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Powercor says the Solar Hotspots initiative is the first stage of a five-year Future Networks program to support customer investment in solar power systems, electric vehicles and battery storage. What inverter do you have? 2. We are in an area where only about 20% of the homes have solar. <]/Prev 115522/XRefStm 1575>>
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. Does anyone have similar experience with powercor? Ill upgrade the Endeavour Energy area from Ugly to Bad, since things are clearly not all bad there. driving range of 200km depending on ambient temperature. We installed 4.5kw with a 5kw inverter in 2014. I dont quite understand how the DC energy from the inverter can go to my home circuits first, before any excess current is fed into the grid. 0000004059 00000 n
What am I missing?
They want to do it there way and it seems my request complicates things for them and I dont hear back, bar a couple. I have seen my panels producing over 13 kW of power when the battery is drawing 3 kW DC power and the battery, house and car 10 kW of AC power. I also dont know if my meter has limiting but suspect not as it is a pretty dumb device. When a home is exported limited, all the power the solar inverter can produce is available for the home to use. Im surprised this hasnt hit the mainstream media yet. 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: I think the installers like the Volt-watt modes, because if you dont know where to look they hid the problem at your expense anyway. Some manufacturers may have this pre-selected. Anyway you are probably not supposed to be messing around with the profiles without agreement of your DNSP. If they want a big solar system with an inverter larger than 5 kW, they must export limit the inverter. 100% I am not even sure the inverter would support that, but I fear that sadly up to 25% of the PV energy might be going to waste! Put down your weapons.3. There are versions without this consumption monitoring (old Non -s version of Envoy and even the Envoy-S without consumption monitoring). 240 0000039096 00000 n
We respect your privacy and you can opt out from the newsletter at any time. I have a 14kW solar array running Enphase IQ7+ microinverters (43 of them) hooked up to the grid in a 3-phase configuration in the Endeavour Energy area in NSW, and they currently have the profile AU default AS4777.2:2015 30kVa, Vv, Vw set. If that is the case it seems counter intuitive to me as I dont know if demand will outstrip production until I actually turn the appliance (eg A/C) on and check the display. Regarding batteries, as we all know from our mobile phones, constantly being charged and discharged, will deteriorate much quicker than PV panels (and the same that goes for phones, laptops, and your electric toothbrush also goes for solar and electric vehicle batteries, unfortunately). The daily export limit is averaged across your billing period (calculated by multiplying the number of days in your billing period by your daily export limit of 14 kWh). Why my Power Limit is set to ON with the % whereas her Power Limit is set to OFF and she has been exporting. ( The majority of customers are approved for the export level they request. Do you know the situation here? both said About CitiPower and Powercor FACT SHEET: SOLAR EXPORT APPROVAL Set appliances to use your solar power Maintenance and safety checks are important An option is to take your pumps off-grid and run them independently off a separate off-grid solar system. Please stay on topic. Also, given that export limited inverters (supposedly) work the same, regardless of the grid to which they are connected, why is it so, that states have different rules whereby some allow export limited inverters, and, some do not? 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.
Rooftop solar | CitiPower & Powercor Sorry Andrew: NQR. Does anyone know how the limiter works in this scenario with 2 inverters? You could have mentioned that SWER stands for Single Wire Earth Return and why that matters. According to NT Power and Water they will normally allow up to a 5 kilowatt inverter with single phase power and up to a 7 kilowatt inverter with 3 phase power. Similarly, which would be more detrimental to a fragile electricity grid, through power exporting; a 5kW inverter with no export limiting, or, a 10kW inverter, with export limiting set to 1kW? Victorias Jemena network area: A small but crowded chunk of North and Western Melbourne.
