Some say so you want to replace your system? 0000005359 00000 n Depending on their location, some may be constrained to a lesser export level or even no exports at all. Max. Now, there are quite a few profiles on offer that can be programmed into the microinverters. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. The infrastructure is not sufficiently flexible to deal with this. Is this correct? you aren't allowed to export any power from your solar system to the grid. 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/. Does anyone have similar experience with powercor? 0000009573 00000 n The following is a list of the areas in case youve been missed. (Image from Finns Tesla App). VAr (var % rated VA) South Australia Power Networks (SAPN) area: SAPN is the only distributor in South Australia. "Some of these customers may have received approval to export since, due to network improvements made since their connection." Still a very long payback period, but not as long. 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. Are Tesla Powerwall smart enough to let majority of power export to grid and only start charging battery as inverter approaches its export limit? 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? To add to this, in the installer section of the Envoys web server control panel, you can set the profile by which all microinverters operate. 0000037952 00000 n Your meter is on the connection between the mains network on one side and the combination of your inverter and your loads on the other side. Can anyone shed any light for me? 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. Self confessed newbie to the mechanics of Solar so bear with me. Efficiency has and will improve further over time, but never to the point of perpetuity. 2. Great article and content on this website 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. Most systems have mostly N facing panels, so really only generate peak power for a few hours a day (often 10am>2pm approx) 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). We are on a zero limited export. 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. Theres more good news, with further improvements to come. After (almost) three months with no reply, has any reason been given, as to why export limited inverters are not allowed for single phase grid connections to the SWIS grid in WA? AS4777.2:2015 has some rather low default recommendations, which can be tweaked up as no doubt my profile has allowed. amended or replaced from time to time. 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. 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. Worried the impact this will have currently when we charge an EV in the near term. 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. Will this mean any additional system would be limited to 0kW output?? 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. Powercor is the Distributed Network Service Provider for central and western Victoria, as well as Melbournes western suburbs. 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.. 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. Shane, you appear to be mixing up kW and kWh easily done! They did say that with future upgrades we could reapply, but I cant find a way to do this. 100% Hi All. Once voltage thresholds etc are configure in the profile by the Envoy at install, each micro operates largely independently. Put down your weapons.3. Solar Analytics confirms in this scenario its only exporting up to the limit; 3kw. Solar export limiting, or 'export limiting', occurs most often when there is more power being pushed into the grid than it can handle. Youre using a total of four kilowatts to cook your lunch, so your home is exporting 4 kilowatts, which is below the limit. 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. When it says that you can export 5kw, does that mean you can export up to 5kw PER HOUR? A Decent Battery From sonnen. The 7kW charger achieves full charge in 6 hours, and one 0000028638 00000 n A small solar system can be financially viable. 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! 0000028229 00000 n hbbf`b``3 I j Here at SolarQuotes, we had been hearing quite a few complaints about Powercors zero export limits. Thanks Steve 0418 815 193. 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. 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. How is export limited for micro-inverters? Michael caught the solar power bug after purchasing components to cobble together a small off-grid PV system in 2008. 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? What Happens to the Surplus Power That Can't Be Exported to the Grid? 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. There are lots of variations to this theme, however. I know in the movie the Bad was worse than the Ugly, but thats not the way Im doing it. Now, that would help protect electricity grids, especially, the fragile, decrepit SWIS grid, for the present. As far as I know, only solar installers can apply for export capacity in the Powercor area. the system is set to export the maximum amount of power approved in our Solar Export Pre-Approval to you your obligations as the owner and operator of an 'embedded generator' exporting . Makes sense but begs my next question (sorry). The standard relating to solar inverters is about to change. No active system controls whether you use inverter of imported power. So if your home isnt currently drawing power you wont know from looking at the display if its capable of producing the maximum 5 kilowatts or if it cant provide more than 3 kilowatts. Typically in the Powercor area, the export limit is 5kW of exports for each single-phase household solar PV system. 