Industries

Solar & Battery for Cold Storage and Refrigeration

Guide · Commercial solar & battery · ~5 min read

Refrigeration runs around the clock, which makes cold storage one of the biggest power users on any commercial site. Solar and battery can take a serious bite out of those costs while adding a layer of protection against outages.

Why refrigeration is a prime candidate for solar

Cold rooms, freezers and refrigerated warehouses draw power continuously, and much of that demand lines up neatly with the middle of the day when the sun is at its strongest. That daytime overlap means solar can offset a meaningful chunk of your compressor load in real time, without any storage at all.

Because refrigeration is a constant, predictable load, it's easier to size a system that consistently earns its keep. A rooftop array feeding your compressors during trading hours often makes a bigger dent in the bill than most operators expect.

• 24/7 load that partly aligns with solar generation hours
• Large, flat rooftops and shed roofs common on cold storage sites
• Predictable demand makes system sizing more accurate

Where a battery changes the game

Solar handles the daytime, but refrigeration keeps running long after the sun goes down. A battery stores surplus generation so your compressors can keep drawing clean power into the evening and overnight, rather than pulling everything from the grid at peak tariffs.

For temperature-controlled sites, a battery also buys you resilience. When the grid drops out, keeping refrigeration online can be the difference between business as usual and a warehouse full of spoiled stock.

• Shift solar into the evening and overnight refrigeration load
• Backup power to hold temperature through grid outages
• Smooth out demand spikes when compressors cycle on

AI energy arbitrage for round-the-clock loads

This is where ATI's approach stands out. Our AI-driven energy arbitrage charges the battery when power is cheap and discharges or exports it when prices are high. For a site that never stops running its refrigeration, that price-shifting can add up over a year.

The system watches your tariff and market signals and makes the call automatically, so you're not manually chasing the cheapest windows. How much you gain depends on your tariff, network and load profile, which is exactly what a site review is for.

Protecting stock and staying compliant

For food, pharmaceutical and other temperature-sensitive goods, holding the right temperature isn't optional. A well-designed solar and battery setup supports that reliability rather than compromising it, and backup capability adds a safety net during outages.

All of our work is CEC and SAA accredited and carried out by our in-house team, with no subcontractors. That matters on sites where switchboards, compressors and controls all need to play nicely together and be signed off properly.

• Backup power to maintain the cold chain during outages
• Integration that respects your existing refrigeration controls
• Accredited install and electrical work, end to end

Designing a system that fits your site

No two cold storage operations are the same. Compressor sizing, roof space, trading hours and your current tariff all shape what the right system looks like. We scale projects from 6.6kW right up to megawatt rooftops, so the same team can handle a single cold room or a full refrigerated distribution centre.

Our commercial track record includes a 415kW rooftop at DB Santasalo in Bulli, plus work for Garmin, Goldschmidt, a Hunter Valley vineyard and Kingswood, so we're comfortable working around live, demanding operations.

The next step

The only way to know what solar, battery and energy arbitrage can do for your refrigeration costs is to look at your actual load, tariff and roof. Real figures come from a proper assessment, not a guess.

If you run cold storage or refrigeration and want to understand your options, we're happy to arrange a site review and map out what would suit your operation.

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