A commercial battery storage system stores power when it is cheap and supplies your building when demand spikes. That spike is what sets the demand charge on a business bill, and it is the line a battery is built to move.
A battery energy storage system, or BESS, is a bank of lithium batteries with an inverter and a controller, wired into your main switchboard. It charges when power is cheap, or when your solar is making more than the building needs, and discharges when the building's draw climbs. On a commercial site that gives it three jobs.
Commercial tariffs charge for your single busiest half hour in the billing period, on top of what you use. The battery covers the top of that half hour so the meter never sees it.
Store what the roof makes at midday and run the building on it at 5 pm. Without solar, charge overnight at the low rate and carry the site through the expensive part of the day.
Backup through an outage is a design decision, not a default. If it matters, say so early, and we design the system around the circuits that must stay on.
Which lines of a commercial bill a battery moves, and the one it leaves alone →
On most commercial tariffs the demand charge is set by your highest draw in a single half-hour interval, often measured in kVA, and it stands for the whole billing period. Turning gear off only moves it so far. Solar moves it only if your peak lands in daylight. A battery sits charged, watches the site, and discharges into the building as the draw climbs. The building gets what it asked for, and the grid meter never records the spike.
The right size comes from 12 months of interval data, not from the size of the building. Two near-identical sites on the same street can need very different systems, because the answer is in the shape of the day. The bands below are the ones the schemes use, so they are a useful way to think about where your site sits.
Cafes, small retail, a single-shed workshop. Usually paired with solar. A separate federal battery program can apply to systems under 100 kWh of usable storage, and it runs on its own rules and its own certificate.
Clubs, aged care homes, medical centres, small manufacturing. In NSW this is the BESS4 band of the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme, for commercial and industrial sites.
Manufacturing, cold storage, shopping centres, portfolios. In NSW this is BESS5, for commercial and industrial sites, with certificates created on the first 10 MWh.
Bands and thresholds according to the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme rule, as at September 2026. BESS4 and BESS5 exclude residential buildings.
The controller runs the battery. Nobody on your team has to touch it.
We read a year of half-hourly meter data before anything is sized, so the system is built for the peaks your site actually has, in the seasons it has them.
The controller tracks the building's demand against the current interval and the tariff you are on.
As the draw climbs towards a new high, the battery discharges to cover the difference. The building gets everything it asked for.
It refills from surplus solar during the day, or from the grid in the cheap hours, whichever is available and costs less.
According to the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme rule, from 1 September 2026 two new activities, BESS4 and BESS5, create Peak Reduction Certificates for battery storage at commercial and industrial sites. The certificates are created up front and their value comes off the project cost. Under Total Care that flows into the fixed cost per kWh rather than arriving as a rebate you have to claim yourself.
It is claimable once per site, so sizing is a one-shot decision. For systems up to 200 kWh the customer must have paid at least $5,000 excluding GST per item of equipment, so it is never a fully funded battery. Residential buildings and data centres are excluded. Details according to the scheme rule as at September 2026, and eligibility is subject to change.
Estimate the certificates for your site →All current rebates →
We do not publish a price per kWh, because it would be wrong for your site more often than right. These are the things that move it. Send us your bill and you get the number both ways, worked out from your own bill and indicative only.
You own the asset from day one and any incentive comes straight off the price. You carry operation, monitoring and maintenance, or contract us to do it.
No upfront capital outlay. We fund, build, operate and maintain the system, and you pay a fixed cost per kWh for 10 to 25 years. Fees apply under the agreement, subject to credit assessment and contract terms.
Solar covers the building through the day and cuts the usage charge.
Surplus goes into the battery instead of being exported for a fraction of what you pay to buy.
The battery runs the building through the evening and covers the half hour that sets the demand charge.
Where it is worth it, spare capacity can join a virtual power plant. An extra value stream, not the reason to install.
On their site, with their usage, and with no disruption to production. Yours depends on your bill, which is why we work it out from your bill. Indicative only, actual savings vary.
See the project →A battery only carries a site through an outage if it is designed to. It changes the inverter, the switchboard work and sometimes the size, so it is a decision made at design, not a feature every battery has.
A bank of batteries, an inverter and a controller, connected to your main switchboard. It stores electricity and discharges it when your site's demand climbs or when grid power is expensive. It is also called a BESS, a battery energy storage system, or commercial energy storage.
It depends on the shape of your day, not the size of the building. We read 12 months of half-hourly data and size for the peaks you actually have. Most mid-size commercial sites land between 20 and 200 kWh. Industrial and multi-site portfolios go well beyond that.
Usable capacity, power rating, switchboard work, backup and any incentive all move the number, which is why we do not publish a price per kWh. Send us your bill and you get it costed both ways, outright and under Total Care, worked out from your own usage and indicative only.
That is its main job on a commercial site. It covers the top of your busiest half hour so the meter never records the spike. How much it saves depends on how uneven your usage is and on your tariff, so actual savings vary.
No. The two work better together, because the battery stores surplus solar instead of exporting it for a fraction of what you pay to buy. Without solar it can still charge in the cheap hours and run the site through the expensive ones.
Two activities under the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme, open from 1 September 2026, that create certificates for battery storage at commercial and industrial sites. BESS4 covers over 20 kWh and up to 200 kWh. BESS5 covers over 200 kWh and up to 30 MWh. Both exclude residential buildings. Details according to the scheme rule as at September 2026.
Only if it is designed to. Backup through an outage depends on how the system is configured and which circuits it supports, so it is a design decision made at the start. Tell us early if it matters, because it changes the design and the price.
Under Total Care, we do, for the life of the agreement: monitoring, dispatch, maintenance and warranty, with one number to call. Bought outright, you own it, and you can contract us for the same service.
Most of the work happens alongside your live supply. Power is off once, for a few hours, so the system can be tied into your main switchboard on a date you choose. Our commercial solar installation timeline shows the week-by-week pattern.
Upload your latest electricity bill and we come back with your numbers within two business days, in writing, including the parts we cannot improve. If a battery is not the right fit for your site, we will say so.
Send us your bill →Which lines of a commercial electricity bill a battery moves, which one it leaves alone, and how to read your own bill for the answer.
What the Peak Demand Reduction Scheme's two new battery activities cover, who is eligible, and how the certificates come off the price.
Upload your latest electricity bill and we will tell you what your site would save in a year, what that adds up to over ten and fifteen years, and the system we would actually recommend. At no cost and no obligation.
Zool Energy is a Clean Energy Council Approved Retailer and member, a New Energy Tech Approved Seller and an AFCA member. NSW PDRS battery activities BESS4 and BESS5 apply to commercial and industrial sites and exclude residential buildings; scheme details are as at September 2026 and subject to change. Total Care is subject to credit assessment and contract terms, and fees apply under the agreement. Savings figures are worked out from your own bill and are indicative only; actual savings vary.