The complete value-stream register: each stream marked core, conditional, market or strategic, with the evidence it needs and the modelling trap that usually overstates it. If you are still working out whether a battery pays at all, start with can a battery reduce your bill?
Complete value-stream register
Not every benefit is revenue—and not every revenue stream is bankable.
The categories below are deliberately different. Core site value can support the base case; external market income needs an actual route to market.
Core
Site-controlled bill value that can form the base case when the data proves it.
3
Recover curtailed solar
Store solar the inverter would otherwise discard because of an export or connection limit.
Where the value comes from
Turning otherwise lost generation into later on-site consumption or permitted export.
Evidence required
Inverter or controller curtailment records
Current export limit and connection agreement
Interval load and solar-production data
Increase solar self-consumption
Store surplus daytime solar and use it later instead of buying electricity from the grid.
Where the value comes from
Avoiding a later import, less the feed-in income forgone and battery losses.
Evidence required
Interval imports and exports
Solar production and normal operating hours
Retail import and feed-in rates
Reduce demand or capacity charges
Discharge through the site’s highest billed intervals so a lower monthly kW or kVA maximum reaches the bill.
Where the value comes from
Reducing the chargeable maximum under the assigned network and retailer tariff.
Evidence required
At least 12 months of interval and billed-maximum data
Demand windows, seasons and reset rules
Battery kW tested against peak length and frequency
Conditional
Real value only when the tariff, operating pattern or equipment capability lines up.
3
Shift energy between tariff windows
Charge in a genuinely low-cost period and discharge when the site would otherwise import at a higher rate.
Where the value comes from
Capturing the realised retail price difference after round-trip losses, cycling limits and degradation.
Evidence required
Complete retailer rate schedule
Network and retailer charging windows
Annual shiftable energy in each window
Manage kVA and power factor
On kVA tariffs, active-power discharge may lower part of the apparent-power peak; suitable inverters may also support power factor.
Where the value comes from
Lowering the billed kVA maximum where active and reactive behaviour are both understood and controlled.
Evidence required
kW, kVA, kvar and power-factor data
Inverter reactive-power capability and limits
Comparison with dedicated power-factor correction
Shift exports into a rewarded window
Absorb low-value or charged midday export and release it when an export tariff or contract pays more.
Where the value comes from
Capturing the later export reward after lost daytime export value, battery losses and connection limits.
Evidence required
Paired import and export tariff codes
Retailer export contract and network eligibility
Interval exports and approved export envelope
Market upside
Third-party income that should be underwritten only to contracted or conservative terms.
3
Wholesale and VPP dispatch
Allow an aggregator or retailer to dispatch the battery in response to wholesale prices or portfolio needs.
Where the value comes from
A contracted payment, shared trading margin or event payment under the provider’s commercial terms.
Evidence required
Aggregator contract and revenue-sharing formula
Dispatch rights, availability obligations and exit terms
Interaction with site demand and solar objectives
Frequency-control services (FCAS)
Make fast battery response available to help an aggregator balance power-system frequency.
Where the value comes from
A share of ancillary-service revenue where a registered participant aggregates and enables the site.
Evidence required
Eligible equipment, telemetry and control response
Aggregator access and AEMO-compliant arrangements
A contracted or conservative revenue assumption
Network or demand-response services
Respond to a contracted event by reducing imports or exporting when the network or market needs capacity.
Where the value comes from
Availability and event payments under a network-support, retailer or demand-response agreement.
Evidence required
A live and eligible service contract
Event duration, notice and performance requirements
Capacity remaining after the site’s own needs
Strategic
Operational value that may matter without appearing as recurring revenue.
2
Backup power and resilience
Keep selected loads operating during an outage when the design supports islanding and safe changeover.
Where the value comes from
Avoiding downtime, spoilage, restart costs or safety impacts rather than creating a market payment.
Evidence required
Critical-load schedule and outage cost
Islanding, switchboard and protection design
Required backup power, duration and reserve policy
Manage a constrained connection
Limit imports or exports so new solar, EV charging or load can operate within an agreed connection envelope.
Where the value comes from
Avoiding or deferring augmentation, curtailment or an operational constraint where the network approves the controls.
Evidence required
Connection study and approved operating envelope
Forecast load, generation and coincident peaks
Fail-safe controls and augmentation alternative cost
These streams share one battery. Energy, inverter power and state of charge are finite, so streams cannot all be claimed at full value simultaneously—the revenue-stacking rules apply before any of them are added together.