100 litres alone means little, but if there are 100 litres per hour, this means 100 litre hours of output. I have a 5kw solar system plus a Tesla powerwall 2 on my house . I got a question about export limiter that I hope to get some answers from the community. Hi Everyone, Unfortunately, SAPN wont allow more than 5 kilowatts of inverter capacity on an SWER line. hooked up to an energy efficient 44kW motor for a real-world . 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. Upgrading the local electricity network so more businesses and households can export excess solar to share. 1. endstream endobj 351 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/Index[17 289]/Length 31/Size 306/Type/XRef/W[1 1 1]>>stream 5kW export limiter imposed on one inverter. Just last week, Powercor (Western Victoria) advised that they now have more room in the grid for export. 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. DC Input Power (Wp) 10000, from its published datasheet. I was told to set Power Limit to ON. 3. First read the section How Export Limiting Works at the top of this thread. That can raise the voltage to a level dangerous to appliances. This seems to be becoming a big problem at least locally. Please keep the SolarQuotes blog constructive and useful with these 5 rules: 1. There may well be a tipping point in battery prices where a drought of mid day solar will be followed by very little evening use and possibly large numbers of households abandoning the grid altogether. 0000027818 00000 n The current Envoy they will be selling is the Envoy-S. Before that was the straight Envoy which did not have the consumption monitoring / metering needed to do export limiting. No-one seems to have replied Dirk, so I will try. The solar installer or customer must have sought and received pre-approval from us for the requested capacity of the generator. 0000038030 00000 n Has the oppressive authority in WA ever given a reason for not allowing export limited inverters in WA? 0000037497 00000 n We want to add a battery and it seems logical to add more cells also to another inverter/battery setup. 0000027694 00000 n essential enrgy in central west nsw (Orange) are generally restricting to max 5kw export limit regardless of 1ph or 3ph: 2 x 3ph residential applications approvals cutnpaste below only difference was one specifically stated APPROVAL/SITE SPECIFIC CONDITION(s): Total Site to be export limited to 5kW 3 phase 1.66kW/per phase (and the padmount sub for the subdivision in on the property boundary) ), converting to up to 10kW of AC power, and, the GW5048D-ES provides for up to 6.65kW of panels generating capacity, converting to up to 4.95 kW of AC power, and, acting as a battery management system and UPS, when a battery system (of up to two approved, low voltage, batteries) is connected. The installer has been able to get the system through WP in the past as the inverter can limit the export to grid to 3kva. 5kW times the number of hours is the total production over that time. 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). This is because even if there is only a refrigerator running during the day it will reduce the losses from export limiting and if an effort is made to shift electricity consumption to the middle of the day then losses can be mostly or entirely eliminated. For example, our Solar Enablement program is intended to allow more customers to connect a 5kVa solar PV system with export capacity. 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. I have spoken to one installer , but he couldnt really help me . When it comes to the limiting imposed by the electricity companies feed-in regulations, it means that, at any one time, not more than 5kW (100L) maybe be output to the grid (hose), it has nothing to do with the total over a certain period of time. 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. 60% lagging It is possible to max out the 10 kW inverter capacity with my Tesla, house load and Heat Pump hot water. If your pumping needs are large enough this can pay for itself, but it will be expensive to set up. Tasmania: Under 1% of Tasmanians are on SWER lines, so the generous export limit should often be available. An option is to take your pumps off-grid and run them independently off a separate off-grid solar system. NSWs Essential Energy area: Regional NSW. Still, few people will want more than the 13.33 kilowatts of panel capacity single phase homes can generally install: The Bad: Homes with single-phase power on the main grid can have up to 5 kilowatts of inverter capacity but can usually get around this limit by installing an export limited solar inverter of up to 10 kilowatts. 240 I can also see specific profiles for other grid networks, such as Ausgrid and Ergon, that likely have specific requirements of the inverters. Store it and use it later (this requires solar battery storage), or it disappears into thin air via a heat sink. 0000039284 00000 n 260 If a home cant export any power at all then there is no financial reason to install a large solar system. Queenslands Ergon network area: All of Queensland on the main grid outside of South East Queensland. 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. Sorry Andrew: NQR. And, when battery powered road vehicles with adequate distance capacity (I have read that VW expects to release a battery powered station wagon, with range between charges, of 700km, in 2023 (although, unless Australia wakes up, such vehicles will be unlikely to come to this neolithic country) ) are available, and, even for the rare ones that apparently, already exist in Australia (having not yet seen a battery powered vehicle in Australia, I wonder whether they are simply an urban myth, as to their presence in this backward country), when would they get charged, if people would only charge them at home? I think of it like the rate at which water is flowing out of a hose. We are in an area where only about 20% of the homes have solar. 