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Many Australian households are not allowed to export more than 5 kilowatts of electricity to the grid. If they want a large solar system with an inverter greater than 5 kW, they must impose "export restrictions" on the inverter. This is what it means.

The working principle of rooftop solar is to convert sunlight into electricity. Electricity is first used to meet household consumption, and the excess electricity is output to the grid for other people to use. 

If at any time you generate more solar power than you need, the excess will be output to the grid. (Picture from Finn’s Tesla application)

Exporting excess solar energy is a good thing, because it reduces the production of fossil fuels and pays you a feed-in tariff that reduces electricity bills. 

Restricted exports of solar inverters are becoming more and more common, so the maximum amount of power they send to the grid is less than the power they can provide. There are three main reasons for this:

In this article, I will outline how export restrictions work and why it is a good idea. 

I know that bad people are worse than ugly people in movies, but I don't do that.

When the inverter output is limited, it must know how much solar energy is fed into the grid in order to immediately reduce the output when the limit is about to be exceeded. 

The ideal way to measure the power flow in and out of the house is to ask about your existing electricity meter. Unfortunately, the meter company and inverter manufacturer could not unite, and the utility meter refused to talk to the inverter. Therefore, the solar inverter must install its own electric energy meter in your switchboard-when the power sent to the grid reaches the output limit, the electric energy meter will communicate with the inverter to tell it.  

This additional meter increases the cost of the solar system. If you want to export restricted Fronius inverters, this is the "Fronius Smart Meter" you need-it will increase the cost of the system by about $500:

An example of how export restrictions work-you have an inverter with an export restriction of 5 kW. It is providing 8 kilowatts of solar energy. You use a total of 4 kilowatts to cook lunch, so your home’s output power is 4 kilowatts, which is below the limit. But if you turn off everything suddenly, the excess solar energy will exceed your allowable output. Your dedicated meter will notify the inverter that it will immediately reduce the power so it will not exceed 5 kW1.

No matter how much you want to export to restrict your solar system, it can only be done where it is allowed. Information about whether export restrictions are allowed can be found here, but for ease of use and to make my boss think that I have done something useful, I will present this information in a different way.

I divided the regions of Australia into three categories:

The following information assumes that the property is located on the main grid. If you can go outside and scream loudly, and your neighbors cannot hear you at all, then you are likely to leave the main network and face stricter export restrictions. In addition, if you are on the main grid, the amount of electricity you are allowed to output may still be lower than the given limit or even zero, depending on how much additional solar capacity the local grid can handle at your location. 

Reminder: In Australia, you can install 33% more panel capacity than the inverter capacity-for example, a 10 kW inverter can connect up to 13.33 kW panels

Advantages: In these places, if single-phase power is used, the property can usually install up to 10 kilowatts of solar inverter capacity, and if three-phase power is used, up to 30 kilowatts can be installed. Residential properties are unlikely to be allowed to use export restrictions to install larger inverters. Nevertheless, few people would want more than 13.33 kilowatts of single-phase households can usually install panel capacity:

Disadvantages: Households that use single-phase power on the main grid can have up to 5 kilowatts of inverter capacity, but this restriction can usually be bypassed by installing export-restricted solar inverters up to 10 kilowatts. Three-phase households can install up to 15 kilowatts of inverter capacity or 30 kilowatts of export restrictions, unless special permission from Energex is required in southeast Queensland to install more than 15 kilowatts of export restricted inverters. 

The ugly side: export restrictions may not be allowed at all in these areas. 

When the household's export is restricted, all the electricity that the solar inverter can generate can be used by the household. Therefore, if an inverter with an output power limit of 5 kilowatts provides 8 kilowatts of electricity, as long as the household consumes at least 3 kilowatts of electricity at the time, no electricity will be wasted. 

But sometimes the energy produced by the solar system exceeds the energy output, so some energy is lost3.

The good news is that even in the worst case, the amount will be quite small. If we consider a household in Sydney that does not use electricity during the day and all solar panels face north, the percentage of output lost due to the 5 kW export restriction will be:

Therefore, even in Sydney's worst case, an 8 kW solar system with an export limit of 5 kW would only lose 4% of its power generation. Although the loss increases with the increase in the scale of solar power generation systems, even if the 10-kilowatt panel is twice the export limit, only 13% of the power generation will be lost. 

In fact, the loss will be much smaller. This is because even if there is only one refrigerator in operation during the day, the losses caused by export restrictions will be reduced. If efforts are made to shift the power consumption to noon, the losses can be mostly or completely eliminated.

For a large solar system, it is also unusual for all panels to face the same direction. If they face in two or more directions, they will further reduce losses by reducing peak solar output while stretching them, so it will last longer. 

The above loss figures are for Sydney and are affected by the climate. They will be taller in sunny places like Perth, and lower in cloudy places like Melbourne or Hobart. 

