Certainly this dumb meter is not capable of sending current from the inverter selectively to my home circuits and any excess to the grid? If you are in the solar industry - try to get to the truth, not the sale.5. Has the oppressive authority in WA ever given a reason for not allowing export limited inverters in WA? 0000038484 00000 n Please keep the SolarQuotes blog constructive and useful with these 5 rules: 1. I realise that all the political parties in the the WA state parliament and especially, the Synergy/Western Power conglomerate, that controls approvals of domestic rooftop photovoltaic systems connected to the SWIS grid, are opposed to domestic rooftop photovoltaic systems (even though we stabilise and sustain the grid), but, I am wondering whether any reason has ever been given by the oppressive authorities, for banning export limited inverters in WA. How to correctly configure inverter settings. I am on my second Tesla EV and the new one has a rage of 700km if youre not a lead foot. It seems so strange that it is clear government policy to get more solar going and yet the network operators are effectively blocking it now. But just note, not everyone Envoy has required bits to do export limiting. Thus if my system is at maximum output, and I am using 2kW, only 3 kW is being exported to the grid. This certainly goes well beyond initial configuration and reporting. If youre not satisfied with what answers our calculator gives, let me know your figures for grid electricity and solar feed-in tariff and Ill come up with an estimate for you. Are Tesla Powerwall smart enough to let majority of power export to grid and only start charging battery as inverter approaches its export limit? Ready for some quotes? Even if you have the Envoy-S, I believe at least on paper there was a Enphase Envoy-S Would the gateway signal the micro inverters to shut down one at a time, or to all reduce output equally? Furthermore, the sustained overvoltage inverter protection set point shall be set to 258V. Why on earth would I do that if I can help it. The ideal way to measure the power flow in and out of your house would be to ask your existing electricity meter. It owns and operates the states largest electricity distribution network, and is responsible for more than half a million poles and over 88,000 kilometres of powerlines. 0000037952 00000 n By the time he was eight, he was already focused on using the power of the sun to stop fossil fuel emissions destabilizing the climate. Anyway you are probably not supposed to be messing around with the profiles without agreement of your DNSP. This could be important, given that we have a state parliamentary election due in a couple of months. If you cant store the power (too expensive) and you cant export it, why the requirement (or desire) to put in large systems? I guess it would be technically possible to have a solar system with a battery but still be connected to the grid as backup. 0000028229 00000 n Activities part of Powercors Solar Hotspots program carried out over three months included upgrading infrastructure, adjusting tap settings on street-level transformers, balancing voltage levels on powerlines and various tweakery at zone substations. Then the information that was left was cut to make the piece more introductory, but perhaps all these reductions made the article like my favorite World War II movie Abridged Too Far. 0000004059 00000 n I suspect that it is likely, that that they are all signaled equally, not in truth I dont know for sure. The uptake of solar has surprised the powers that be so they are basically wasting free energy and penalizing the producers in the process. But you probably would not recover the cost of the battery within its lifetime. There are versions without this consumption monitoring (old Non -s version of Envoy and even the Envoy-S without consumption monitoring). Thus, the question arises; if a single phase domestic rooftop photovoltaic system, involving a Goodwe GW-5000-MS inverter, and, 10kW of solar panels generating capacity, is installed (across up to three MPPTs), would the federal solar panels rebate apply to all of the 10kW of solar panels, or, to only the first 6.66 (or whatever is the exact applicable quantity) of the solar panels generating capacity? 3. We just had a 30kW inverter solar install for our business and it has been limited to 1.8kW export. After a major works program involving more than 500 different network alterations and other activities across nine key regions among the most constrained parts of the network, Powercors new solar connections export approval rate of just over 60% at the start of the year has increased to above 90%. No unfortunately. Energex doesnt automatically allow inverters over 5 kilowatts to be installed with export limiting, but currently regularly grants permission for single-phase homes on the main grid to install up to 10 kilowatts of inverter capacity with export limiting. There are two options: 1. And, no matter how powerful, the members of the legislatures imagine themselves to be, and, no matter how trump-like, they are, they can