&K?BK:T$A1Cn Can anyone shed any light for me? 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. Hi All, 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. We installed 4.5kw with a 5kw inverter in 2014. Do you know the situation here? Because you dont see the rather obvious shutdowns (or see them less), you might not notice your solar might be throttled back on a regular basis. 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. If so, it would make replacing the whole system more viable which is exactly what I wanted to avoid (and such a waste!). startxref People have done it at fairly low cost with second hand panels and a DC pump.) 0000001260 00000 n 220 An option is to take your pumps off-grid and run them independently off a separate off-grid solar system. I will update the article with the information. 260 I cant justify the cost of adding additional solar if the max I can export with Essential energy is 3kwh. ACTs EvoEnergy Network Area: Covers most homes in the ACT, especially in built-up areas. So my understanding of the info above is that my inverter will increase production in unison with demand until it hits 5kw? The distributor deals with that by putting the voltage slightly up at the sending end. Am I wrong? Metered and a non metered version. A small solar system can be financially viable. (We are conected to a 25Kw transformer, with 5 consumers connected.). It appears the wire from the inverter is directly connected to my main fuse for the house circuits. 2. Sometimes Powercor can reduce that to a lower figure, or even set a zero-export limit. Your dedicated meter will inform the inverter, and it will immediately reduce the power, so it doesnt exceed 5 kilowatts1. Information on whether export limiting is allowed can be found here, but I am going to present the information differently for both ease of use and to make my boss think Ive done something useful. Wyndham new Solar - powercor's zero export limit - Solar PV discussion 1. I have a 10kw Solar Edge inverter limited to 5kw. Amongst other things, AS4777.2015 has some requirements to shutdown on phase imbalance in a 3 phase setup. I am a bit confused about export. If your solar company provides you with the Solar pre-approval (SPA) number for your pre-approval, we can check specifically what was decided on with regards to exporting. 1. As your sister can presumably export as much power as her solar inverter can produce it wouldnt need this device. 0000038030 00000 n I guess it would be technically possible to have a solar system with a battery but still be connected to the grid as backup. The word first can be confusing. Shane, you appear to be mixing up kW and kWh easily done! But a sub optimally configured grid sometimes forces installers into implementing setting that are probably less than ideal if the high voltage events in the grid were just occasions where there is too much generation and they do want have all generators throttle back to allow some time for rebalancing supply and demand. Im trying to get some unbiased advice on whether or not we should add more solar. 0000038296 00000 n Residential properties are unlikely to be allowed to use export limiting to install even larger inverters. 0% 0000038830 00000 n Is this perhaps one of the well-kept secrets about the reality of residential solar production in Western Australia, one that neither the solar installers or inverter manufacturers, let alone Synergy or Western Power want to be publicly known? hooked up to an energy efficient 44kW motor for a real-world Rooftop solar works by turning sunlight into electric power. So the size of the system becomes irrelevant if you can only export 3kwh (we are Regional NSW Essential Energy). 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. Enter your postcode now. I have divided Australias regions into three categories: The information below assumes the property is on the main grid. Hi Everyone, driving range of 200km depending on ambient temperature. STCs can be received for panel capacity up to one-third greater than the inverter capacity. Im in regional WA with a rural 2 phase supply. The MSO helps us manage and keep our network safe for solar customers. As far as I know, only solar installers can apply for export capacity in the Powercor area. The earth is used as one conductor which has a higher resistance than a copper wire. Just last week, Powercor (Western Victoria) advised that they now have more room in the grid for export. But given average voltages are probably well above what they should be in lots of places, and once you factor in your local voltage rise, and pretty low values under AS4777 etc, there is not much room to play with until the distributors get the act together and deliver us power that better matches the 230v standard they are required to deliver us. (Or at least it will be expensive to set up well. But I suspect for a lot of people, the vast majority of these over voltage events are simply because the networks are running out of spec voltages. 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. Thats a huge jump and even a smidge higher than the Powercor network wide average of 89%. 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? My solar installer applied to Powercor to install a 5.4kw system at my Point Cook address. 0000005359 00000 n 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. (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 . Definitely, thats an inverter that is export limited to zero. Many NSW rural situations are limited to 3Kw export, due to the length of the transmission lines. 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? Will this mean any additional system would be limited to 0kW output?? The 7kW charger achieves full charge in 6 hours, and one Please keep the SolarQuotes blog constructive and useful with these 5 rules: 1. I am surprised to hear that Powercor has allowed you to increase your exports, but that is good to hear. 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. What I find is installers dont seem to like it when I tell them my plan. But it took him about another ten years to focus on it in a way that wasnt really stupid, Good Article. 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. This gives the advantage of having a new system covered by a new set of warranties. 