Ronald Brakels was born in Toowoomba many years ago. When his township collected a collection and sent him to Japan, he became famous internationally for the first time. This was the furthest place they could manage with the funds raised. When the local mayor greeted him at the airport and explained that it was too dangerous for him to return to Toowoomba due to climate change and mutations attacking goats. After returning to Australia, he developed a keen interest in environmental issues. Ronald then moved to a property in Adelaide Hills, where he now lives with his horse Tonto 23.

good article. Due to the length of the transmission line, many rural New South Wales conditions are limited to 3Kw exports. Even so, the loss of restriction is small. Most systems have N-face panels, so in fact, only a few hours of peak power are generated a day (usually around 10 am> 2 pm). In my case, I have N and W face panels. The inverter was reduced to 5Kw in a few hours, but I can still export a reasonable amount. I was lucky to get the early approval, so it was limited to 10Kw (or due to the wrong calculation of the approver, 8.6Kw, he said that all the neutral current flows along the common neutral line, in fact, only the difference between the phases The neutral wire (2 phase, 180 degrees). I can’t convince him that I know what I’m talking about! One thing I found is that the voltage control works well: if the voltage is too high, the inverter will not reset, and It is my inverter that rolls back the output, so it is actually helpful to my neighbors because their inverter reset frequency is low. (We are connected to a 25Kw transformer and connected to 5 consumers.)

Can I share my excess battery with neighbors?

When I am not irrigating the crops, I can easily share my excess electricity.

How to restrict exports of micro-inverters?

If you are using Enphase microinverters-this is very likely-the entire system can use Enphase Envoy gateways for export restrictions.

Thank you Ron. Yes, I do have Enphase micro-inverters and Envoy gateways, although the sun roof is not enough to exceed 5kW, so my interest is quite academic but real. Will the gateway tell the micro-inverters to turn off one at a time, or will all reduce the output equally? Is this the default setting, or will it be programmed if required by the distributor? It is possible to use the micro inverter panel without a gateway. How will this be restricted?

I suspect that it is possible that they all send the same signal, but in fact I am not sure. But I can tell you some things that may help you think:- 1. Enphase system without a gateway is impossible (called Envoy in Enphase system), because this is a system necessary to set up a gateway, configure its configuration Important functions of the "system" such as file and report production.

2. Although Envoy is an important part of the system, micros runs independently of Envoy to a large extent, and in many cases can work without Envoy. In most cases, if you let your envoy shut down, then the micro will start and work independently of the envoy, and actually independent of each other. Once Envoy has configured the voltage thresholds in the configuration file during installation, each microcontroller operates largely independently. This means that you will often see the panels at the end of the battery string close the fastest under voltage risk conditions, because they have the highest voltage rise at the end of the battery string.

3. If your exports are restricted, the only way to achieve this is to use some kind of meter as Ronald said. In the Enphase system, Envoy-S with consumption monitoring is used. Is there a version of this consumption monitoring (the old non-s version of Envoy, or even Envoy-S without consumption monitoring). My guess is that when Envoy-S finds that it needs to throttle due to export restrictions, it will do so by sending the same command to all microcomputers to throttle the same amount (but not sure).

4. Although my tests show that the microcomputer is technically independent, it is important to understand that only Envoy can provide some key components for a working Enphase "system". This of course goes far beyond initial configuration and reporting. For example, if your export is restricted, only Envoy-S with consumption monitoring can provide this feature. It can only provide this feature at runtime. In addition, all modern solar inverters must at least comply with AS4777.2015. Among other things, AS4777.2015 has some requirements for shutdown due to phase imbalance in a three-phase setup. In Enphase system, only Envoy can provide this function. Therefore, if Enphase does not have a continuously running Envoy, this feature will not be provided, and if they do not take steps to ensure that these features are always implemented, it may cause some concerns during the AS4777.2015 certification process. For this reason, I increasingly see that it is more challenging to run micros without envoy. This is undoubtedly that subsequent versions of envoy require additional code to enforce various AS4777 and unfulfillable export restrictions. Only on the microcomputer. middle.

I hope this helps some insights.

In addition, in the installer section of Envoy's web server control panel, you can set the configuration files for all micro-inverters. I have a 14kW solar array (43 of them) running Enphase IQ7+ micro-inverters connected to the grid in Endeavor Energy, New South Wales in a three-phase configuration. Their current configuration file is "AU Default AS4777.2:2015 ≤30kVa, Vv, Vw" setting. As can be seen from the configuration file name, it ensures that the micro-inverter complies with the AS4777.2:2015 Australian standard for managing inverters, and enables advanced Volt-var and Volt-watt controls to adjust the output when the grid voltage is too high Power (in contrast to suddenly turning off all output power when the grid voltage is too high, which happens in the absence of Volt-var and Volt-watt). This profile also does not impose any export restrictions, because Endeavor Energy does not need to use them in my installation (the maximum power for a three-phase installation is 30kW, my installation is far below this value).

Now, there are many configuration files that can be programmed into the micro inverter. Some configuration files still make the micro-inverter comply with AS4777.2:2015, but you can disable Volt-Var/Volt-Watt, change the power factor to 0.9 (required by some grid operators), turn off the output completely, or set specific The maximum output level such as 1kW, 3kW, etc., or configuration to meet specific grid network requirements. For example, I can see several Energex configuration files that perform things like limiting the output to different amounts, turning on Volt-var instead of Volt-watt, or setting the power factor to 0.9. I can also view specific configuration files of other grids, such as Ausgrid and Ergon, which may have specific requirements for the inverter. Finally, there are the configuration files of other countries/regions running 220-240V networks. How many of them use the old AS4777.3:2005 standard is worth noting, because for many of these countries/regions, this is the only one provided by Envoy Configuration file.

