{"id":197043,"date":"2025-10-02T11:42:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T11:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/197043\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T11:42:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T11:42:10","slug":"one-quiet-change-is-about-to-let-you-export-much-more-solar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/197043\/","title":{"rendered":"One quiet change is about to let you export much more solar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia has more solar panels per person than anywhere else in the world. One in three houses now has<\/a> rooftop solar. <\/p>\n

Our grid operators are working hard to adjust to a new reality where the collective output of rooftop solar is one of our largest sources<\/a> of power. <\/p>\n

Each year there are now a few very sunny days without much electricity demand where there\u2019s so much solar the grid can\u2019t absorb it all. To manage this, grid operators have put a limit on how much of our excess solar we can export to the grid \u2013 typically 5 kilowatts per house or as low as 1.5 kW in South Australia. This means households have to limit their solar exports most days of the year.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s changing. A humble new communication standard gives us a smarter way to manage solar exports so households can export more power, more often, without overloading local networks. The standard \u2013 known as the Australian Common Smart Inverter Profile<\/a> \u2013 is a set of rules for how inverters and other devices communicate with the grid operator. <\/p>\n

It may sound small, but these new rules could have very large benefits to households and the grid. For instance, it will mean South Australia\u2019s 1.5 kW limit can grow to 10 kW when the local grid has capacity \u2013 which is most of the time. <\/p>\n

\"solar<\/a><\/p>\n

Solar arrays are on one in three Australian homes. We could make even more use of this common technology.
\n Douglas Cliff\/Getty<\/a><\/p>\n

Why we need to shift to a smarter grid<\/p>\n

Around 40% of what Australians pay for power<\/a> is due to the cost of past grid-building<\/a>. Billions have been spent over the last 20 years to enable the grid to respond to the growth in peak demand \u2013 the few hours a year when demand could outstrip supply, potentially causing blackouts. <\/p>\n

As we electrify homes and transport, total electricity demand could roughly double<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The good news is our solar panels, home batteries and electric vehicles are a very useful way to meet this rising demand and use the existing grid more efficiently. Over time, this should mean power bills finally stop rising. Some estimates suggest they will fall 20%<\/a> over the next decade.<\/p>\n

Rooftop solar is going from strength to strength. Globally speaking, Australia is behind<\/a> on EV uptake but catching up. The new federal subsidy has supercharged the home battery market. Installations have shot from about 200 to 1,000 a day<\/a>. Heat pumps and electric hot water systems are more and more popular<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"solar<\/a><\/p>\n

Solar panels, electric vehicles and home batteries can be used to avoid expensive grid upgrades.
\n Raja Islam\/Getty<\/a><\/p>\n

The grid isn\u2019t full<\/p>\n

It\u2019s common to assume the power grid is under strain. But in reality, we\u2019re only using 43%<\/a> of its capacity. <\/p>\n

That means we can run a lot more through the same poles and wires if we time things better. It would cause much less strain on the grid if electric hot-water heaters, heat pumps and EVs are set to charge during the middle of the day, when solar is abundant. <\/p>\n

With this new standard in place, Australia should be able to avoid some expensive grid upgrades. Recent analysis shows better coordination of our household electricity resources could avoid the need to spend billions<\/a> on new grid infrastructure such as transmission lines. <\/p>\n

What are the challenges?<\/p>\n

The new standard will make a rapid and noticeable difference to how much solar householders can export overall. But it won\u2019t be the same everywhere. <\/p>\n

A street at the end of a long rural line, with lots of rooftop solar and little daytime demand, will hit export limits sooner than a short urban line near a substation. Some households will be asked to reduce solar output more often than others, which raises fairness concerns. <\/p>\n

Our research group is running trials<\/a> to find fairer ways of allocating grid capacity and to ensure everyone benefits from smart-grid technology. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the question of trust. Some people may not feel comfortable letting their power company adjust their devices remotely and may choose to stick with limited solar exports. (Solar arrays can still be shut off remotely in an extreme grid event). Only 43% of energy consumers surveyed<\/a> trust electricity companies to \u201cdo the right thing\u201d. <\/p>\n

Clearer protections will be essential as Australia\u2019s electricity system grows more diverse, decentralised and complex. As more energy companies offer incentives to households to access the power stored in their EV and household batteries, regulations must be in place to ensure clarity over how much profit is shared with customers.<\/p>\n

Standard and deliver<\/p>\n

For Australia\u2019s solar households, this new communication standard will be a boon. <\/p>\n

But expanding solar exports is the easy part. Securing public trust in the new two-way communication system will require clear messaging, enforceable protections, transparency and visible household benefits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia has more solar panels per person than anywhere else in the world. One in three houses now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-197043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}