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. I think I was partially wrong about how my PV is connected to the home and the meter. IE if Im producing 8KW, the house is using 2KW it will still export 5kw? 0000029011 00000 n He first became interested in environmental matters when he was four years old after the environment tried to kill him by smashing fist sized hailstones through the roof of his parents Toowoomba home. The Ugly: In these areas export limiting may not be allowed at all. As discussion of the topic of export limiting, is continuing, what,if any, is/are the direct effect differences to electricity grid load (as in the load on the wires, not the load as the term used for meaning demand), between a 5kW inverter, and a 10kW inverter with 5kW export limiting? Makes sense but begs my next question (sorry). Is this default, or would it be programmed in if the distributor required it? Interesting article. Does anyone have similar experience with powercor? Its becoming common for solar inverters to be export limited, so the maximum amount of power they send into the grid is less than theyre capable of providing. A Decent Battery From sonnen. But you probably would not recover the cost of the battery within its lifetime. 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. About CitiPower and Powercor FACT SHEET: SOLAR EXPORT APPROVAL Set appliances to use your solar power Maintenance and safety checks are important Is this correct? 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%. ), 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? If you can export 3kva that means you can have a solar system with up to 4 kilowatts of panels. Real names are preferred - you should be happy to put your name to your comments.2. Upgrading the local electricity network so more businesses and households can export excess solar to share. There are lots of variations to this theme, however. Solar connections for industry | CitiPower & Powercor Im glad to hear its flexible enough to do that. 0000022631 00000 n We have a 3kwh system and are really using as much during the day as we can. Rubbing salt into the wound were situations where someone was zero export limited while their next door neighbour wasnt. Thanks Steve 0418 815 193. Export limiting generally isnt permitted. They want to do it there way and it seems my request complicates things for them and I dont hear back, bar a couple. Is it the 6.66 kW, as the 1.3 overload factor of a 5kW inverter, or, is it the maximum allowed (by the manufacturer) panels generating capacity, for an inverter that is allowed by a state/territory government? 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. Reminder: In Australia, you are allowed to install 33% more panel capacity than the inverter capacity for example, a 10 kW inverter can have up to 13.33 kW of panels attached. 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. Powercor will respond in one of three ways: Approve the size system you've requested Limit the amount of power you can export to the grid (e.g. In a Enphase system, only the Envoy can provide this. In exchange, the customer receives a small rebate on their bill for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) they export. This 80% could translate to an estimated 50,000 current or potential solar customers able to export more solar to the grid. Powercor claims 30% increase in rooftop solar export approvals 10kW of inverters with 11.325kW of panels. Voltage (V) measured at inverter terminals 3. 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. Powercor is the Distributed Network Service Provider for central and western Victoria, as well as Melbournes western suburbs. I do NOT have a device in my meter box that could tell the inverter anything about consumption and feed in energy. Great article and content on this website 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. NSWs Endeavour Energy area: Western Sydney. 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. 0000008571 00000 n 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: With permission export limiting can be used to install larger systems. We have had solar for 6 years and just recently moved homes. Fronius Wattpilot: A Smart EV Charger With A Short Warranty, You Wont Believe How Dumb The NSW Governments New Battery Calculator Is. Zero-sum game: The rise of solar export limits, and what can be done Instead the home can benefit from a small system, as I explain here: Ah yes I see. What made the situation all the more frustrating is periods of high congestion which can threaten the stability of a local network can be quite brief. So, the whole of the system of restrictions and available components, for domestic rooftop photovoltaic systems, needs to be reviewed, to provide for greater usage demands during peak demand hours, greater battery storage provisions (and financial assistance for householders to implement big behind the meter battery storage systems, and, regarding the fragile, decrepit SWIS grid, the allowance of large capacities of panel generation, limited export, inverters, such as the hybrid one that I proposed. 2. So yeah, the Envoy is essentially all you need to configure export limiting or anything else if you have an Enphase microinverter set-up. These consumption spikes go past the Solar energy being limited suggesting were drawing from the grid! 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. trailer We respect your privacy and you can opt out from the newsletter at any time. It is possible to max out the 10 kW inverter capacity with my Tesla, house load and Heat Pump hot water. If they want a big solar system with an inverter larger than 5 kW, they must export limit the inverter. I think of it like the rate at which water is flowing out of a hose. Thank you. Or is the energy produced by the panels but dissipated somehow? 0000010603 00000 n The fact that export limiting is necessary is not a good thing. AC Output Data 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. Victorias United Energy Network Area: A large chunk of Melbourne on the east side Port Phillip Bay and the Bayside Peninsula. Powercor households stand to save even more with solar 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. 207 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. 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 13.25 kW of panels with a 9.8 kW LG Chem battery and a 10 kW inverter export limited to 5 kW. But still the solar companies keep trying to sell it to me.. Single-phase properties can have up to 5 kilowatts of inverter capacity, and 3 phase properties can have up to 30 kilowatts. So having a powerwall is way less useful for helping with an export limit than you would think. 