So yes, if you have an Enphase microinverter setup, Envoy is basically everything you need to configure export restrictions or anything else.

Very real AL0126. But please note that not every Envoy needs bits for export restrictions. The current Envoy they will sell is Envoy-S. Prior to this, it was direct Envoy, which did not perform consumption monitoring/metering required for export restrictions. Even if you have Envoy-S, I believe at least there is an "Enphase Envoy-S Metered" and a non-metered version on paper. The metered version comes with an additional current clamp that can be connected to the grid side, so you can perform consumption monitoring and export restrictions.

As a side issue for you, if you (like many people) have high voltage problems that cause shutdown/throttling, I am not a big fan of the volt-watt mode, because these modes usually also lower the throttling voltage to start. I think installers like Volt-watt mode, because if you don’t know where to look, they will hide the problem at your cost anyway. They hide the problem well because they do tend to reduce the number of downtimes. But this is at least partly because when you limit the output, you also reduce the amount of voltage rise that is locally connected to the interconnection point, which may be the cause of the problem. Because you don't see fairly obvious shutdowns (or less often), you may not notice that your solar energy may be restricted on a regular basis. If you don’t understand and check the log carefully, you may miss this or think it’s a dark cloud rather than a voltage-triggered throttling.

I prefer a profile that sets the voltage to a high voltage threshold. If I have to sacrifice VW mode, so be it. For example, you may find that the profile you mentioned may throttle from a very low 250v and drop to 20% at 265v. But you may find that when the 10-minute average voltage is only 255v, it will turn off another setting. My AS4777.2:2015 profile allows voltages up to 265v (short time, and shuts down at a 10-minute average value above 258v). So in addition to the requirement that the initial start-up can only be satisfied at a voltage lower than 253v, I did not throttle until at least 285v or even higher. If you use AS4777.3:2005 before the limit may be higher, but you will lose some other functions (such as frequency ramp, if you want to be a good grid citizen, this may be very wise), and you may not unless They were installed before 2016, otherwise they should be run.

All these configuration files need to be careful to solve this problem. AS4777.2:2015 has some fairly low default recommendations, which can be adjusted, because my profile is undoubtedly allowed. But there are also DNSP rules that need to be followed. But given that average voltages may be much higher than they should be in many places, and once you take the local voltage rise into account, and the values ​​under AS4777 etc. are very low, there will be no before the distributor takes action Too much room to play and provide us with power that is more in line with the 230v standard they provide us.

In any case, you probably shouldn't mess with configuration files without your DNSP consent. Doing so may leave you in a non-compliant state. However, if the high-voltage event in the grid is just a case of excessive power generation, and they really want all generators to be throttled to allow some time to rebalance, then a sub-optimal configuration of the grid sometimes forces installers to implement it may not be ideal The set supply and demand. But I suspect that for many people, the vast majority of these overvoltage events are simply due to insufficient network voltage.

Good question about microinverters.

I'm in the endeavor energy field. I have 3 photovoltaic systems on one phase. 10kW inverter and 11.325kW panel. Apply a 5kW output limiter to one inverter. Plus Tesla Powerwall 2.

Therefore, it can be completed with approval.

This puts me in a good category!

I will upgrade the Endeavour Energy Zone from "ugly" to "bad", because the situation there is obviously not all bad. Thanks for the information.

Perhaps it is worth mentioning that stricter export restrictions will become a strong argument for batteries. The payback period is still very long, but not that long...

Sorry Andrew: NQR. As explained (and cost) before, batteries are very cost-effective...if you stay away from the high-tech/excessive/reliant creation/unproven battery systems advocated by commercial stakeholders. Although endless debates over unnecessary details may keep the printing press running, the fact remains that I have been using more cost-effective batteries since 1980. I did use FiT in the early days of 66cpkWh, but installed a separate system (I have since incorporated it into my independent system. The so-called "waste" of the extra electricity generated is irrelevant: the sun is free , Whether I use it or not has nothing to do with the environment. This is from going to wow. I wish you a Merry Christmas.

If the export restrictions are exceeded otherwise, will the inverter prevent the solar panels from generating energy? Or is the energy generated by the panel dissipated in some way? Or is there voltage accumulation in the system? I just don't understand.

The inverter reduces the electrical energy provided by the solar panels. It achieves this by adjusting the MPPT, but instead of trying to maximize the power of the panel, it reduces it. If you are interested, you can read here:

https://www.solarquotes.com.au/inverters/mppt/

You may have mentioned that SWER stands for single-wire ground loop and why this is important. The earth is used as a conductor, and its resistance is higher than that of copper wire. In addition, when you have high-resistance wires, there will be a voltage drop across their length. The distributor handles this problem by slightly increasing the voltage at the transmitting end. However, if people send a lot of power to the line, the voltage at the far end will not be lower than the voltage at the sending end, but will become higher. This may raise the voltage to a level that is dangerous to the appliance. The infrastructure is not flexible enough to handle this problem.

In fact, I made a chart showing the percentage of SWER wires in each state, but I omitted it for the sake of brevity. Then, the rest of the information was cut to make this article more introductory, but maybe all these cuts make this article like my favorite World War II movie—the cut is too far.

