Buyer-side energy advisory, with our own engineers · Australia-wide
We're not an installer and we don't build systems. We design, we review, we compare, we scope, we analyse the data, and we make sure projects are delivered to the highest standard — with electrical, civil and structural engineers under the same roof.
Site 02 of 04
Erskine Park, NSW
Refrigeration runs hardest on hot afternoons, exactly when solar produces most.
24.1c/kWh on the contract
See this site's year
Illustrative sites · figures for explanation only
( Where are you right now? )
Before anyone talks to you about solar, we check you're on the right network tariff and contract. It often finds money before a panel is installed, and it needs no capital.
Tariff review
Three solar quotes rarely describe the same thing. We put them on the same basis, check the design and the maths, and tell you which one holds up — or whether none of them do.
Solar quote review
It depends on when your site uses power, what you pay for it, and whether the roof and the network will allow it. We find out before anyone quotes you.
Feasibility
Already have a system installed but don't know if it's performing as it should? Have our team run the data.
System performance review( Why we start with data )
Illustrative profiles with identical annual usage.
( What we do )
We're not an installer and we don't build systems. We analyse the data, build the plan, run the tender, oversee delivery, then report on whether it did what we said it would.
Every scheme claimed, stacked where possible, and timed against step-down dates. When a project needs engineering, our own engineers do it — see engineering assessments.
( Engineering assessments )
Full engineering team, all under one roof. BEDA provides electrical, civil and structural engineering assessments for commercial and industrial projects — for our advisory clients, and for retailers and installers who need engineering they don't carry in-house.
Roof condition, framing and connections, panel and racking dead load, wind actions and uplift, load paths, capacity.
For retailers and installers who need a signed structural report before install; asset owners who want confirmation before they commit.
Single-line diagrams, inverter and protection selection, cable sizing, export limits and network requirements, compliance against the relevant standards.
For retailers and installers whose proposals need an engineer's review; clients doing due diligence on a quote.
Footings, earthworks, drainage, access and set-out, against site conditions and the relevant standards.
For ground-mount and larger site projects.
Designed and reviewed by BEDA, signed by a registered professional engineer.
( How an engagement runs )
Not a monthly total and not one bill. The shape of your usage decides what makes sense.
Switchboard, structure, shading and network constraints checked — with assumptions stated and payback given as a range.
Responses rewritten onto the same basis, exclusions found, and a contract that protects you if the installer doesn't.
What was ordered gets delivered, and what gets delivered works — with an update from us every week whether or not anything has moved.
What was promised, what was delivered, what it is actually doing — for as long as you want us watching.
( Who we work with )
Most of our clients are owner-led businesses with one to ten sites. They usually control their own roof, and the person we speak to can make the decision — or has to take a well-built case to someone who can.
Compressors work hardest on hot afternoons — when solar output peaks. Demand charges and backup decide the rest.
Ovens, chillers and process lines. When the shift starts matters as much as how much power it uses.
Early milkings, vat cooling and pumping — a profile that needs reading carefully before anyone sizes a system.
Founder & Managing Director · Analytics, advisory & project management
commercial projects delivered under his oversight before starting BEDA
Matt Cooper started BEDA. He began as an electrical apprentice in 2008 and built his career across commercial solar and energy efficiency — as a senior business development manager at one of Australia's largest energy efficiency and solar retailers, and helping build another of the majors from scratch, taking on the role of commercial director. He has run end-to-end project management on large-scale commercial and national rollouts, negotiated commercial energy contracts on the retail side, worked with a range of major clients, and managed substantial engineering teams. He built BEDA to close a gap he kept seeing: genuine clarity and honest servicing in this space are hard to find.
Principal Engineer · Civil & structural
years in civil and structural engineering
Chartered Professional Engineer, Fellow of Engineers Australia and RPEQ with 45+ years in civil and structural engineering: building frames and roofs, existing-structure assessment across mining and industrial sites, dams, bridges, tunnels and major infrastructure. As BEDA's Principal Engineer, Michael leads civil and structural engineering and signs every assessment we issue in those disciplines.
( Common questions )
No. BEDA is a buyer-side energy advisory firm. We're on your side of the table, not the installer's, and we don't build systems.
We're a buyer-side energy advisory firm that now has its own engineers. The advisory work is unchanged: analytics, tariff review, tender review and management, procurement, project management, reporting. The engineering arm adds electrical, civil and structural assessments, signed by registered professional engineers.
Our Principal Engineer, Michael Steer, leads civil and structural and signs those assessments. He's a Chartered Professional Engineer and RPEQ. Every assessment is signed by a registered professional engineer.
Yes. We put each proposal on the same basis, check the design, the savings model and the contract terms, and tell you which one holds up — before you commit.
Yes. Already have a system installed but don't know if it's performing as it should? Have our team run the data. We compare what the system is producing with what was promised, and tell you what we find.
We don't lead with a payback number, because an honest one doesn't exist until we've seen twelve months of your interval data. When we do model it, it's a range with its assumptions stated: commercial solar commonly lands at three to five years, faster on sites that use most of what they generate; batteries are usually longer, unless demand charges do the heavy lifting.
On larger sites, part of the bill is set by your highest short peak in the billing period. One brief spike can set the charge for the whole period — which is why two sites using the same total power can pay very different amounts.
We confirm scope and fee before any work starts, and we confirm timing per job once we've seen what's involved. Send us the site pack and Matt will come back to you.
Advisory usually starts with a tariff review: twelve months of bills and interval data, and we'll tell you what we find before anyone talks about capital. Engineering starts with the site pack.
( Start here )
Twelve months of bills and interval data, and we'll tell you what we find before anyone talks about capital. Need an engineering assessment instead? Send us the site pack and we'll tell you what we need.
