Commercial Solar Power

The main benefit of solar power for a business is that normal operating hours usually fall during the day, when the sun is shining. This allows the bulk of your electricity consumption to be offset with your own generation, rather than paying peak grid rates.

Businesses also benefit from solar power in the following ways:

• Insulate against rising electricity costs: Locking in your own generation now protects your business from further network price increases over the coming years.
• Generate clean power: Producing your own electricity creates no pollution, helping protect the environment for years to come.
• Improve cash flow: A well-sized system can create positive cash flow from day one, with payback periods on commercial systems often achievable within a few years depending on your energy profile and system size.
• Reduce your tax position: GST-registered businesses can generally claim back the GST on a commercial solar power system, and eligible small businesses may be able to claim the cost of an eligible system as an immediate tax deduction under the ATO’s instant asset write-off, currently set at $20,000 per asset for businesses with an aggregated turnover under $10 million.

There has never been a better time to invest in a commercial solar energy system. The capital cost of grid-connected PV systems has fallen significantly in recent years, improving the return on investment for eligible businesses.

• Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs): Commercial systems up to 100kW currently qualify for STCs under the federal Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, applied by your installer as an upfront, point-of-sale discount off the cost of your system.
• Major expansion from October 2026: The Federal Government has confirmed the STC eligibility threshold is expanding from 100kW to 1MW from 1 October 2026, opening this upfront discount to significantly larger commercial and industrial systems for the first time.
• GST credits: GST-registered businesses can generally claim back the GST paid on a commercial solar power system.
• Instant asset write-off: Eligible small businesses with an aggregated annual turnover under $10 million can currently claim an immediate tax deduction of up to $20,000 per eligible asset in the year it’s installed and ready for use, rather than depreciating the cost over several years.

Every business’s eligibility and entitlement will differ depending on system size, location and structure, so we’ll walk you through exactly what applies to your business as part of your proposal.