the panels are making it. A plant running two shifts does slightly better again. A plant that only kills and chills two days a week does worse, and its interval data will show it.
Where should the washdown hot water go?
If the plant heats its washdown water with gas, solar does nothing for that bill. If it heats it overnight with electric storage, solar does nothing for that either, because the heating happens in the dark.
The change that makes the difference is timing. A heat pump water heater that runs through the day, into a well-insulated tank, uses solar that would otherwise be exported for $0.05 and replaces gas or overnight power. In the example above there is only 11,600 kWh a year to spare, so on a 100kW system the gain is small. On a plant that sizes up to 150kW or 200kW because the roof allows it, the spare midday power grows fast, and a daytime hot water load is one of the few things on site that can use it well. Ask the installer to show hot water as its own line in the savings, with the tank size and the hours it will run.
Is a battery worth it for a processing plant?
Not for overnight refrigeration alone. On the example there is too little spare solar to store, and what there is gains $0.23 a kWh at most, before losses. The demand charge is the better test. Processing plants set their peak when the boning room starts up on top of a freezer defrost cycle, or when a blast freezer is loaded. If the interval data shows short, sharp peaks, a battery or a controls change that trims them can pay where storage doesn't. In NSW the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme gives businesses an upfront discount on batteries from 20 kWh to 30 MWh. See commercial solar batteries and demand charges.
What does each state offer a processing plant?
Nothing specific to meat or food processing. The federal STC discount applies everywhere, and since 1 October 2026 it covers eligible systems up to 1MW. Victoria's Victorian Energy Upgrades program gives an upfront discount on business systems from 30kW to 200kW. NSW discounts batteries through the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme. The other states add nothing for solar. The full state table is on the cold storage page and dates are on commercial solar rebates. Industry programs run by meat processing bodies change from year to year, so check with your processor association before counting on one.
Roofs, hygiene and the things that go wrong
- Insulated panel roofs. Most processing areas sit under sandwich-panel roofs. Fixings must not break the vapour seal, and the installer should say in writing who warrants the roof afterwards.
- Hygiene zones. Work above a processing floor is scheduled around production and cleaning. Ask how the install is staged so the plant does not stop.
- Corrosion. Ammonia plant rooms, salt air at coastal plants and washdown chemicals all shorten the life of the wrong fixings. Ask for marine-grade or equivalent where it applies.
- Export limits. A big roof invites a big system, but the network may limit exports. On a plant with this much daytime load it rarely bites, but the quote should say what the limit is.
What should a processing plant send for a proposal?
Just one recent bill, every page. Using the NMI on it, the team gets your interval data, which shows the refrigeration base, the shift load and when the peaks happen. You don't need to request anything.
If you know them, mention these in the form:
- Shifts: days and hours the boning or packing room runs
- Hot water: gas or electric, and when it heats
- Refrigeration: blast freezer and defrost schedules, and any planned expansion
- Roof: insulated panel or metal deck, and its age
Our guide on how to read a commercial electricity bill explains what's on it. Already have a quote? Compare it line by line with our checklist.
What to ask your installer
- How much of the solar do you expect us to use, and is that from our interval data?
- What does the system save at our real rate per kWh, not a typical one?
- Is washdown hot water in the savings, and what would a daytime heat pump change?
- How will panels be fixed to the insulated roof, and who warrants the roof afterwards?
- What does the install do to our demand charge, on its own line?
- Does our network limit exports, and what happens to spare power on non-production days?
How much a plant can use is in its interval data, and only the bill shows the rate it saves. Send a bill and an accredited installer prepares a costed proposal sized to how your plant runs. It's free, with no obligation.