not stop the future. It does this by adjusting the MPPT but instead of working to maximize power from the panels it reduces it. Australian Rooftop Solar Powers Rise Astounding, But.. Australias Emissions: Electricity Down, Transport Up, Compare Feed-In Tariffs And Electricity Plans, Victorias Powercor Lifts Its Solar Exports Game, 3029: Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit, Truganina, 3030: Cocoroc, Derrimut, Point Cook, Werribee, Werribee South, 3551: Ascot (Greater Bendigo), Axe Creek, Axedale, Bagshot, East Bendigo, Emu Creek, Eppalock, Epsom, 3337: Kurunjang, Melton, Melton West, Toolern Vale, 3340: Bacchus Marsh, Balliang, Coimadai, Darley, Hopetoun Park, Long Forest, Maddingley, Merrimu, 3352: Bonshaw, Bungaree, Bunkers Hill, Burrumbeet, Cambrian Hill, Cardigan, Cardigan Village, Clarendon, 3305: Bolwarra, Cape Bridgewater, Gorae West, Heathmere, Portland, Portland North, Portland West, 3444: Baynton, Kyneton, Lauriston, Lyal, Metcalfe, Redesdale, Tylden 3465 Alma, Bowenvale, Daisy Hill, Maryborough. 0000008571 00000 n 0000038752 00000 n NSWs Endeavour Energy area: Western Sydney. Im in the Endeavour Energy area. Residential properties are unlikely to be allowed to use export limiting to install even larger inverters. This is sufficient to charge a battery, although larger solar systems generally improve the return from batteries. But there is also the DNSP rules which need to be followed. 352 0 obj <>stream %PDF-1.4 % Origin offers 8 cents per kWh until a daily export limit of 14 kWh is reached. Self confessed newbie to the mechanics of Solar so bear with me. Am I wrong? 0000010603 00000 n Economically this probably Is not viable, as our electricity bill is fairly low. Queenslands Energex area: South East Queensland. The standard relating to solar inverters is about to change. The new home didnt have solar. 0000093063 00000 n Why my Power Limit is set to ON with the % whereas her Power Limit is set to OFF and she has been exporting. I have divided Australias regions into three categories: The information below assumes the property is on the main grid. Select your country/region. The inverter reduces the amount of electrical energy supplied by the solar panels. (2nd one APPROVAL/SITE SPECIFIC CONDITION(s): Total Solar Export must be limited to 5kW). Interesting article. I got a question about export limiter that I hope to get some answers from the community. You could contact Powercor and explain your situation, but I suspect theyll say you need to be an installer to check if an increase in export capability is available. 0000004622 00000 n Heres what that means. I havent made any applications yet, but Ill certainly be asking this question when I get quotes!. In looking to the future, regardless of whether we like it, in spite of, and, despite, the great efforts of the WA state government, and its parent, the Australian feral LNP/ALP government, battery powered road vehicles will come to Australia, and, displace ICE vehicles. In addition, all modern solar inverters must comply with AS4777.2015 at least. When a home is exported limited, all the power the solar inverter can produce is available for the home to use. Despite the low feed-in tariff you will receive it can still be worthwhile, especially if you can shift some electricity consumption to the middle of the day. Voltage (V) measured at inverter terminals 0000001757 00000 n It appears the wire from the inverter is directly connected to my main fuse for the house circuits. Generally however, I can advise that Powercor intends to upgrade the network over the next 5 years, starting in January, however, the specifics of where upgrades are happening and the order has not been decided. Im in regional WA with a rural 2 phase supply. You could approach SAPN and ask for special permission to install more solar capacity on an SWER but I would not be optimistic about that. 0% If you can export 3kva that means you can have a solar system with up to 4 kilowatts of panels. Victoria's "Hotest" Solar Postcode is 3977 at last look. Amongst other things, AS4777.2015 has some requirements to shutdown on phase imbalance in a 3 phase setup. 0000017636 00000 n What is the go generally with adding an additional solar system to your home? (Image from Finns Tesla App). Please stay on topic. But it seems the situation has been changing for the better in the last couple of months in a number of affected areas. I think I was partially wrong about how my PV is connected to the home and the meter. Talking of which, the fact often gets dropped under the table that neither batteries nor panels and inverters (being mechano-electronic devices) have a limited life span, and their efficiency deteriorates gradually after only a few years. That said, provided the Installer included your details and phone number in the customer section when the SPA was lodged, the solar team intends to follow up with customers if capacity becomes available to export into the grid through upgrades to the network.. My sister has the same type of inverter (Goodwe) but she lives in the Estern suburbs of Victoria and she has been exporting