How solar works for Sydney restaurants and cafes: matching refrigeration, cooking and air-conditioning loads to solar hours, trading patterns that suit it best, kitchen roof issues, and landlord consent for leased venues. Solar suits many restaurants and cafes because refrigeration runs all day, and kitchens, dishwashers and air-conditioning pull heavy power through trading hours, so a well-sized system can use most of its output on site. The fit is strongest when trading overlaps daylight, as it does for breakfast and lunch cafes. Dinner-focused restaurants still benefit through daytime prep and refrigeration, and may have a case for a battery. For tenants, landlord consent and the lease terms matter as much as the roof.
Where the energy goes in a hospitality venue
Before sizing anything we map the venue's loads, because hospitality energy use has a distinctive shape:
| Load | When it runs | How well it matches solar |
|---|---|---|
| Cool rooms, fridges and freezers | 24 hours, working hardest on hot afternoons | Good: a steady daytime base that solar can cover |
| Coffee machines and hot water urns | Early morning to close | Good for cafes, although early heating happens before solar starts |
| Electric ovens, fryers and induction | Prep and service peaks | Strong at lunch, weak for evening service |
| Commercial dishwashers and boosters | After each service | Mixed: partly movable if wash cycles are scheduled |
| Kitchen exhaust and ventilation | All cooking hours | Depends on the trading pattern |
| Air-conditioning | Afternoon and evening in summer | Good in the afternoon, poor after sunset |
| Lighting and signage | Evening and night | Poor without a battery |
Refrigeration matters most. It forms a base load whether the doors are open or not, so even on a closed day the venue still uses a share of its solar rather than exporting all of it.
Trading hours versus solar hours
How much of the output you use depends on when you trade:
- Breakfast and lunch cafes line up well with solar and typically export little on trading days. The early coffee rush comes before solar ramps up, so that part still runs on grid power.
- Lunch and dinner restaurants use solar for prep, refrigeration and lunch service, then rely on the grid for dinner. System size should follow the daytime load, not the evening peak.
- Dinner-only venues have the weakest match. Solar still covers refrigeration and afternoon prep, and a battery may be worth modelling to shift some energy into service hours.
- Days of trading matter too: closed days mean more export at low feed-in values, which points to a smaller system or to scheduling other daytime work on those days.
Our commercial ROI calculator is a useful way to test how system size and daytime use change the return before we look at real data.
Demand charges and kitchen start-up
Many hospitality businesses on larger connections pay a demand charge based on their highest usage in a billing period. In a kitchen, that peak often arrives when ovens, fryers, dishwashers and air-conditioning start together before service. Solar can trim that peak on a sunny day, but it cannot be relied on when it is cloudy. More dependable tools are staggering equipment start-up, scheduling dishwasher boosters, and in some venues a battery sized specifically to shave that short spike. Our commercial solar page explains how we use interval data to find when demand peaks actually occur.
Roof, exhausts and practical site issues
Restaurant roofs have challenges an office roof does not:
- Kitchen exhaust outlets deposit grease on nearby surfaces. Panels need to be placed away from exhaust discharge and prevailing winds, or they will need far more frequent cleaning.
- Cleaning access needs planning, because grease and exhaust residue build up faster than on other roofs, so professionals must be able to reach the panels safely for regular cleaning.
- Plant equipment such as condensers and refrigeration units takes roof space, and service access to it must stay clear.
- Roof penetrations for flues and ducts must stay weatherproof, and panels cannot cover access hatches.
- Switchboard capacity is often already stretched by kitchen equipment, so we check it before adding solar or a battery.
- Inverter location matters: inverters should not sit in hot kitchens, cramped storerooms or near exhaust outlets, and they need their ventilation clearances.
Leased premises and landlord consent
Many hospitality venues are tenants, which means the roof belongs to someone else. Before any design work, talk to the landlord or owners corporation and, where relevant, your own advisers. Points to resolve include:
- Written consent to install equipment on the roof and run cabling through the building.
- Ownership of the system during the lease, and what happens when the lease ends or is renewed.
- Make-good clauses that might require removal and roof restoration when you leave.
- The remaining lease term compared with the time the system needs to recover its cost.
- Insurance and maintenance responsibilities, including roof access for servicing.
- Metering arrangements, particularly in centres where tenancies are supplied through the building's own private network rather than directly by a retailer.
We do not give legal, tax or financial advice, but we can provide the technical scope, layout and equipment details your landlord and advisers will want to see.
What it costs
System size varies widely between a small cafe and a large restaurant. In our energy market, Commercial Rooftop Solar is listed from $27,900 for a 30 kW system installed, and a Commercial Bill & Tariff Audit from $350 if you first want to understand your tariff and demand charges. Smaller venues are quoted to suit their load. Savings depend on your tariff, trading pattern and how much of the output the venue uses, so any payback figure should come from your own bills and interval data rather than a generic estimate. All prices are indicative and confirmed after a site assessment. STCs discount eligible new solar at the point of sale, and NSW business battery incentives, available from 1 September 2026, may apply to eligible business batteries from 20 kWh. Incentive values change, so confirm them on the official pages before signing.
Next steps
Gather 12 months of electricity bills, your interval data from your retailer if you can get it, and the parts of your lease that deal with alterations. Then request a free commercial assessment and our team will arrange a visit outside your busiest service times to look at the roof, switchboard and kitchen loads.
Frequently asked questions
Will the installation disrupt trading?
Most of the work happens on the roof and can usually continue while the venue trades. The short connection period, when power to the switchboard has to be isolated, is scheduled for a closed day or before opening, so refrigeration and service are not affected. We plan cool room and freezer timing with you, so stock stays at safe temperatures throughout the changeover.
Should we switch from gas to electric cooking at the same time?
Not necessarily at the same time. Electric and induction cooking adds daytime load that solar can cover, but it can also raise demand peaks and may need a larger supply or switchboard. It is sensible to settle the kitchen's long-term plan first, so the solar, switchboard and any supply upgrade are designed for where the venue is heading rather than where it is today.
Can solar keep the cool room running during a blackout?
Standard grid-connected solar shuts down during a blackout for safety. Keeping refrigeration running needs a battery with a backup-capable inverter and a dedicated backup circuit for the critical loads, sized for the compressors' start-up current. It is worth pricing separately, because protecting stock during an outage can matter more to a venue than the energy savings themselves.
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