Solar for Commercial Kitchens and Banquet Catering

This guide is for owners of restaurant kitchens, banquet and catering kitchens, and central kitchens that supply several outlets. If you run a marriage hall or hotel and want the whole-building picture, start with our solar for marriage halls, hotels and restaurants guide. This page goes deeper into the kitchen itself.

Why kitchens are moving to electric cooking

Most commercial kitchens in Pakistan still cook on gas. Gas supply has become less reliable for many businesses, and LPG costs more. Some kitchen owners are now moving part of the line to electric: induction woks and hobs, electric fryers, combi ovens, bain-maries and electric water boilers. If you already have solar on the roof, the question is how much of that cooking it can carry.

The honest answer: daytime cooking on solar is very practical; evening cooking on solar needs a battery, and a big one. Most kitchens end up with a mixed plan.

Diagram

Commercial kitchens

Cooking

Mostly gas

Electric

Fridges, extractors, lights

What a commercial kitchen draws

Commercial cooking equipment is much heavier than a home stove. Typical ratings, for planning only:

Generic, indicative ranges. Commercial catalogues list single induction hobs from about 2 kW to 3.5 kW and larger units from about 5 to 7 kW. Always use the rating plate of your own equipment.

Two things stand out. First, a few induction ranges running together can add tens of kilowatts in minutes. Second, that peak is short. A kitchen may hit its peak for an hour at lunch and again at dinner, then fall back to cold rooms and exhaust.

Peak power, not daily units, sets the design

A home cook on solar worries about one burner (see our guide to cooking on solar with induction stoves). A commercial kitchen worries about the moment when every burner, the fryers and the dishwasher run at once.

That peak drives:

• Inverter and battery power rating (kW), if the kitchen must run during outages.
• Cable sizes and breakers for each circuit. See breakers and protection.
• Maximum demand on your bill. A sudden kitchen peak can push up the MDI figure on larger connections. Our guide to MDI on your electricity bill explains how that charge works.
• Phase balance. Single-phase hobs spread unevenly across phases can overload one phase while others sit idle. Three-phase design is covered in three-phase vs single-phase inverters.

Induction equipment contains power electronics. Several units together can add harmonic distortion to the kitchen's supply. On most sites this is manageable, but it is worth checking during design. See harmonics and power quality.

Measure before you size

Commercial kitchens vary too much for rules of thumb. Before we size anything, we want to know:

1. Equipment list with ratings and phase.
2. Service pattern: prep hours, lunch, dinner, late-night orders, catering days.
3. Which items you plan to move from gas to electric, and when.
4. 12 months of bills and, ideally, a few days of load logging on the kitchen board.

Our energy audit before solar guide explains what a load logger records and why it beats guesswork.

Banquet and catering kitchens: the burst problem

A banquet or catering kitchen may be quiet on Monday and cooking for a thousand guests on Saturday. Food for evening functions is often prepared in the afternoon, which suits solar well. The burst comes when large batches are cooked at the same time.

Practical design choices for these kitchens:

• Move bulk cooking into solar hours where the menu allows: rice, curries and gravies can often start in the early afternoon.
• Stagger heavy equipment so fryers, ovens and boilers do not all start together.
• Keep gas for the evening rush if you have it, and use electric for prep and daytime batches.
• Size solar to the regular daytime base load, not the rare function peak. Peaks above what solar supplies simply draw from the grid.

Restaurant kitchens: what solar covers well

For a typical restaurant kitchen, solar covers these loads well in daylight:

• cold rooms, freezers and chillers;
• exhaust and ventilation during prep and lunch;
• dishwashing and hot water, if scheduled for midday;
• daytime induction cooking and prep.

Dinner service after sunset is the gap. The choice is between grid power, a battery, or the generator, and the right mix depends on your outage pattern and tariff.

Does a battery make sense for a kitchen?

A battery only pays if it has a measured job. In kitchens the common jobs are:

1. Keeping cold rooms, exhaust and lighting running through short outages without starting the generator.
2. Shifting midday solar into the evening peak, when commercial time-of-use rates (where they apply) are highest.
3. Supporting the generator during the dinner rush so it runs at a steadier load.

