RACV (Royal Automotive Club of Victoria) is one of Australia's largest member organisations with 2.4 million members, offering motoring, insurance, travel, and hospitality services. As part of their commitment to member benefits, RACV ventured into home electrification, initially establishing a residential solar division before expanding into commercial energy solutions.

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Through strategic acquisitions of established regional solar companies including Gippsland Solar, Great Ocean Solar, and Kola Solar, RACV Solar has grown into a comprehensive energy solutions provider across Victoria and the eastern seaboard. David Watkins, Head of Commercial Sales, leads a specialised commercial team that includes engineers, solar specialists, business development managers, and project estimators. Luke Stewart, Senior Manager - Commercial Energy, oversees VPP (Virtual Power Plant) and battery projects and services.

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As RACV Solar expanded into the commercial energy market, their analysis tools couldn't keep pace with growing complexity. The team faced three critical challenges:

• Excel limitations - As energy projects became more sophisticated, spreadsheet-based analysis was time-consuming and unable to keep up with complexity
• Overly complex alternatives - Available energy modelling platforms were expensive, difficult to use, and impractical for team-wide adoption
• Inconsistent proposals - Without standardised tools, proposal quality varied and turnaround times were too slow for competitive advantage

David Watkins initially built RACV Solar's commercial analysis capabilities around a custom spreadsheet that "worked brilliantly - until it wasn't." Whilst effective for simple projects, the manual approach introduced human error opportunities and required David's personal judgement on energy generation estimates - creating bottlenecks as the team grew.

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Seeking a more robust solution, RACV trialled industry software alternatives, but found them poorly suited to their needs. Luke Stewart's experience was particularly frustrating:

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"I had 3 training sessions trying to use and model projects, and I was still none the wiser how to model projects. The amount of detail of inputs required for a simple 500 kilowatt battery required all these additional inputs, and then it would come up with error messages."

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The platform's complexity meant "you had to use it for probably 100 hours before you got used to it," making it impractical for their diverse team and incompatible with the fast turnaround times commercial clients expected.

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RACV Commercial Energy Solutions needed professional, credible analysis that would withstand scrutiny from consultants, engineering firms, and sophisticated commercial clients - something neither spreadsheets nor overly complex software could reliably deliver.

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Luke Stewart became RACV Commercial Energy Solutions first Orkestra user in November 2022, attracted by the platform's significantly simpler approach to complex energy modelling.

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The key differentiators that won them over included:

• Intuitive User Experience - "Orkestra was far easier to use - a much simpler user interface that got to the same answer in a fraction of the time," Luke explains. The platform eliminated the steep learning curve that had made their previous software impractical for team-wide adoption.
• Comprehensive Battery Opportunity Analysis - Orkestra provided a way to assess "the full battery value stack" in one platform, showing how battery optimisation improves business cases whilst clearly demonstrating energy interactions between solar, battery, and grid assets.
• Visual Communication Tools - The platform's interactive online reporting and highly visual customer-facing reports made it far easier to communicate complex project returns, energy profiles, and site impacts to clients who were new to commercial energy storage.

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In addition to this, RACV notes that the Orkestra brand has become a mark of credibility in C&I Solar.

"Everyone trusts the Orkestra platform - it's known now within the industry. If you've used Orkestra for your modelling, then people trust that it's come from a credible source."

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David notes:

"I'm seeing that a lot in tender specifications now. When they're referring back to your submission, if you've used Orkestra, it puts a level of confidence in your figures."

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Transforming Business Operations

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The transition to Orkestra has fundamentally changed how RACV Solar approaches commercial project analysis. David has completely abandoned his spreadsheet approach - "I don't even know where it is."

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Enhanced Analysis Capabilities

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Orkestra provides RACV with comprehensive feasibility analysis capabilities that empower their entire team to model complex solar, battery, and financing opportunities with unmatched speed and accuracy.

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The platform's smart battery modelling capabilities allow RACV Commercial Energy Solutions to optimise battery sizing and explore revenue opportunities in minutes, confidently designing holistic energy solutions that maximise value for their commercial clients.

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Advanced Business Modelling

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David has found particular value in Orkestra's advanced business modelling capabilities, especially the PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) functionality:

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"The PPA model builder was excellent for me. I'd been managing a project with spreadsheets for 2 years, but when I input that data into Orkestra, I could instantly create these great graphs to really show the project's financial benefits.”

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Orkestra's logic-driven framework enables RACV Commercial Energy Solutions to build complex business models for PPAs, leasing, and more with speed and precision. This capability has proven especially valuable for complex commercial contracts, with the accuracy impressing external validators.

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From Individual Expertise to Team-Wide Capability

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David's complete abandonment of his custom spreadsheet approach symbolises the broader transformation. Where once critical analysis capabilities were concentrated in individual expertise, Orkestra has democratised access to sophisticated modelling across the team.

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With 6 active users spanning commercial energy specialists, BDMs, and project estimators, the platform has distributed knowledge rather than creating dependencies on specific team members. This transformation has been crucial as RACV Commercial Energy Solutions delivers 20-30MW annually whilst maintaining high-quality analysis standards.
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Dramatic Time Savings

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For Luke, the transformation has been most evident in time efficiency. Where their previous platform demanded hours of complex inputs that often resulted in frustrating error messages, Orkestra delivers reliable results quickly and intuitively.

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This shift has freed the team from wrestling with software limitations, allowing them to focus on what matters most: building client relationships and delivering exceptional service.

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Project Details:

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Clients: RACV Torquay Resort and RACV Inverloch Resort
Systems: 500kW, 1-hour batteries at each location
Significance: Flagship installations demonstrating RACV Solar's battery capabilities to members and the market.

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Using Orkestra

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RACV Commercial Energy Solutions were able to analyse “the full value stack available to a battery project, which is hard to find in one spot” enabling the team to make an informed decision on investment and whether to proceed, based on the outputs provided in their feasibility analysis done in the platform.

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The modelling proved accurate in practice, with the installations tracking well against projections for wholesale energy and demand management returns, despite some variability in FCAS (Frequency Control Ancillary Services) markets.

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RACV Commercial Energy Solutions is well-positioned for the growing commercial battery market, with David noting the trend from "1 in 20" projects including batteries to "about 1 in 5" currently.

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They're also seeing strong demand for retrofit battery installations on existing community solar projects, particularly with councils looking to maximise value from their renewable energy investments.

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