Powercor households stand to save even more with solar In reality, the losses will be considerably less. 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: 306 0 obj
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Victorias CitiPower area: The Melbourne Central Business District. To get your quotes, please enter your postcode: AEMC: Electricity Prices To Continue To Fall, http://www.johnrogers.com.au/battery_charging_noon.jpg, http://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/kw-and-kwh-what-is-the-difference/, 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. Shane, you appear to be mixing up kW and kWh easily done! %PDF-1.4
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But still the solar companies keep trying to sell it to me.. The battery is charging from the DC current which is before the inverter. As your sister can presumably export as much power as her solar inverter can produce it wouldnt need this device. Wouldnt it be better for the inverter to display its total actual potential output under current conditions? 5 kilowatt inverter + 6.6 kilowatts of solar panels (no export limiting): 0%, 6 kilowatt inverter + 8 kilowatts of solar panels: 4% loss, 7 kilowatt inverter + 9 kilowatts of solar panels: 8% loss, 8 kilowatt inverter + 10 kilowatts of solar panels: 13% loss, So, on the one hand, the Victorian Government is. See image at http://www.johnrogers.com.au/battery_charging_noon.jpg, CORRECTION: My 13.25 kW system will not go above the 10 kW inverter limit unless my house battery is charging and then it can go to 13.25 kW. Powercor is telling increasing numbers of households looking to install new systems in this area they will have a zero export limit. Hello. Residential properties are unlikely to be allowed to use export limiting to install even larger inverters. NSWs Endeavour Energy area: Western Sydney. Since in WA you cant have more than a 5kW inverter on a private residence, I believe there isnt actually export limiting in play, and the inverter itself clips the output AC regardless how much the panels are generating, sadly. Plus a Tesla Powerwall 2. Providing the export limiting is done on the meter current as described above ( not on the inverter output current), you can generate more than the export limit if you are consuming enough power to make up the difference between generation and export limit. The Solar installer is telling me that they just started getting 0kW approvals back for about 9 out of 10 requests and so they dont believe they will be able to do many installs at all going forward. If that doesnt worry you then you can get a battery and just hope it mostly pays for itself. Swearing revenge, he began his lifelong quest to reduce the harm the environment could cause. All I can really suggest is to try to shift power use to the middle of the day and hope mainly solar energy is consumed. . My assumption is (and I may be wrong after all) that the idea of using my own energy first before buying from the grid is an illusion, and in fact it only appears like that because all the energy from the inverter (up to 5kW) is measured as exported, all energy required by the house is actually imported from the grid (as if there was no solar system at all), and it is just because the exports are offset against the imports for billing, why it appears that my PV system is reducing the imports. 306 47
It does this by adjusting the MPPT but instead of working to maximize power from the panels it reduces it. Now, there are quite a few profiles on offer that can be programmed into the microinverters. Western Australia Horizon Power area: Regional Western Australia. People have done it at fairly low cost with second hand panels and a DC pump.) They did say that with future upgrades we could reapply, but I cant find a way to do this. Technically, what will happen is the inverter will reduce the solar systems output so the generation will be forgone, but I dont want to go into too much detail in this article. Up until quite recently, Powercor had been informing a large proportion of households looking to install new solar systems they will have to cop a zero export limit due to high congestion created by exports from existing systems. The word first can be confusing. Victorias Powercor area: Western Victoria, including a large portion of West Melbourne. 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. (Note: it is possible to install a larger system, say 10kW on a single phase property and meet the Powercor rules by export limiting the system . Michael caught the solar power bug after purchasing components to cobble together a small off-grid PV system in 2008. No-one seems to have replied Dirk, so I will try. I have previously posted (or, submitted for posting), the proposition that what is needed, is a hybrid (not meaning in this instance, a hybrid inverter as is commonly used) inverter that is like a cross/combination, of the Goodwe GW5000-MS inverter (or, kind of, the GW10K-MS, in terms of power conversion), and the Goodwe GW5048D-ES; three GW5000-MS provides for up to 10kW of panels generating capacity, across three MPPTs (strings? 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. Yes I do have Enphase micro-inverters and an Envoy gateway, though not enough sunny roof to exceed 5kW, so my interest is rather academic but real.
Smart inverter settings | CitiPower & Powercor So the size of the system becomes irrelevant if you can only export 3kwh (we are Regional NSW Essential Energy). 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, Powercor's new solar connections export approval rate of just over 60% at the start of the year has increased to above 90%. My AS4777.2:2015 profile allows voltages up to 265v (for short periods, and shuts down on 10 minute averages above 258v). Im in the Endeavour Energy area. Great article and content on this website 220 When an inverter is export limited, it has to know how much solar energy is being sent into the grid so it can immediately reduce output if its about to go over the limit. Hi Everyone, AC Output Data Even if you have the Envoy-S, I believe at least on paper there was a Enphase Envoy-S 3. If you are in the solar industry - try to get to the truth, not the sale.5. Powercor's technical assessment aims for these works to enable at least 80% of new solar applications to export 5 kW. There are exceptions for off-grid installations and systems that are installed with a battery. 1. I was lucky to have an early approval, so limited to 10Kw (or due to bad calculation by the approver, 8.6Kw, where he said ALL the Neutral current went down the common Neutral wire, where in fact only the difference between the phases goes down the Neutral (2 phase, 180 degree). 