Rooftop PV

Zero-sum game: The rise of solar export limits, and what can be done about it

Published by

As rooftop solar continues to boom around Australia, an increasing number of households are coming up against strict limits to the amount of energy they are allowed to export to the grid, with many finding that they cannot export their solar at all.

The practice, called solar export limiting, is not a new one. Australian network service providers have been progressively introducing solar export limits for years on their grids, and say it is needed as a way of heading off voltage stability problems in areas of high rooftop PV penetration.

A rooftop solar system’s grid export limit is determined by the local electricity network operator – sometimes on a case-by-case basis, sometimes according to an across-the-board standard, and typically at around 5kW.

But as more and more solar is installed on ageing grids designed and built to carry electricity one way only, networks are tightening their limits on solar exports and consumers are rapidly losing one of the key incentives for investing in the first place – feed-in tariff payments.

According to Andy McCarthy, whose hugely successful Gippsland Solar business was acquired by RACV Solar in late 2019, on certain solar-heavy parts of Victoria’s Powercor grid, as many as one in three installation jobs are being either heavily restricted or limited to zero.

And while for the networks, this is a ready and ratchet-able solution to a problem that has manifested itself far quicker than they had anticipated, for consumers who are relying on a feed-in tariff for a good rate of return on their investment, export limiting is a problem – particularly with new inverter standards looming that could act as another layer of curtailment (but that is another story).

To read the original version of this story on RenewEconomy sister site One Step Off The Grid, please click here.

Sophie Vorrath

Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. She is the co-host of the Solar Insiders Podcast. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.

Share
Published by

Recent Posts

New wave energy hopeful lands government grant, says it’s cracked the energy cost barrier

WaveX says its wave energy device cuts out inventive technologies to be cheaper than a…

5 November 2024

AEMO warns big batteries to expect breakfast call to protect the grid from rooftop solar juggernaut

AEMO details protocols that may see big batteries instructed to discharge and stand by on…

5 November 2024

“Silence not an option:” Teals push major parties to come clean on 2035 climate targets

Independent MPs are pushing for no further delay on Labor's 2035 climate target, saying voters…

5 November 2024

“Shell companies for rent seekers:” Coalition attacks solar innovators, including Turnbull-backed SunDrive

Coalition Senator takes aim at Australian solar innovators looking to tap into the Solar Sunshot…

4 November 2024

Ausgrid pitches its first big batteries for Newcastle and Sydney

Ausgrid want to put two large batteries in Sydney and Newcastle, as part of the…

4 November 2024

SwitchedOn Podcast: Breaking even on solar, storage and two Teslas in under nine years

Rosemary Grundy is on a mission to demonstrate that going renewable and electric is not…

4 November 2024