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The export restrictions on solar energy implemented in some parts of Australia may be disappointing, but it is really bad that grid-connected solar power systems cannot be installed at all.

For a long time, this has been a reality in many towns in Western Australia's Horizon Power service area. Horizon is a Western Australian government-owned company that provides electricity to approximately 100,000 residents and 10,000 businesses in remote areas of Western Australia.

The company's solar hosting capacity allowed in different locations to protect the fragile grid is far less than the needs of homes and businesses that want to install panels.

For example, between June 2018 (when we first reported the issue) and April this year, Broome and the surrounding area (population: about 16,000) only installed about 100 new systems. It was not until July that more than 900 kilowatts of new solar hosting capacity was provided to Broome's residential customers.

This was quickly sold out and enabled 170 Broome families to install the system. Horizon Power estimates that these new systems will generate approximately "1.4 million kilowatts" of energy each year. I think they mean kWh-kW is a unit of measurement for power and energy (find the difference between power and energy here-this is important).

Residents of Carnarvon, Exmouth, and Denham are in a similar situation, but this will soon change as Horizon prepares to release an additional 1,000 kW of hosting capacity. There is no doubt that this will also be mentioned soon.

Applications for this new capacity will be open to residential customers on November 15, 2021, and Denham's corporate applications can be submitted starting on November 22.

But besides the increased hosting capacity, are there other towns affected by the restrictions?

"Our goal is that all Horizon Power households can use rooftop solar energy by 2025, and we are working hard to achieve this goal."

Therefore, some towns will wait longer-but in Exmouth's case, it may be earlier rather than later.

Of the 1,000 kW of new hosting capacity, 400 kW is dedicated to Exmouth. The good news is that further releases are expected after March next year, thanks to the installation of a new 3.4MW battery energy storage system at the Exmouth Power Station in early 2022.

Batteries will help absorb the excess solar energy generated during the day for release at night and other needs; and generally help maintain the stability of the local power grid.

Horizon's goal is to make 80% of the town's electricity come from renewable sources within the next three years. It is estimated that 20% will be generated by distributed energy sources (such as rooftop solar), and centralized renewable energy will account for 60% of the town's electricity demand.

Michael discovered solar problems after purchasing components to assemble a small off-grid photovoltaic system in 2008. Since then, he has been covering Australian and international solar energy news.

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