but her Power Limit was set OFF. If you are interested you can read about this here: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/inverters/mppt/. I still dont know if they have programmed the inverter to reduce the overall output by a percentage or not. Can you provide comment and evaluation of power tracing please. I was always of the belief that a 5kW inverter limited the total output/ production from my 6.5kW solar system to 5 kW, irrespective of what is being used in the house. Or is there a build up of voltage in the system? But you will probably find that there is another setting that it will shutdown when 10 minute average voltage is a measly 255v. Or is the energy produced by the panels but dissipated somehow? I am afraid Western Power is very strict. 10kW of inverters with 11.325kW of panels. Of course, if you are planning to get an electric car, that has the potential to make a huge difference to your self consumption of solar power. Whilst this may not be technically defined as export limiting, as the inverter specifications, specify that the inverter, whilst allowing up to an overload factor of 2, will only generate up to 5kW of A/C power There are profiles that still conform the microinverters to AS4777.2:2015, but can disable Volt-Var/Volt-Watt, change the power factor to 0.9 (some grid operators require this), turn off export altogether or set specific maximum export levels like 1kW, 3kW etc., or configure to satisfy specific grid network requirements. While the Envoy is an important part of the system, the micros largely operate independently of the Envoy, and in a lot of cases can work without the Envoy at all. So the size of the system becomes irrelevant if you can only export 3kwh (we are Regional NSW Essential Energy). But I will warn you, even with the high cost of grid electricity and the low solar feed-in tariff in Western Australia, batteries normally wont pay for themselves. Have a good christmas. Solar export limiting, or 'export limiting', occurs most often when there is more power being pushed into the grid than it can handle. Thats a huge jump and even a smidge higher than the Powercor network wide average of 89%. In exchange, the customer receives a small rebate on their bill for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) they export. AS4777.2:2015 has some rather low default recommendations, which can be tweaked up as no doubt my profile has allowed. Its located in Ausnet Services' Distribution Area but Ausnet is not part of the CitiPower, Powercor and UnitedEnergy . At the moment a battery system is unlikely to pay for itself, but you could install a system that is larger than what makes financial sense for your current situation and hope home batteries will fall in price over the next few years. Because people have been refused any STCs for being just a few watts over, no installer will go over the limit for a normal installation. IE if Im producing 8KW, the house is using 2KW it will still export 5kw? I was really keen for this system with a battery as most of my power is used at night and I like the idea of power during blackouts, which do happen quite a lot here. I installed 6.6kw solar panels and have Goodwe 5kw inverter and applied for export limit of 5kw. These consumption spikes go past the Solar energy being limited suggesting were drawing from the grid! Phone, email, give us feedback or make a claim. After all, Im a big picture kind of guy. Single-phase properties can install inverter capacity up to 5 kilowatts while 3 phase properties can install up to 30 kilowatts. Victorias Powercor area: Western Victoria, including a large portion of West Melbourne. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Download the first chapter of The Good Solar Guide, authored by SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock, FREE! Definition A low voltage embedded generation connection in CitiPower and Powercor is defined as "an LV EG system with a total system capacity greater than 30kVA for a three-phase IES or non-IES (excluding ESS) network connection that is: Limited export means more power for home If your system has a limit on how much it can export then it means more power will get used in your home instead. To get your quotes, please enter your postcode: Flexible Solar Exports To Ramp Up In South Australia, Australian Solar Systems Interest Index: September 2021, Why Australian Solar Installers Love Austrian Fronius Inverters, Tesla Powerwall Price Takes A Tumble In Australia, "Snail Mail" Home Battery Offers: Be Wary, New Minimum VIC Solar Feed-In Tariffs Locked In, Glenrowan Solar Farm Construction Gets Cranking. Seem most solar places, even the ones the go on about how good they are, arent that good when presented with this, what seems to be a conundrum for them. We installed 4.5kw with a 5kw inverter in 2014. Voltage (V) measured at inverter terminals Single-phase properties can have up to 5 kilowatts of inverter capacity, and 3 phase properties can have up to 30 kilowatts. Upgrading the local electricity network so more businesses and households can export excess solar to