2. I was told that as there is an export limit of 5kW and I already have 3.5kW system, my new system will be export limited to 1.5kW. I have just had a 6.6kw system installed with a Fronius 5kw inverter and am export limited to 3kw. If you dont get under the covers and look carefully at the logs you might miss this, or think it is a cloud coming over, rather than voltage triggered throttling. 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). 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! is it 10kW AC or DC?? Perhaps it is worth mentioning that the stricter export limitation becomes, it will make a stronger argument for batteries. I am looking at adding a second system (6.2kW) with GoodWe inverter. If that doesnt worry you then you can get a battery and just hope it mostly pays for itself. And doing so potentially puts you running in a non compliant state. I have noticed that one string seems to be performing well under the performance of the slightly smaller string. Put down your weapons.3. Rooftop solar | CitiPower & Powercor But if you dont use much electricity it may need to be very small, as I explain here: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/zero-kw-export-solar/. While export limiting is possible its not always approved. I believe it must have been set up during installation, but the installer company claims that this is handled by Growatt themselves. 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? The percentage var/VA level leading is the inverter sourcing vars to the grid, whereas the percentage var/VA level lagging is the inverter sinking vars from the grid. The solar PV system is connected to the network via an inverter. Why on earth would I do that if I can help it. So far I have not seen much more than 5kW DC anyway, but in summer I would expect to see a curve thats flattened at the top during the high sun phase, as it is cut off by the inverter. It is critical that you install an approved smart inverter and set it correctly. So the solar inverter has to have its own energy meter installed in your switchboard one that talks to the inverter to tell it when power sent into the grid reaches the export limit. Have a good christmas. going back into the grid with no batteries. What Happens to the Surplus Power That Can't Be Exported to the Grid? Generation sources can be, but are not limited to solar, wind and batteries. I have spoken to one installer , but he couldnt really help me . I want about 10Kw of panels so I can run pumps etc. If you are export limited, the only way to implement that is with some sort of meter as Ronald says. And for this reasons, I have increasingly seen that it is more challenging to run micros without the envoy which would no doubt be extra code required in later versions of the envoy to enforce implementation of various AS4777 and export limiting requirements that cant be done in the micros alone. The uptake of solar has surprised the powers that be so they are basically wasting free energy and penalizing the producers in the process. Some households lose 20 per cent of their solar output from grid Although my testing shows that the micros technically operate quite independently, it is important to understand, only the Envoy can provide some critical components to a properly working Enphase System. 240 See image at http://www.johnrogers.com.au/battery_charging_noon.jpg. That would provide both export limiting, and, the incorporation of a battery system (for my household, if we would have a 6.6 kW panels generating capacity system, rather than the 5kW one that we have, something like the BYD LVS 20 or 24kWh battery tower, would, I believe be appropriate), which would provide for energy arbitrage, smoothing both power exported to the grid, and, power imported from the grid, especially during peak demand periods. To give you example, you will probably find the profile you mention is probably throttling from a very low 250v and will ramp down to 20% at 265v. This means you tend to see panels at the end of strings shutdown soonest on voltage risk conditions, as they have the highest voltage rise being at the end of the string. But if you suddenly switch off everything, there is more surplus solar power than youre allowed to export. (Image from Finns Tesla App). Some manufacturers may have this pre-selected. Solar Export Limiting or Zero Export. What Does it Mean? 0 Furthermore, the sustained overvoltage inverter protection set point shall be set to 258V. It also allows you to focus on increasing your self consumption which in turn provides a better return on investment. This profile also doesnt impose any export limits, because Endeavour Energy didnt require them of my installation (maximum is 30kW for a 3-phase installation, which my one is well under). 0000004622 00000 n Hi Its also unusual for a large solar system to have all the panels facing the same direction. 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. 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.. 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. 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. 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. I just dont understand it. The following is a list of the areas in case youve been missed. 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. Normally single phase properties can have up to 5 kilowatts of solar inverter capacity and 3 phase properties can have 15 kilowatts. Solar Export Limiting: Why You Should Know About It Thanks Ron. 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. just wondering if anybody can shed some light on the following, This is disappointing as this would be an easy option to implement. The new home didnt have solar. On the main grid, single-phase properties can have 5 kilowatts of solar inverter capacity, and three-phase properties can have 15 kilowatts. I have not been able to get an answer from Growatt Australia yet, it seems there is a bit of a cover-up going on. In my mind though the Smart meter at the box would adjust the export limit in line with what the house is consuming? If the transformer capacity is limited, you could install solar initially with a low export limit (eg 1 kW) and then have your export limit increased when the transformer was . I live in Warrnambool, Victoria. Am planning to install solar 6.6 kWh system and upon checking with powercor they are giving export limit as 0 kWh. But, now, Goodwe have the GW5000-MS inverter, which, from what I have read, is apparently allowed in WA, for a single phase SWIS grid connection, and, that inverter is a 5kW inverter, that has a maximum panels generating capacity;
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