The entire system of domestic rooftop photovoltaic systems needs to be re-examined; legislatures and regulatory agencies, as well as component (especially inverter) manufacturers.

I have previously released (or submitted for release) and what I need is a hybrid (in this case not a "commonly used hybrid inverter") inverter, just like Goodwe's cross/combination GW5000-MS inverter (Or similar to GW10K-MS, in terms of power conversion) and Goodwe GW5048D-ES; three GW5000-MSs provide up to 10kW of panel power generation capacity, spanning three MPPTs (string?), and converted to AC power of up to 5kW, The GW10K-MS provides a panel power generation capacity of up to 13.5kW, which spans three MPPTs (strings?), and is converted to an AC power source of up to 10kW. The GW5048D-ES provides a panel power generation capacity of up to 6.65kW, which is converted to up to 4.95 kW. AC power source and act as a battery management system and UPS when connected to a battery system (up to two approved low-voltage batteries).

Now, as I previously submitted in the post, this hybrid inverter will be able to provide up to 10kW of panel power generation capacity, and can provide up to 10kW of power conversion, to provide up to 5kW of power for service The battery system is charged, and the other 5kW is used to provide the household load, and the remaining (household load, in the 5kW supply) is output to the grid.

This will provide a combination of export restrictions and battery systems (for my family, if we have a 6.6 kW panel power generation capacity system instead of the 5kW system we have, such as BYD LVS 20 or 24kWh battery tower, I think it is appropriate ), which will provide energy arbitrage, smoothing the power output to and input from the grid, especially during peak demand periods.

Now, this will help protect the power grid, especially the current fragile and dilapidated SWIS grid.

However, only for now.

Looking to the future, whether we like it or not, despite the great efforts of the Western Australian Government and its parent company, the wild LNP/ALP government of Australia, battery-powered road vehicles will come to Australia and replace "ICE" vehicles.

And, when battery-powered road vehicles have enough driving distance (I have read that Volkswagen expects to release a battery-powered station wagon in 2023 with a charging interval of 700 kilometers (although, unless Australia wakes up, this type of vehicle It’s unlikely to come to this Neolithic country)) are available, and even for the rare vehicles that apparently already exist in Australia (battery-powered vehicles have not yet been seen in Australia, I wonder if they are just an “urban myth” "As for their presence in this backward country), if people only charge them at home, when will they be charged?

Some battery-powered cars cannot be programmed to charge only at specific times of the day, so if someone drives to work (that is, when battery-powered cars become affordable for the working class) and goes home after get off work, then "will The car is placed on the charger", which needs to cover the grid drainage that occurs during peak demand times.

For example, the Renault Kangoo ZE truck (I think it is currently the only battery-powered truck in Australia) has a 33kWh battery, and,

"In order to go further, Kangoo ZE has a ZE 33 (33kWh) battery connected to an energy-saving 44kW motor. The actual driving range is 200 kilometers, depending on the ambient temperature. A 7kW charger can be fully charged in 6 hours and charged in 1 hour. Travel 35 kilometers."

Therefore, if a contractor or businessman uses one of them during the day, or other types of workers go home after get off work and plug in one of them to charge, it consumes 7 kW immediately (I believe this is actually 7.4 kW), and during peak demand periods Will immediately impose a large amount of consumption on the grid for several hours.

Moreover, if a street is full of these, plug their car into the grid for charging, and the charging starts between 1700 and 1800, and many interesting fireworks will explode along the street’s wires.

Therefore, it is necessary to review the entire limitations of domestic rooftop photovoltaic systems and the available component system to provide greater usage requirements during peak demand periods, greater battery storage regulations (and financial assistance behind the implementation of large households) to measure battery storage System, and about the fragile, dilapidated SWIS grid, allowing large-capacity battery panels to generate electricity, limited exports, inverters, such as the hybrid inverter I proposed.

Moreover, according to the situation of each household, the total solar panel power generation capacity of 10-15 kilowatts, which limits the export to the grid, is 5 kilowatts, which can provide better electricity in months with less available solar radiation to reduce the impact on the grid. Electricity demand peaks seasonally.

I realize that the Australian legislature does not care about the future, but whether the legislature likes it or not, the future will come. Moreover, no matter how powerful the members of the legislature are, what kind of people they imagine they become, no matter how much they look like trump cards, they cannot stop the future. Centuries ago, a man named Kanute proved this.

I am on my second Tesla electric car. If you are not a leading foot, the new electric car has a range of 700 kilometers. I will not drive other cars.

Article writing: Energex, Queensland: southeast Queensland. Energex will not automatically allow the installation of inverters exceeding 5 kilowatts and restrict exports, but currently allows single-phase households on the main grid to install up to 10 kilowatts of inverter capacity and restrict exports.

Update: I just installed the system in Energex DNSP 4 days ago and suggested that the above content may not be correct. My application was rejected, and when I asked about courses that were not negotiated or discussed, "its rules" were the summary of the response.

In the written form, I was told: “According to current standards, single-phase houses are limited to 10kW power generation and 5kW output. Please confirm the maximum export restrictions in the relevant part of this application.”

