Interesting article. 0000010080 00000 n So what goes throgh the meter, in either direction, is the difference between what you generate and what you use. 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. 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. The loss figures above are for Sydney and are affected by the climate. NSWs Ausgrid Network Area: This covers East Sydney, Newcastle, and out to Merriwa. Furthermore, the sustained overvoltage inverter protection set point shall be set to 258V. Nominal Output Power (W) 5000 Finally! Im in regional WA with a rural 2 phase supply. 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. Does anyone know how the limiter works in this scenario with 2 inverters? I installed 6.6kw solar panels and have Goodwe 5kw inverter and applied for export limit of 5kw. If your pumping needs are large enough this can pay for itself, but it will be expensive to set up. 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 ?.) Please confirm the maximum export limit in the relevant section of this application.. 0000093063 00000 n I have divided Australias regions into three categories: The information below assumes the property is on the main grid. I could not convince him that I knew what I was talking about! 0000028638 00000 n Please stay on topic. Victorias United Energy Network Area: A large chunk of Melbourne on the east side Port Phillip Bay and the Bayside Peninsula. 0000001916 00000 n 0000007057 00000 n What I find is installers dont seem to like it when I tell them my plan. Why my Power Limit is set to ON with the % whereas her Power Limit is set to OFF and she has been exporting. hb```f``sd`c`edd@ A >hp`86s8::\ MNmOe0pYuR`i g G7@ $n@]A#&S_2.dx f The metered version comes with extra current clamps to hook up to the grid side so you can do consumption monitoring and export limiting. AS4777.2:2015 has some rather low default recommendations, which can be tweaked up as no doubt my profile has allowed. But I can tell you a few things that might help with some of your pondering :- 1. Can you provide comment and evaluation of power tracing please. embedded generation system to the CitiPower and Powercor low voltage networks. Even if you have the Envoy-S, I believe at least on paper there was a Enphase Envoy-S "Some of these customers may have received approval to export since, due to network improvements made since their connection." An option is to take your pumps off-grid and run them independently off a separate off-grid solar system. . And for this reasons, I have increasingly seen that it is more challenging to run micros without the envoy which would no doubt be extra code required in later versions of the envoy to enforce implementation of various AS4777 and export limiting requirements that cant be done in the micros alone. I still dont know if they have programmed the inverter to reduce the overall output by a percentage or not. This seems to be becoming a big problem at least locally. I believe it must have been set up during installation, but the installer company claims that this is handled by Growatt themselves. In future, will powercor allow export limit if they upgrade transformer? &K?BK:T$A1Cn As far as I know, only solar installers can apply for export capacity in the Powercor area. The good news is, even in a worst-case situation, the amount will be fairly minor. But youll need to be confident you wont be hit with high demand charges during the evening peak that will wipe out any advantage. 11kW panels with 10kW 3-phase inverter (Fronius Symo + Fronius 3-phase meter). 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. Powercor is telling increasing numbers of households looking to install new systems in this area they will have a zero export limit. I had applications rejected, and when I asked there was NO course for negotiation or discussion its the RULES is s synopsis of the responses. No unfortunately. It is delivering 8 kilowatts of solar power. 0000008571 00000 n 0000028229 00000 n I will update the article with the information. 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. 0000007554 00000 n No matter how badly you may want to export limit your solar system, it can only be done in locations where its permitted. 0000037497 00000 n 5kW times the number of hours is the total production over that time. Thanks. 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. 0000038562 00000 n 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. Some say so you want to replace your system? 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. Amongst other things, AS4777.2015 has some requirements to shutdown on phase imbalance in a 3 phase setup. 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%. When a home is exported limited, all the power the solar inverter can produce is available for the home to use. They did say that with future upgrades we could reapply, but I cant find a way to do this. If you cant store the power (too expensive) and you cant export it, why the requirement (or desire) to put in large systems? 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. How do I get around this with SAPN , am I allowed to export limit on a swer line in Sth Aust. 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 . Typically in the Powercor area, the export limit is 5kW of exports for each single-phase household solar PV system. Long term benefits would be a more energy efficient system. 0000009573 00000 n 5kW export limiter imposed on one inverter. given that we are working from home all the time these days. Can one have micro-inverter panels without a gateway, and how would that be limited? Instead the home can benefit from a small system, as I explain here: Ah yes I see. Solar Analytics confirms in this scenario its only exporting up to the limit; 3kw. 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. They hid the problem pretty well, because they do tend to reduce the amount of shutdowns. Were seeing a real lift in the number of customers able to export excess solar back into the grid in these areas, which were among the most constrained in our network only a few months ago, said Powercor General Manager Electricity Networks, Mark Clarke. The solar installer or customer must have sought and received pre-approval from us for the requested capacity of the generator. 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. Victorias Powercor area: Western Victoria, including a large portion of West Melbourne. 0000027818 00000 n 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. Store it and use it later (this requires solar battery storage), or it disappears into thin air via a heat sink. And doing so potentially puts you running in a non compliant state. Western Australia Horizon Power area: Regional Western Australia. 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. 4. STCs can be received for panel capacity up to one-third greater than the inverter capacity. %%EOF I have an existing 3.5kW PV system with Solis inverter. Means that it caps the amount you can reduce your bills for power used outside of daylight hours? Theres more good news, with further improvements to come. 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. If you are using Enphase microinverters which is extremely likely the whole system can be export limited using the Enphase Envoy gateway. But if you suddenly switch off everything, there is more surplus solar power than youre allowed to export. 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. Below is the email response I received from Powercor. 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. Voltage (V) measured at inverter terminals 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. But just note, not everyone Envoy has required bits to do export limiting. My solar installer applied to Powercor to install a 5.4kw system at my Point Cook address. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. The ideal way to measure the power flow in and out of your house would be to ask your existing electricity meter. Powercor says it has contacted all solar customers within the previously impacted areas to let them know about the companys progress and to encourage them to consider reapplying for exports. That can raise the voltage to a level dangerous to appliances. It would definitely be better if we didnt need to limit the amount of power solar systems sent into the grid. 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. Im glad to hear its flexible enough to do that. 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. Ill upgrade the Endeavour Energy area from Ugly to Bad, since things are clearly not all bad there. So-called wasting of the extra electricity produced is irrelevant: sunlight is FREE, and whether I use it or not has no bearing on the environment. Ronald Queenslands Energex area: South East Queensland. Where do I find information on reapplying for export with Powercor? 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. No-one seems to have replied Dirk, so I will try. One thing I find is that Voltage control works well: instead of the inverter resetting if the voltage gets too high, my inverters roll back output, so it actually helps my neighbors too because their inverters reset less often. So my understanding of the info above is that my inverter will increase production in unison with demand until it hits 5kw? Aside from that, when you have high resistance lines, there is a voltage drop over their length. But still the solar companies keep trying to sell it to me.. The reason for this query, is that, in the past, my understanding has been that, in WA, where export limiting is apparently, banned by the gratuitously oppressive state parliament, and, where a limit of a 5kW output inverter, is allowed, for a single phase grid connection on the SWIS grid, a limit of 6.66 kW of panels generating capacity, is imposed for single phase connections to the SWIS grid, and, thence, the limit of panels generating capacity, to which the federal solar panels rebate applies, for such a connection, has been the 6.66kW. 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. 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. 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. Has the oppressive authority in WA ever given a reason for not allowing export limited inverters in WA? But it took him about another ten years to focus on it in a way that wasnt really stupid, Good Article.

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