Highton Bowling Club: 30.16 kW commercial solar + GoodWe 49.8 kWh battery (2016 / 2026)
A 30.16 kW commercial solar system on the Highton Bowling Club clubrooms, designed around shade and rooftop air conditioners, with more than ten years of recorded output and a 49.8 kWh GoodWe battery added in 2026.
Location: Highton, Geelong
Solar switched on: April 2016
Battery added: July 2026
System: 30.16 kW of solar (116 panels with Enphase microinverters), plus a GoodWe 20 kW hybrid inverter and 49.8 kWh of GoodWe battery storage
Highton Bowling Club runs a large clubroom and function centre, with cooking appliances, a cool room and freezer, and commercial air conditioning to keep the building comfortable all year. That kind of daytime use makes a sporting club a good fit for commercial solar.
Our team installed 30.16 kW of solar across the north and west roofs of the clubrooms in April 2016. In 2026 the club came back to us to add a battery to the same system.
30.16 kW
of solar on the clubrooms (116 panels)
36 MWh
of solar a year on average (2019 to 2023)
285 MWh
of solar recorded since April 2016
49.8 kWh
GoodWe battery storage added in 2026
What the club needed
In the 12 months before the solar went in, the club used 50 to 60 kWh of electricity a day on average. The roof was not simple: there were several commercial air conditioning units to work around, and gum trees in the car park threw significant shade across parts of it.
“It’s been a very economical cost saving venture that assists our club’s cashflow. It’s a win/win for the environment and allows us to put savings towards other projects. We chose Velocity Solar, over others, because they were a very good local business installer who knew their trade. Their design and knowledge was excellent, and took into account shade issues we had. Brad took the time to go through all options and customise a system to suit our specific requirements.”
Highton Bowling Club, 2019
What we installed
Because of the shade, we designed the 2016 system with Enphase microinverters: each panel has its own small inverter, so a shaded panel doesn’t drag down the rest, and the monitoring shows every panel separately.
- 2016 solar: 116 Trina Honey 260 W mono panels (30.16 kW) on the north and west roofs
- 116 Enphase M215 microinverters with Enphase Enlighten panel-by-panel monitoring
- 2026 battery: a GoodWe GW20K-ETA 20 kW three-phase hybrid inverter with six GoodWe 8.3 kWh battery modules (49.8 kWh in total)
- Two GoodWe smart meters so the system can see what the club is using
- Installed by our team: designed and installed by our installation team.
Results so far
The system’s Enphase monitoring has recorded its output since April 2016. In the five full calendar years from 2019 to 2023 it recorded between 35.52 and 36.97 MWh a year: an average of about 36.1 MWh a year, or roughly 99 kWh a day. That works out to about 1,200 kWh per kW of panels each year, and the five yearly totals sit within about 4% of each other, with no downward trend across those years.
| Year | Solar recorded (MWh) | kWh per kW of panels |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 36.97 | 1,226 |
| 2020 | 35.55 | 1,179 |
| 2021 | 36.56 | 1,212 |
| 2022 | 35.52 | 1,178 |
| 2023 | 35.96 | 1,192 |
| 2026 (January to mid-October) | 26.32 | – |
From April 2016 to mid-October 2026 the monitoring has recorded a total of about 285.6 MWh of solar. This is recorded production only: the club’s internet connection dropped out at times, so a few periods weren’t recorded. The system kept running, but those periods are not counted, and the years they fall in (2016, 2017, 2018, 2024 and 2025) are left out of the table above.
Source: Enphase monitoring for this system, April 2016 to October 2026.
Solar for clubs and businesses
Clubs, offices, workshops and farms that use most of their power during the day get the most from solar, and a battery lets them keep using it into the evening. If you’re looking at solar or a battery for a business or club, see our commercial solar page and the commercial solar and battery rebates that may apply.