Therefore, although the article recommends the use of a 10kW inverter (13.33kW DC), the actual limit seems to be 10kW DC (Well, what does “10kW generation” mean?) Yes, the 5kW export limit applies, I suggest additional Fact check to complete the valuable story above? Is it 10kW AC or DC?

I have a 13.25 kW panel with a 9.8 kW LG Chem battery and a 10 kW inverter, and the output power is limited to 5 kW. Using my Tesla, house load and heat pump hot water can maximize the capacity of the 10 kW inverter. Since the LG Chem battery is charged with DC current from the panel, it is possible to exceed the 10 kW inverter limit by charging the LG Chem battery at noon. When the battery consumes 3 kW of DC power and the battery, house, and car consume 10 kW of AC power, I have seen my panel produce more than 13 kW of power. The household battery should be able to be set to turn off when fully charged and then turn on at noon. Because the batteries are currently running, they can be charged in the morning with electricity sold by other means, rather than electricity that might not be sold in the middle of the day. The website link shows that the system generates more than 10 kilowatts of power.

I have always believed that the 5kW inverter will limit the total output/production of my 6.5kW solar system to 5 kW, regardless of what is used in the house. Therefore, if my system is at maximum output and I use 2kW, only 3 kW will be output to the grid. am I wrong?

That is correct. A 5 kW inverter will not provide more than 5 kW of electricity, no matter how many kW panels it has. However, if you have a larger solar system and a larger inverter with an output power limit of 5 kilowatts, it may provide 2 kilowatts of electricity to your home while outputting 5 kilowatts of electricity to the grid.

Soon after I wrote the review, it "clicked"

My 10 kW system will not exceed 10 kW, unless my home battery is charging, then it can reach 13.25 kW. Please refer to the picture at http://www.johnrogers.com.au/battery_charging_noon.jpg

Correction: My 13.25 kW system will not exceed the 10 kW inverter limit, unless my battery is charging, and then it can reach 13.25 kW. The battery is being charged by the DC current before the inverter. Please refer to the picture at http://www.johnrogers.com.au/battery_charging_noon.jpg

I am glad to hear that it is flexible enough to do this. What inverter do you have?

I think the VIC government is issuing a generous $1850.00 rebate and a 4-year interest-free loan of up to $1850.00, and Powercor's excess solar power generation capacity is zero, which is really crazy. I have solar energy in my house and install it in an investment property, but I'm not sure what to do now, because the tariff will not bring any benefit.

The following is the email response I received from Powercor.

"If your solar company provides you with a solar energy pre-approval (SPA) number for your pre-approval, we can specifically check the export decision. However, generally speaking, I can suggest that Powercor intends to upgrade the network in the next 5 years. Starting from January, however, the upgrade location and sequence have not yet been determined. That is to say, if the installer provides your detailed information and phone number in the customer section when submitting the SPA, the solar energy team intends to use the upgrade network to output to the grid. Follow up with customers when capacity is available."

I can't see any references to NT. Do you know the situation here?

According to NT Power and Water, they usually allow single-phase power inverters up to 5 kW and three-phase power inverters up to 7 kW. Only when the export restriction is zero can it become larger:

https://www.powerwater.com.au/customers/power/solar-power-systems/pv-class-requirements

I will update the article with the information.

Hi, I want to install solar energy, no electricity goes back to the grid, no batteries. Is there an inverter that can stop the return of power and only power me from the grid at night, or is it not enough during the day?

There is no doubt that this is an inverter with a zero output limit. But you can also buy a standard inverter and send the excess power to the grid. It is relatively cheaper, and the solar feed-in tariff you will receive will reduce your electricity bill and increase the amount of clean energy available to others.

11kW panel (Fronius Symo + Fronius 3-phase meter) with 10kW three-phase inverter.

The output is limited to 3kW/phase.

The basic energy in Midwestern NSW (orange) is usually limited to a maximum export limit of 5kw, regardless of 1ph or 3ph: 2 x 3ph. Residential application approval cuts are as follows-the only difference is a clearly stated approval/site specific condition: The total site-to-output power is limited to 5kW, three-phase 1.66kW/phase (and the base used for property boundary subdivision) (second approval/site specific conditions: total solar output must be limited to 5kW). Say both-a condition of this basic connection scheme is that all inverter energy systems must enable the volt-watt and volt-reactive response modes with the following settings: Voltage (V)-measure P/ at the inverter terminals Prated (%) 207 100% 220 100% 253 100% 260 20% Voltage (V)-VAr (var% rated VA) measured at the inverter terminals 207 44% Leading 220 0% 240 0% 258 60% Lag The inverter provides reactive power to the grid, and the percentage var/VA level lag is the inverter absorbs reactive power from the grid. In addition, the continuous overvoltage inverter protection set point should be set to 258V.

Has the repressive authorities in Western Australia ever given a reason not to allow Western Australia to export inverters?

I realize that all political parties in the Western Australian Parliament, especially the Synergy/Western Power Group, which controls the approval of domestic rooftop photovoltaic systems connected to the SWIS grid, are opposed to domestic rooftop photovoltaic systems (even if we stabilize and maintain the grid). However, I want to know whether the oppressive authorities have given any reason to prohibit the export restriction inverters in Western Australia.

