Solar for Oil and Ghee Mills

This guide covers small expeller units, larger crushing plants, and refineries that make cooking oil and banaspati (vanaspati) ghee. Hygiene, cold rooms and batch protection in general food plants are covered in our guide on solar for pharmaceutical and food processing plants.

Where the power goes

An edible oil business can include three stages. Many smaller units only do the first.

1. Crushing and expelling

Expellers are the core electrical load. They run for long hours at a fairly steady draw, which suits solar in daylight. They start under load, so starting current is high.

2. Solvent extraction (larger plants)

Some plants extract the last oil from press cake using a solvent such as hexane. The extraction plant has pumps, conveyors and vacuum systems, but its main design concern for solar is safety: solvent vapour is flammable, so the area around it is a hazardous zone. More on that below.

3. Refining, hydrogenation and packing

Refineries usually run continuously. Packing lines often run on day shifts, which makes them a good fit for solar.

Diagram

Oil and ghee mills

Expellers

Heavy motor load by day

Starting

Motor starting current sets inverter size

Solvent plant safety: where solar must not go

This is the most important design rule in an oil mill with solvent extraction.

• No solar electrical equipment in hazardous zones. Inverters, combiner boxes, DC isolators, junction boxes and cable joints can spark. They must sit outside the hazardous area defined by the mill's own safety study.
• No panels over the extraction plant or solvent storage. Panels are kept on buildings and land well away from it.
• Cable routes avoid the zone. DC and AC cables are routed around solvent areas, not through them.
• Clear isolation. Marked DC isolators and an emergency shutdown procedure are agreed with the mill's safety team.

Oil and ghee mills also store oil, seed and packing materials that burn readily. Our solar fire safety guide covers the general rules, and protection and earthing follow our earthing and surge protection guide. Oily dust and seed dust also settle on panels near crushing halls, so plan cleaning access.

Sizing solar under net billing

New solar connections now come under NEPRA's net billing rules, notified on 9 February 2026. Imported units are billed at your normal tariff, while exported units are credited at a much lower rate. Solar capacity cannot exceed your sanctioned load. The full rules are in our net metering and net billing guide.

How this plays out depends on the mill:

• Small expeller unit, day shift: size close to the daytime expeller and auxiliary load. Most output is used on site.
• Crushing plant on two or three shifts: size to the daytime share; nights stay on grid or generator.
• Refinery running continuously: the base load is usually larger than the roof and land can cover, so nearly all solar is used on site and the limit is space.
• Seasonal seed: if crushing follows crop seasons, check the off-season load so the plant is not oversized. Ginneries face a similar issue; see solar for cotton ginning factories.

Our guide to sizing under net billing explains the method step by step.

How to estimate the benefit yourself

We do not publish savings figures. The numbers below are round illustrative values only.

For example, if an expeller unit uses about 1,200 units on a working day, and a load study shows about 700 of them fall between 9 AM and 4 PM, roughly 700 units a day are available for solar to cover directly. Multiply the units solar actually covers by your full per-unit tariff, then allow for winter, smog and closed days. A good proposal shows this with your own bills and states its assumptions.

Expeller starts and demand charges

Larger industrial bills include a fixed charge based on maximum demand (MDI). Several expellers starting together under load, or a refinery restarting after an outage, can set a high MDI for the month. If that happens early in the morning, solar output is still low.

1. Stagger expeller starts rather than starting them together.
2. Review power factor correction, since motor-heavy mills carry capacitor banks and solar changes the measured power factor. See power factor and solar.
3. Consider soft starters or drives on the largest motors, which is a decision for your machinery supplier.

Our guide on MDI in your electricity bill explains demand charges, and our guide on heavy industrial loads explains what share solar can realistically cover.

Outages, generators and batteries

Standard on-grid inverters switch off when the grid fails. In a refinery, an unplanned stop can upset vacuum systems and batch quality.

• Generator integration. Most mills already run a generator. With a controller, solar can share the load while keeping the generator above its safe minimum load. See our solar and generator hybrid guide.
• Battery storage (BESS). A battery can carry controls, vacuum pumps and critical drives through short trips until the generator takes over, or store midday solar for the evening shift. It needs a clear job. Read Battery storage (BESS) for factories: when does it pay?

Roofs, sheds and land

Oil mills often have metal sheet sheds over crushing halls and warehouses, plus open yards. Sheet roofs suit panels with the right clamps and a structural check; see solar on tin and metal sheet roofs. Where spare land sits well away from solvent and storage areas, a ground-mounted array is an option; see ground-mounted solar for factories. Our in-house engineers design every structure, our own team fabricates and assembles it on site, and it carries a 3-year Solar Works Pakistan structure warranty.

Small flour and rice mills share some of the same motor issues; see solar for atta chakki, flour and rice mills.

Solar plant price for an oil or ghee mill

Mill plants are quoted per project after a site survey and design.

What to prepare before a site survey

See our energy audit before industrial solar guide. For an oil or ghee mill, bring:

• 12 months of electricity bills, including MDI.
• Expeller count and motor ratings; refinery, chiller and packing line loads.
• Site plan showing solvent extraction, solvent and oil storage, and hazardous zones.
• Shift pattern and any seasonal crushing pattern.
• Generator rating, fuel and running hours.

How Solar Works Pakistan delivers factory projects

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 build projects from about 6 kW to megawatt scale. Load analysis, AutoCAD design and structural design are done in-house, and our own teams install, test and commission. Major equipment carries the manufacturer's warranty per product. After a complaint is registered, we target sending service personnel within 48 hours to begin diagnosis. See our industrial and commercial solar page.

Get today's price or a free site survey

Send us 12 months of bills, your motor list and a site plan. Our engineers will tell you plainly how much of your load solar can carry, and where it can safely go.

• WhatsApp or call: 0336 666 4321
• Email: info@solarworks.pk
• Head office: Main Boulevard, Sargodha Rd, Block F FDA City, Faisalabad (Faisalabad page)
• Lahore branch: 2nd Floor, Jeff Heights, Gulberg, Lahore (Lahore page)
• 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 an oil expeller run on solar?

Yes, on a grid-connected or hybrid plant. Solar supplies expellers during the day while the grid or generator handles heavy starts, cloudy periods and night shifts. Running expellers on solar alone is not practical for a commercial mill.

Can solar power a ghee or cooking oil refinery?

Solar can supply a share of the refinery's electrical load, such as pumps, vacuum systems, chillers and packing lines. Heat for refining and deodorising comes from a boiler or thermal oil heater, which solar does not replace.

Is it safe to install solar near a solvent extraction plant?

Only if all solar electrical equipment stays outside the hazardous zone set by the mill's own safety study. Panels, inverters, boxes and cables are kept well away from solvent areas, and DC isolators are clearly marked.

How big should an oil mill's solar plant be?

Size it to the daylight share of your load, within your sanctioned load and the safe roof or land available. Under net billing, exported units earn much less than units used on site, so oversizing rarely pays.

Will solar reduce my demand charges?

Not by itself, because peaks often come from expellers starting together early in the day. Staggered starts, reviewed power factor correction or a battery designed for peak shaving can help.

Does a small expeller unit qualify for a solar plant?

Our projects start at about 6 kW. Most commercial expeller units are well above that, and the site survey will set the right size from your bills and motor list.

Sources

1. 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