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. embedded generation system to the CitiPower and Powercor low voltage networks. 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! 100% But, if you are really keen, I suppose you could use a site such as PV Institutes Live PV Map to see how other solar systems in your general area are performing: Note that patchy cloud can produce a lot of variation in output. The new inverter standard AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 has new inclusions to address grid stability issues - a new feature that is necessary to further enhance the hosting capacity to accommodate more solar and renewable energy systems. As per current standards, a single phase premises is limited to 10kW generation and 5kW export. We respect your privacy and you can opt out from the newsletter at any time. It is delivering 8 kilowatts of solar power. I prefer a profile that just has the voltages set to a high voltage threshold, and if I have to sacrifice V-W mode, so be it. No active system controls whether you use inverter of imported power. 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. Three-phase homes can install up to 15 kilowatts of inverter capacity or 30 kilowatts with export limiting, except in South East Queensland where special permission is required from Energex to install an export limited inverter over 15 kilowatts. 0000009027 00000 n
Solar export limiting, or 'export limiting', occurs most often when there is more power being pushed into the grid than it can handle. Australian Rooftop Solar Powers Rise Astounding, But.. Australias Emissions: Electricity Down, Transport Up, Compare Feed-In Tariffs And Electricity Plans, Solar Export Limiting What It Is & Why Its Useful. I cant justify the cost of adding additional solar if the max I can export with Essential energy is 3kwh. I have solar on my house and having it installed at an investment property, but not sure what to do now as there will be no benefit of feed in tariff. Interesting article. Will this mean any additional system would be limited to 0kW output?? 352 0 obj
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So an Enphase setup, without a continuously operating Envoy with not be providing this functionality and likely to raise some concerns in the AS4777.2015 certification process if they did not take steps to make sure these functions are always guaranteed to be implemented. So if an inverter that is export limited to 5 kilowatts is providing 8 kilowatts of power, none of it will go to waste provided the home is consuming at least 3 kilowatts at the time. Put down your weapons.3. Max. Installers must also follow the recommendations of the inverter manufacturer and they may say the limit for panel capacity is less than one-third more than the panels capacity. As a side issue for you, if you (like lots of people) have high voltages issue causing shutdown / throttling, I am not a big fan of the Volt-watt modes, as often these modes will also lower the voltages at which the throttling kicks in. I have 3 x PV systems on one phase. We do not prevent customers from installing solar for their own self-consumption. Once voltage thresholds etc are configure in the profile by the Envoy at install, each micro operates largely independently. While installing solar panels can still be worth it under these conditions, its a disincentive, increases payback time and is generally a pretty crappy state of affairs. 2. (Image from Finns Tesla App). reliable export limit control function as per AS4777.2 to limit the export output where the .
Solar system size limits explained by state | Solar Choice Long term benefits would be a more energy efficient system. 0000000016 00000 n
This is often referred to as 'network constraints'. 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. Finally, there are profiles for other countries that run 220-240V networks, and its remarkable how many of them use the older AS4777.3:2005 standard in their countries, because for many of these countries, this is the only profile the Envoy offers. and only supply me with power from the grid Do the inverters prevent the production of energy by the solar panels when an export limit would otherwise be exceeded? Sorry if dumb question. But it took him about another ten years to focus on it in a way that wasnt really stupid, Good Article. Typically in the Powercor area, the export limit is 5kW of exports for each single-phase household solar PV system. 253 Allows installation but has an export limit. Also, if you are on the main grid the amount of power you are allowed to export can still be below the limits given or even zero, depending on how much additional solar capacity the local grid can handle at your location. 0000008571 00000 n
Thats a huge jump and even a smidge higher than the Powercor network wide average of 89%. Export limiting does limit the inverter output, but only as needed to keep the export power below the limit. Is there anything that can be done about it?
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See image at http://www.johnrogers.com.au/battery_charging_noon.jpg. But it seems the situation has been changing for the better in the last couple of months in a number of affected areas.
Wyndham new Solar - powercor's zero export limit - Solar PV discussion Were continually investing in our networks and aim to keep customers informed if additional export capacity becomes available in their area. Can you provide comment and evaluation of power tracing please. 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. I guess it would be technically possible to have a solar system with a battery but still be connected to the grid as backup. amended or replaced from time to time. 0000037764 00000 n
STCs can be received for panel capacity up to one-third greater than the inverter capacity. The naming of zones may differ between manufacturers but may appear as: Australia A - applies to the configuration of inverter settings in Victoria and all Eastern . Please keep the SolarQuotes blog constructive and useful with these 5 rules: 1. (Although they will also allow an additional 5 kilowatts of battery inverter capacity.) It would definitely be better if we didnt need to limit the amount of power solar systems sent into the grid. I have noticed that one string seems to be performing well under the performance of the slightly smaller string. As has been explained (and COSTED) on previous occasions batteries are VERY cost-effective.IF you stay away from the hi-tech/overpriced/dependence-creating/unproven battery-systems advocated by commercially self-interested parties.
