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On March 27, 2019, author Matthew Wright made a comment
Attorney Dan Epstein was able to obtain approval in the AusNet area with appropriate 17kW panels and installation of Tesla PW2 systems. Now AusNet seems to be denying others. An energy company seems to have taken a clear anti-battery move. Victoria-based network operator AusNet Services has almost banned some solar homeowners from using Tesla Powerwall 2. According to AusNet's updated standard operating procedures (SOP 32) and updated approval procedures, their lucky customers cannot install anything larger than a 5kW inverter with Tesla Powerwall 2 (PW2). But for many people on the edge of the grid, the limit is only set to 2kW, which is similar to the average-scale system installed in 2008 more than 10 years ago. This is because AusNet provides a standard grid output limit of 3.5kW or 5kW, and the maximum inverter capacity is 7kW or 10kW. Although Tesla PW2 is not configured as an output at all, they treat it as an inverter, just like a solar inverter connected to a solar panel. AusNet refused customers near Bairnsdale to provide Tesla PW2 for its system. The problem is, to properly cycle Tesla PW2 in winter (it guarantees one cycle per day, and the unsatisfactory economy at the beginning determines that you are taking full advantage of it) you really need at least a 6kW inverter (for example, Fronius Or Solaredge) has a 9000W panel (the guarantee limit of these inverters). People who buy PW2 want to prevent power outages, such as Ausnet's customers, many of whom are on the edge of the grid in rural and remote areas. For those homeowners who have power outage protection, they need a solar system of the right size during a power outage, otherwise there will not be enough solar energy potential to charge the battery and keep the emergency power supply running. A Tesla PW2 of the right size. Therefore, for those customers in eastern Victoria and eastern suburbs of Melbourne who want to do the right thing near Bairnsdale, Bright, Buchan or Benalla, they are completely blocked by AusNet's rules. This is obviously a political issue. The people of Victoria want solar energy and energy storage, they want to export excess solar energy to help separate coal and natural gas from our grid, and they also want to be self-sufficient in energy. So where are the Victorian Minister of Energy Lily D'Ambrosio and the solar lobby? They are responsible for ensuring that Victoria’s current and future electricity consumers and solar homeowners receive appropriate services, and that Ausnet, like all other electricity distributors in Victoria, accepts Tesla PW2 (and equivalent products) with appropriately scaled solar systems . Given that a Hong Kong company, Changjiang Holdings, basically controls all Victorian distributors, there seems to be no reason to allow Ausnet to formulate such an anti-solar anti-battery policy, and its cousins United, Jemena, Powercor and Citipower are very reasonable and allow The 10kW+ inverter has export restrictions, which means that a 20kW solar system (a common size in rural applications) can be implemented with a single-phase Tesla PW2. Previously, the advice given to me by the National Energy Department was that dealers should not stop customers who want to own household batteries. This proposal obviously needs to be updated and published, because this is exactly what is happening right now. Australians are turning to solar energy, and Victorians are turning to solar energy. The only things that slow us down are the clumsy dinosaurs in the energy sector, the old energy companies trying to protect fossil fuel assets, and the companies that help and abet. Now is the time for politicians to tell energy companies and their lobby groups to stop obstructing Australia’s process of providing clean, affordable energy to all. This is not the first time AusNet has shown a bad form. Earlier, Professor Peter Seligman and the author discovered that DNSP charges for truck appointments to replace meters and connect to new solar energy, but they did not actually do so. The millions of dollars they collected for these fees (no services) were not refunded. Fortunately, they stopped charging more than $350 after at least embarrassing the practice in the public domain. Matthew Wright, the executive director of Pure Electric *One Step Off The Grid, interviewed AusNet on this and other issues regarding solar and battery connection approvals, and posted DNSP’s response here as an update on this topic. Part of a wide-ranging report.
Filing basis: battery/storage, solar
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