Given that we will hold state legislative elections in a few months, this may be important.

After (almost) three months of no response, is there any reason why export-restricted inverters are not allowed to be used for single-phase grids connected to the SWIS grid in Western Australia?

In addition, given that export-restricted inverters (allegedly) work in the same way, no matter which grid they are connected to, why are they so, each state has different rules, that is, some export-restricted inverters are allowed, and some are not?

I'm not sure if it has been clearly explained, but what are the limits on the power generation capacity of solar panels covered by the federal solar panel tax rebate?

Is it 6.66 kW, as the 1.3 overload factor of a 5kW inverter, or the maximum panel power generation capacity allowed by the inverter (manufacturer) allowed by the state/territory government?

The reason for this problem is that in the past, my understanding was that in Western Australia, export restrictions were clearly banned by unprovoked state councils and allowed to restrict 5kW output inverters. For the single-phase grid connection on the SWIS power grid, the SWIS The single-phase connection of the grid imposes a limit on the power generation capacity of 6.66 kW panels. Therefore, the federal solar panel will limit its power generation capacity for such connections, which has always been 6.66 kW.

However, now, Goodwe has a GW5000-MS inverter. According to my reading, it is clear that it is allowed to be used for single-phase SWIS grid connection in WA, and the inverter is a 5kW inverter with the largest battery panel power generation capacity; Limit. DC input power (Wp) 10000", from its published data sheet.

Therefore, the question arises; if a single-phase household rooftop photovoltaic system is installed, including Goodwe GW-5000-MS inverters and 10kW solar panel power generation capacity (up to three MPPT), will the federal solar panel tax rebate apply to all 10kW? Solar panels, or, only the top 6.66 (or any exact applicable amount) of solar panels' power generation?

This is assuming that my understanding of what I have read is correct; such a system will be allowed to connect to the SWIS grid in a single connection.

Although this may not be technically defined as an "export restriction", as an inverter specification, it is stipulated that the inverter can only produce up to 5kW of A/C power ("AC output Data nominal value ") output power (W) 5000") It is an effective output limit..

The panel capacity can receive up to one-third of the STC larger than the inverter capacity. Since people are denied any STC because they only exceed a few watts, the installer will not exceed the limit of a normal installation. Except for off-grid installations and systems with batteries installed. The installer must also follow the inverter manufacturer’s recommendations. They may say that the panel capacity limit is less than one-third higher than the panel capacity.

I am in a remote area of ​​Western Australia, where there is a rural two-phase power supply. I am trying to install a system (6.5k smart hybrid inverter with battery) and was told by Western Power that I can only use a 3.0 kva system. Installers have been able to obtain the system through WP in the past, because the inverter can limit the output to the grid to 3kva. However, they were told that this would no longer be allowed. I really like this battery-powered system because most of my electricity is used at night, and I like the idea of ​​powering it during power outages, which often happens here. Do I have any ideas to make the system really generate enough power to charge the battery?

I'm afraid Xidian is very strict. If you can output 3kva, it means you can have a solar system with up to 4kw panels. Despite the low feed-in tariff, you can still receive it, especially if you can shift some of the electricity consumption to the middle of the day.

Although I don't know where you are, a 4 kW solar system in Western Australia should generate an average of about 18 kWh per day. This is enough to charge the battery, although larger solar systems usually increase the return on the battery. But I want to warn you that even though Western Australia’s grid electricity costs are high and solar feed-in tariffs are low, batteries usually do not cover the cost. If this doesn't worry you, then you can buy a battery and hope that it mainly pays for yourself. Or, if you want a low-cost method of dealing with power outages, you can prepare a small generator for yourself.

At least locally, this seems to be a big problem. I live in Warrnambool, Victoria.

We have been using solar energy for 6 years and have only recently moved. There is no solar energy in the new home. We just applied for Powercor's pre-approval and obtained 0kW export approval, which will make almost anything we choose uneconomical. Solar installers told me that they have just started to get 0kW approvals for about 9 out of 10 requests, so they don't believe they will be able to do many installations in the future. So basically the entire local industry will become a cactus until this problem is solved. I am surprised that this has not yet appeared in the mainstream media.

It seems strange that the government’s policy is clear to allow more solar power generation, but network operators are now effectively preventing it.

Interesting article. We implement zero export restrictions. I think it is technically possible to have a solar system with batteries, but still connected to the grid as a backup. Economically, this may not be feasible because our electricity bills are quite low. From an environmental point of view, we may still be willing to do this.

A small solar system is financially feasible. However, if you don't use too much electricity, it may need to be very small, as I explained here:

https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/zero-kw-export-solar/

Currently, the battery system is unlikely to recoup the cost, but you can install a system that is more financially meaningful than your current situation and hope that the price of household batteries will drop in the next few years. Of course, if you plan to buy an electric car, this may have a huge impact on your self-consumption of solar energy.

Is the Tesla Powerwall smart enough to allow most of the power to be output to the grid and only start charging the battery when the inverter is close to the output limit?

There is no misfortune. Therefore, having a powerwall is far more useful than you think to help resolve export restrictions.

This is disappointing because it will be an easy-to-implement option.