share. Select the AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 Australia A setting. Its only possible to go larger with a zero export limit: https://www.powerwater.com.au/customers/power/solar-power-systems/pv-class-requirements. There is not likely to be an Enphase system without a gateway (called the Envoy with in the Enphase system), because this is needed to setup the system, configure its profiles and report production and other important functions of the system. And, depending on the circumstances of each individual household, 10-15 kW of total panels generating capacity, with limiting export to the grid, to 5kW, could provide better for the months with less available solar radiation, to lessen the demand for grid electricity, peaking on a seasonal basis. So yeah, the Envoy is essentially all you need to configure export limiting or anything else if you have an Enphase microinverter set-up. This 80% could translate to an estimated 50,000 current or potential solar customers able to export more solar to the grid. So what goes throgh the meter, in either direction, is the difference between what you generate and what you use. is it 10kW AC or DC?? The metered version comes with extra current clamps to hook up to the grid side so you can do consumption monitoring and export limiting. Weve got a system that can be left alone in my opinion, so adding say 6.6kw and a 10kw battery makes good sense but what a task. I live in Warrnambool, Victoria. A condition of this basic connection offer is that all inverter energy systems must have the volt-watt and volt-var response modes enabled with the following settings: Energex doesnt automatically allow inverters over 5 kilowatts to be installed with export limiting, but currently regularly grants permission for single-phase homes on the main grid to install up to 10 kilowatts of inverter capacity with export limiting. 0000037764 00000 n I know in the movie the Bad was worse than the Ugly, but thats not the way Im doing it. We want to add a battery and it seems logical to add more cells also to another inverter/battery setup. My guess is that when the Envoy-S sees it needs to throttle due to export limits, it does this by sending the same instruction to all micros to throttle the same amount (but dont know for sure). Real names are preferred - you should be happy to put your name to your comments.2. 253 I have an existing 3.5kW PV system with Solis inverter. On the main grid, single-phase properties can have 5 kilowatts of solar inverter capacity, and three-phase properties can have 15 kilowatts. Now, such a hybrid inverter, as I previously submitted as a post, as being needed, would have the capability of providing for up to 10kW of panels generating capacity, and, of power conversion of up to 10kW, to provide for up to 5kW to provide for charging a battery system, and, the other 5kW to provide for the household load and with surplus (to the household load, out of the 5kW provision) being exported to the grid. ), converting to a maximum of 5kW of AC power, whilst the GW10K-MS provides for up to 13.5kW of panels generating capacity, across three MPPTs (strings? I have just had a 6.6kw system installed with a Fronius 5kw inverter and am export limited to 3kw. It is delivering 8 kilowatts of solar power. Powercor wrote back with the following response:"Due to the size of t . Even then, the losses from the limit are minor. But, if you are living in an area where it is required to install a large solar system a situation around half of Australians are in then export limiting can allow a larger system with normally very minor losses of clean solar generation. It is possible to max out the 10 kW inverter capacity with my Tesla, house load and Heat Pump hot water. If a home cant export any power at all then there is no financial reason to install a large solar system. Powercor is telling increasing numbers of households looking to install new systems in this area they will have a zero export limit. I have a 5kw solar system plus a Tesla powerwall 2 on my house . 100 litres alone means little, but if there are 100 litres per hour, this means 100 litre hours of output. Weve seen a rapid growth in rooftop solar systems.With each installation, were facilitating rapid growth in the amount of solar capacity on our network. Efficiency has and will improve further over time, but never to the point of perpetuity. Real names are preferred - you should be happy to put your name to your comments.2. While this is fine during the week when we are open, it seems a huge waste of electricity on the weekends when we are closed. 5kW times the number of hours is the total production over that time. So while the article suggests 10kW inverter ( 13.33kW DC) in fact the limit seemed to be 10kW DC ( hmmm what does 10kW generation mean exactly ?.) NSWs Essential Energy area: Regional NSW. This gives the advantage of having a new system covered by a new set of warranties. For example, I can see several Energex profiles that do things like limit export to differing amounts, turns on Volt-var without Volt-watt, or sets the power factor to 0.9.