Solar export limits for Adelaide suburbs with most panels under SA Theres more good news, with further improvements to come. Okay, so that heading may be a bit of an exaggeration, but improvements the company has carried out appear to have made quite a difference. So my understanding of the info above is that my inverter will increase production in unison with demand until it hits 5kw?
Major upgrades supporting more solar exports for homes in Victoria's This is sufficient to charge a battery, although larger solar systems generally improve the return from batteries. 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? 0000038830 00000 n
In contrast, most other network distributors set a strict upper limit on the size solar panel system you can install, typically 10kW for single-phase properties. 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. 20% March 2022 6 Powercor means Powercor Australia Limited, ABN 89 064 651 109. portal means the eConnect portal for CitiPower and . Finally! As such, unless the investment pays for itself within at most 5-6 years, IMHO it is not a good investment/waste of money and natural resources. So what goes throgh the meter, in either direction, is the difference between what you generate and what you use. If you can export 3kva that means you can have a solar system with up to 4 kilowatts of panels. 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. 0000001916 00000 n
The fact is that Powercor does not set an upper limit on the size solar panel system you can install, up to 30kW. I will update the article with the information. The uptake of solar has surprised the powers that be so they are basically wasting free energy and penalizing the producers in the process. In my case, I have N & W facing panels, My inverters clip to 5Kw for a few hours, but I can still export a reasonable amount. JackD 1 year ago. The following is a list of the areas in case youve been missed. At times MPPT1 is at 600 odd watts while MPPT2 is at 2500 odd watts. Of more concern is occasional spikes in consumption which go past the 5kw limit. Households and small businesses that generate electricity using solar panels, wind turbines, or other small-scale generators, can feed back any unused electricity into the electricity grid for other customers to use. But if you had a larger solar system with a larger inverter that was export limited to 5 kilowatts it could potentially supply 2 kilowatts to your home while exporting 5 kilowatts to the grid. Its moderately cheaper and the solar feed-in tariff youll receive will lower your electricity bills and increase the amount of clean energy available for others to use. I havent made any applications yet, but Ill certainly be asking this question when I get quotes!. Efficiency has and will improve further over time, but never to the point of perpetuity. But if you suddenly switch off everything, there is more surplus solar power than youre allowed to export. But if people send a lot of power into the line then the voltage at the far end, instead of being lower than at the sending end, becomes higher. But this is at least partially because when you throttle back output, you also reduce the amount of voltage rise you are causing on your local connection to the point of interconnect which is probably contributing to the issue. This seems to be becoming a big problem at least locally. Queenslands Ergon network area: All of Queensland on the main grid outside of South East Queensland. So really apart from the requirement that the initial startup can only happy on voltages below 253v, I have no throttling until at least 285v and probably even higher. Im trying to get some unbiased advice on whether or not we should add more solar. at night or not enough at day time ? Finally! A Decent Battery From sonnen. 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!
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Real names are preferred - you should be happy to put your name to your comments.2. Please keep the SolarQuotes blog constructive and useful with these 5 rules: 1.
Powercor program works to increase solar export capacity for 50,000 Australian network service providers (including CitiPower) use solar export limits to keep voltage levels in transmission lines operating within safe . Phone, email, give us feedback or make a claim. The installation of solar photovoltaic systems as well as the correct inverter settings are critical to ensuring customers get the most for their investment in this technology. Metered and a non metered version. &K?BK:T$A1Cn In addition, all modern solar inverters must comply with AS4777.2015 at least. 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. Of course the manufacturers dont want this to be public knowledge and pretend that once you paid for a system you are set for life (yours, not that of the system). I cant see any reference to the NT. 258 The whole system of domestic rooftop photovoltaic systems, needs to be reviewed; by both the legislatures and regulators, and, by the components (especially the inverters) manufacturers. While I dont know where you are a 4 kilowatt solar system should produce an average of around 18 kilowatt-hours a day in WA. We just applied for pre-approval from Powercor and were given a 0kW export approval which is going to make almost anything we choose uneconomical. My question is should that then eliminate the 5 kw inverter of the powerwall wich Energex claims is part of the 10kw allowance on a single phase? As the LG Chem battery charges using DC current from the panels it is possible to go over the 10 kW inverter limit by charging the LG Chem battery in the middle of the day. "Some of these customers may have received approval to export since, due to network improvements made since their connection." What Happens to the Surplus Power That Can't Be Exported to the Grid? Was sure if its been configured correctly or if this is just how it works? While losses increase as the solar power system size goes up, even with 10 kilowatts of panels which is twice the export limit, only 13% of generation is lost. So, if a contractor or tradesman, using one of these during the day, or, another type of worker, gets home after work, and, plugs one of these in to charge, an immediate drain of 7 kW (I believe that it is actually 7.4 kW), and immediate significant drain is imposed on the grid, for several hours, during peak demand.
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