I am a complete novice, but I am not sure why export restrictions are good? Is it definitely a bad thing for distributors to restrict what you can export to the grid? Does it mean it limits the amount by which you can reduce electricity bills used outside of the day? Therefore, if you can only output 3 kWh (we are the New South Wales region-basic energy), the size of the system becomes irrelevant. What did I miss? Sorry if the question is stupid.

The fact that export restrictions are necessary is not a good thing. If we don’t need to limit the amount of electricity sent to the grid by the solar system, it would definitely be better. However, if you live in an area where you need to install a large solar system—about half of Australians are in this situation—then export restrictions can allow for a larger system, and the loss of clean solar power is usually small. So unfortunately, this is necessary, but the good thing is that people can still install larger systems and usually do not cause major losses.

Thank you Ronald! It makes sense, but it leads to my next question (sorry). If you can't store electricity (too expensive) and you can't export it, why do you need (or hope) to put it in a large system?

If a household cannot output any electricity at all, then there is no economic reason to install a large-scale solar system. Instead, families can benefit from a small system, as I explain here:

https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/zero-kw-export-solar/

Ah yes, I get it. Thank you. I am trying to get some unbiased advice on whether we should add more solar energy. We have a 3kwh system and we do use it as much as possible during the day. About 50%. If the maximum power I can use the basic energy output is 3 kWh, I cannot justify the cost of adding additional solar energy. Even if I export 100%, it still only reduces my bills by a small percentage each month. But the solar company is still trying to sell it to me...

The good news is that if you have a total of 6.6 kilowatts of solar energy, if you consume half of the output of a 3 kilowatt system and can output 3 kilowatts, then you may lose very little due to export restrictions. But whether the additional solar capacity can pay for itself is another matter. Usually, it makes more sense to buy a second standalone system than to expand the existing system. This provides a series of new warranty advantages for the new system. Therefore, you may decide that it is worthwhile to add a second system, or you may want to postpone it until you have a problem with your current system and replace it with a large new system. Our solar and battery calculator can determine whether it is possible to pay:

https://www.solarquotes.com.au/solar-calculator/

But your situation is complicated by the fact that you already have a 3 kW system. If you are not satisfied with the answer given by our calculator, please tell me the figures of your grid electricity and solar feed-in tariffs, and I will make an estimate for you.

As the discussion on the subject of export restrictions continues, if any, what is the difference in direct impact on grid load (such as load on the wire, rather than the term "load" used to express demand), at 5kW inverse Between a converter and a 10kW inverter with a 5kW output limit?

Similarly, through the output of electricity, this will be even more detrimental to the fragile grid; a 5kW inverter without export restrictions, or a 10kW inverter with export restrictions set to 1kW?

Ronald, I'm on a telephone line in rural South Australia. SAPN told me that I cannot have an inverter with more than 5 kilowatts, but that is not enough. I want a panel of about 10Kw so that I can run pumps and so on. How do I use SAPN to solve this problem, do I allow export restrictions on a water line in Sth Aust? I have talked with an installer, but he really can't help me. Thank you Steve 0418 815 193

Unfortunately, SAPN does not allow the use of inverter capacity exceeding 5 kW on the SWER line. (Although they will also allow an additional 5 kW of battery inverter capacity.) You can contact SAPN and ask for special permission to install more solar capacity on SWER, but I am not optimistic about that. One option is to take your pump off the grid and operate independently in a separate off-grid solar system. If your pumping needs are large enough, this can pay for itself, but it can be expensive to set up. (Or at least it will be expensive to set up. People have done it with second-hand panels and DC pumps at a fairly low cost.) If this is not a good option, you can consider obtaining demand tariffs and pumping externally for peak grid use. Electricity costs will be relatively low. However, you need to be confident that you will not be hit by high demand charges during the evening peak, which will wipe out any advantage.

I am a bit confused about the export. I installed a 6.6kw solar panel and Goodwe 5kw inverter and applied for a 5kw export restriction. Just last week, Powercor (West Victoria) stated that they now have more room for exports in the grid. I was told to set Power Limit to ON. And set the power limit to 100%. is this correct? My sister has the same type of inverter (Goodwe), but she lives in the eastern suburbs of Victoria, she has been exporting, but her power limit is set to OFF. Why is my Power Limit set to ON with% and her Power Limit is set to OFF and she keeps exporting.

I’m surprised to hear that Powercor allows you to increase exports, but it’s nice to hear. The reason why your sister's inverter is different from yours is your Goodwe, because your inverter has a current transformer device that can limit the amount of power it outputs to the grid. Because your sister can probably output as much electricity as her solar inverter, this device is not needed.