Running induction ranges on a battery all evening needs a large power rating and a lot of energy, so it is usually costly. Most kitchens protect essentials on the battery and leave heavy evening cooking on the grid, gas or generator. Our guide Battery storage (BESS): when does it pay? shows how to test each case. For commercial batteries and hybrid inverters we work with Huawei, Sungrow and Luminey, chosen per project.

If your kitchen relies on a generator, see hybrid systems with generators: our engineering approach.

Net billing: why self-use matters

New solar connections come under NEPRA's net billing rules, notified on 9 February 2026. Units you import cost your normal tariff, and exported units are credited at a much lower rate. System size cannot exceed your sanctioned load. Full details are in our net metering and net billing guide.

For kitchens, this means cook more in solar hours and size the plant to what the kitchen uses by day.

How to estimate the benefit

We do not publish savings figures. You can make a first estimate yourself. The numbers below are round illustrative values only.

For example, if a catering kitchen uses about 300 units on a typical working day, and logging shows about 180 of those fall between 9 AM and 4 PM, a plant sized to cover most of those 180 units would be used almost entirely on site. If moving rice and gravy batches into the afternoon shifts another 30 units into solar hours, that is more of the bill covered at the full tariff rather than by exported units. Multiply the units solar covers by your own tariff, and repeat the check for winter, when output is lower.

Safety in a hot, greasy space

• Keep inverters and batteries out of the kitchen. Heat, steam and grease shorten equipment life. A ventilated electrical room is better.
• Route DC cables away from hoods and flue paths.
• Label the kitchen distribution board so staff can isolate equipment fast.
• Battery placement and fire safety follow the guidance in our fire safety for solar and lithium batteries guide.

Commercial kitchen solar price

How Solar Works Pakistan works with kitchens

Solar Works Pakistan is a Faisalabad-headquartered solar EPC, engineering and trading company founded in 2021, with a branch in Lahore. We have served 300+ customers, including 50+ industrial clients, and our specialist areas are hybrid systems and BESS.

• In-house load analysis, AutoCAD design and structural design.
• Solar, grid, generator and battery designed as one system.
• Own installation teams, with tie-in work planned around service hours where possible.
• 3-year structure warranty; 1-year service warranty under applicable project terms; manufacturer's warranty per product.
• A 48-hour target to send service personnel after a complaint is registered.

For larger projects, see our industrial and commercial solar page.

Get today's price or a free site survey

Send us your kitchen equipment list, service hours and 12 months of bills. Our engineers will tell you plainly which loads solar can carry and whether a battery is worth it.

• WhatsApp or call: 0336 666 4321
• Email: info@solarworks.pk
• Head office: Main Boulevard, Sargodha Rd, Block F FDA City, Faisalabad
• Lahore branch: 2nd Floor, Jeff Heights, Gulberg, Lahore
• Hours: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, daily

We serve all of Punjab, and site surveys are normally free. You can also contact us online.

Frequently asked questions

Can a restaurant kitchen run on solar?

A large share of its daytime load can: cold rooms, exhaust, dishwashing and daytime cooking. Dinner service after sunset needs the grid, gas, a generator or a battery.

Can solar run commercial induction cookers?

Yes, in daylight, if the inverter, cabling and protection are sized for the cookers' combined peak. Heavy-duty units are often three-phase and several kilowatts each, so the design starts from the equipment list.

Should we switch our kitchen from gas to electric because we have solar?

Only for the cooking you can move into solar hours, or if gas supply is unreliable. Evening electric cooking on battery is costly. Many kitchens keep gas for the dinner rush and use electric for prep and daytime batches.

Will electric cooking increase our MDI charges?

It can on larger connections, because several cookers starting together create a sharp peak. Staggering equipment and good design help. Our MDI guide explains the charge.

Do we need a battery for our kitchen?

Only if it has a clear job, such as keeping cold rooms and exhaust running in outages or covering the evening peak. Your bills and load data decide this.

Where should the inverter go in a restaurant?

Away from heat, steam and grease, in a ventilated electrical room or a shaded, protected area. Never above or beside cooking lines.

Sources

1. KW Commercial, "Commercial induction cookers" category listing (product power ratings)
2. Net billing facts are carried over from our net metering and net billing guide, which lists its own sources, including the NEPRA (Prosumer) Regulations, 2026, SRO 251(I)/2026: https://ke.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/8.-NEPRA-Prosumer-Regulations-SRO-251I2026-09-02-26.pdf