220 IE if Im producing 8KW, the house is using 2KW it will still export 5kw? 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. 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. You could buy a battery, charge it on the weekend and export during week nights. Quotes vary and the deal has to be value/advantage logical or whats the point. While there are some energy management measures that could help around the edges, I cant think of any good solutions for the typical business. 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. (Or at least it will be expensive to set up well. If they face in two or more directions, it will further reduce the losses by reducing the peak solar output while stretching it out, so it lasts longer through the day. 0000004622 00000 n Nominal Output Power (W) 5000 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. 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. 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%. 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. MPPT2 always shows better performance than MPPT, usually quite significantly better. My solar installer applied to Powercor to install a 5.4kw system at my Point Cook address. 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. 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. 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? Below is the email response I received from Powercor. 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. AC Output Data The battery is charging from the DC current which is before the inverter. There are exceptions for off-grid installations and systems that are installed with a battery. If you can export 3kva that means you can have a solar system with up to 4 kilowatts of panels. Im in the same situation, except I have an existing 5kW system. 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. In a Enphase system, only the Envoy can provide this. So basically the whole local industry is going to be cactus until this is resolved. 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). 0000037686 00000 n This extra meter adds to the cost of a solar system. If you are in the solar industry - try to get to the truth, not the sale.5. I have a new residential PV system in Perth WA, 6.6kW total panel capacity and a 5kW inverter (Growatt Min 5000TL-X). 0% The Good: In these locations, properties can usually install up to 10 kilowatts of solar inverter capacity if they have single-phase power and up to 30 kilowatts with 3 phase 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. South Australian solar panel owners can currently export 5 kilowatts of electricity to the grid but under Flexible Exports, they could export double that amount 10kW. Ready for some quotes? An Update: I just had system installed 4 days ago in the Energex DNSP and suggest the above is perhaps not quite correct. 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. Heres the Fronius Smart Meter that you need if you want to export limit a Fronius inverter it will add about $500 to the cost of the system: An example of how export limiting works You have an inverter thats exported limited to 5 kilowatts. So it is unfortunate that it is necessary, but good that people can still install a larger system and generally have insignificant losses. ( Victorias CitiPower area: The Melbourne Central Business District. 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. both said Recent work by Victorian DNSP Powercor on some problematic parts of its network is enabling more solar power from rooftop panels to be exported to the grid. 0000093063 00000 n Have a good christmas. 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. Nobody wants to see solar energy . 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. Thats a furphy from go to whoa. I am a total newbie to this but I am unclear why export limiting is good? Is there anything that can be done about it? Real names are preferred - you should be happy to put your name to your comments.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. Thanks Ronald! Select the AS/NZS 4777.2:2020 Australia A setting. 0000037764 00000 n Interesting article. If that doesnt worry you then you can get a battery and just hope it mostly pays for itself. 100% It is delivering 8 kilowatts of solar power. Victorias Powercor area: Western Victoria, including a large portion of West Melbourne. Single-phase properties can install inverter capacity up to 5 kilowatts while 3 phase properties can install up to 30 kilowatts. The majority of customers are approved for the export level they request. 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. Hello. 0000005986 00000 n 0000007057 00000 n We have a 3kwh system and are really using as much during the day as we can. Assume positive intention.4. Does anyone know how the limiter works in this scenario with 2 inverters? 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. 20% I am afraid Western Power is very strict. Normally single phase properties can have up to 5 kilowatts of solar inverter capacity and 3 phase properties can have 15 kilowatts. Origin offers 8 cents per kWh until a daily export limit of 14 kWh is reached. Victorias Jemena network area: A small but crowded chunk of North and Western Melbourne. 220 This is sufficient to charge a battery, although larger solar systems generally improve the return from batteries. Some networks will allow larger sizes than those outlined below, pending specific approval from the network.
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