Hi. I have a new residential photovoltaic system in Perth, Western Australia, with a total panel capacity of 6.6kW and a 5kW inverter (Growatt Min 5000TL-X). There is no device in my meter box that can tell the inverter about consumption and energy feed. I am not even sure if the inverter supports this, but I am worried that as much as 25% of photovoltaic energy may be wasted! Unfortunately, the parameters such as export restrictions of the inverter are protected by a password. So far I cannot be sure who knows the password. I believe it must be set during the installation process, but the installation company claims that this is handled by Growatt itself. I haven't gotten a reply from Growatt Australia, there seems to be some cover up. Therefore, I know almost nothing about whether all the energy theoretically generated by my panel is used, or (this is my terrible assumption) every time the panel generates more than 5kW of alternating current, it will waste up to 1.6 kW of energy. I don't quite understand how the DC energy from the inverter "first" enters my home circuit and then feeds any "excess current" into the grid. This seems to be technically impossible because there is only one wire from the inverter to the meter (outlet or feeding into the grid), and one wire from the meter to the main fuse in my house. Of course, can't this stupid electric meter selectively send current from the inverter to my home circuit and grid? My assumption is (after all I may be wrong) the idea of ​​using my own energy first before buying from the grid is an illusion, in fact it is only because all the energy from the inverter (up to 5kW) is measured as export, All the energy the house needs is actually imported from the grid (it seems that there is no solar system at all), and it is only because the export offsets the import to bill. Why is my photovoltaic system "reducing" imports.

Can anyone shine for me? Am I fooled into believing that I can generate up to 6.6kW of power, but in fact the maximum power allowed by my inverter through the meter (and my house) is only 5kW? This may be one of the kept secrets about the reality of residential solar production in Western Australia. Neither solar installers nor inverter manufacturers want to disclose it, let alone Synergy or Western Power?

No one seems to reply to Dirk, so I will try. Start by reading the "How Export Restrictions Work" section at the top of this topic. Your meter is located at the connection between the power network on one side and the inverter and load combination on the other side. Therefore, in either direction, the content passing through the meter is the difference between the content you generate and the content you use. If the meter current is output limited as described above (instead of the inverter output current), if you consume enough power to make up for the difference between the power generation and the output limit, you can generate electricity that exceeds the output limit. The output limit does limit the inverter output, but only keeps the output power below the limit when needed. The word "first" can be confusing. There is no active system to control whether you use imported power inverters. Only the placement of meters and current sensors controls the limits.

Thank you very much, David. I think how my PV is connected to the home and meter is partly wrong. The inverter wires seem to be directly connected to the main fuse of my household circuit. Since in Western Australia, you cannot own an inverter with a capacity of more than 5kW in a private house, I believe that there is actually no export restriction, and no matter how much the panel generates, the inverter itself will reduce the output AC power. Unfortunately. So far, I have not seen more than 5kW of direct current, but in summer, I would like to see a curve that flattens at the top during high solar phases because it is cut off by the inverter. I still don't know if they programmed the inverter to reduce the overall output by a percentage. I don't know if my meter has limitations, but I suspect it is not because it is a very stupid device. I think it is illegal to rewire the inverter or modify any parameters in WA because it may cause more than 5kW of power to be sent to the grid, so I will bite the bullet and see if I use solar energy as much as possible.

We have just installed a 30kW inverter solar installation for our business and it is restricted to 1.8kW export. Although this was good during the week we were open, it seemed like a huge waste of electricity during the weekend when we were closed.

Is there anything I can do? Only about 20% of households in our area have solar energy.

You can buy batteries, charge them on weekends and export them in the evening on weekdays. But you may not be able to recoup the cost of the battery during its lifetime.

Speaking of this, the fact that is often overlooked is that batteries, panels, and inverters (as electromechanical devices) are not limited in their lifespan, and their efficiency will gradually decline after only a few years. Of course, the manufacturer does not want this to become public knowledge and pretend that once you pay for the system, you can use it for life (your, not the system). Therefore, unless the investment recovers its cost within 5-6 years at most, IMHO this is not a good investment/a waste of money and natural resources. Regarding batteries, we all know from mobile phones that continuous charging and discharging will age faster than photovoltaic panels (unfortunately, the same is true for mobile phones, laptops, and electric toothbrushes, as are solar and electric car batteries). Efficiency has been and will be further improved over time, but it will never reach a permanent level

I'm afraid this is a difficult situation. Although there are some energy management measures that can help solve edge problems, I can't think of any good solutions for typical businesses.

I have a question about export limiters and I hope to get some answers from the community.

I have an existing 3.5kW photovoltaic system with a Solis inverter. I am considering adding a second system (6.2kW) using GoodWe inverters. Given that we have been working from home these days. Someone told me that since the export limit is 5kW and I already have a 3.5kW system, my new system limits the export to 1.5kW.

This is not reasonable to me, because no system can generate 100% of the capacity, which means that my existing 3.5kW will never produce the full 3.5kW (on a good day, I was lucky to get 2.5kW) . So if I am interpreted correctly, then I can only output less than 5kW (because my existing system will never produce 3.5kW)

No installer (or their sales person) can explain to me how to connect/set the limiter when I have 2 inverters. I think the limiter can only be connected to one inverter, not two at the same time

Does anyone know how the limiter works with 2 inverters in this case?

Hi everyone, I just want to know if anyone can know something about the following. My house has a 5kw solar system and a Tesla powerwall 2. When installing the powerwall, I also installed the Gateway at an additional cost, so that I can continue to use the electricity generated by the powerwall. During solar production, when the powergrit falls off, it will not pose a danger to the grit workers because the Gateway will immediately fall down. Prevent gritty strength. So actually I have two safety protection devices, 1. 5kw limiter and 2. additional Gateway. My question is, should we cancel the powerwall 5kw inverter that Energex claims is part of the single-phase 10kw quota?

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