General Information
Application
| If you decide to contract us to install your System, we need to make an Application to SAPN (SA Power Networks). And to do this we need various details of the Site that we will be working on. This information is generally recorded on your Electricity Bill and we will ask for a copy of the bill in order to work out what your power needs are, and if our design will meet your requirements. But the most imortant info is your NMI (National Meter Identifier), and the Meter Number and How many Phases are connected at the property. Once we have this Information and armed with the proposed design, we can submit our request to SAPN, and if the design is suitable for their infrastructure in your area, we will be issued an approval number which will allow us to install the Equipment that we have specified in the Application. |  |
Once It is Installed
| Once your System is installed and if you have an old Mechanical meter, or a meter not suitable for Import Export, then your energy Retailler must be contacted in order for them to send out one of their Metering Technicians to remove the old meter and install a New Electronic meter. In some situations he will also connect a Meter Isolator at the same time which we will Supply. We will make contact with your retailler, but someone will need to be present on the day that the Technician comes. If your house already has an import Export meter supplied by your Energy Retailler no change Is required. |  |
Important information regarding exports. |  |
Over the last 18 months South Australian Power Networks (SAPN), the owner of the Poles and wires that comprise our Electricity Network, has been trialling a system called FLEXIBLE EXPORTS.
with this system an additional device is connected to your Inverter that allows direct communication with the System control network for SAPN.
This means that SAPN can control the local grid needs down to Suburb level.
So if its a Hot day and lots of people turn on their air conditioners, and the network needs more electricity. Instead of Generating more electricity at Torrens Island Power Station, when there is adequate Solar, they send a command to the inverters to export more electricity into the network.
It also means that on days that there is less demand in the network and everyone that has solar is exporting most of it, that Network Control can send a command to everyone's inverter to limit Exports.
In what is called a Traditional Area, we are allowed to export 5Kw per phase.
So if you have a single phase House and a 13.2 Kw System and the sun is shining just right for an Hour and you are generating 13.2Kw of Solar power. The Inverter Export Limits your production and in that Hour period you will have exported 5Kw.
If you have a Three phase connection, you are allowed to Export 5Kw per phase, which means 15Kw maximum Export, a Three phase connection also allows you to have a larger System size.
Now in Flexible Export areas, The permitted exports are up to 10Kw per Phase. effectively doubling what you can sell to your energy retailer, which means more credit on your bill.
As with everything there is a However attached to their generous offer. The However to this one is very simple.
The Nominal export level is 1.5 Kw. This means that when there is ample solar in the grid and not sufficient demand from the grid, the export command from Network control will be 1.5 Kw.
So if you have a 13.2 Kw system and it is in full sun and you are generating max power, your export will be 1.5 Kw and making the commensurate amount of money, which will be fewer credits on your bill.
"So is it still worth getting", you are probably asking yourself.
The answer to that is Yes. Any energy that you are generating yourself is better than energy that you had to buy from a retailer that can increase prices just by sending you a letter.
The addition of a battery to your existing or proposed system is of course the ultimate way to make money on your system along with not having to purchase from the grid.
The 13.2 Kw system that I mentioned above, with the addition of a 10 Kw battery means that energy that is generated will charge the battery and as soon as that has been done, any energy not being consumed in the house will start to flow out of the house and up the poles and wires. If it is a time of peak demand you could be exporting 10kw of electricity for a number of hours before the sun goes down. Then after that any energy that you are using in the house will be drawn from the battery.
Conversely, if during the day there is more energy in the system than demand and you are only sending 1.5Kw per hour into the grid, your battery will charge and will be there for you to draw on. and since the cost of buying electricity from the grid is always higher than selling to the grid, the battery will save you money.
Also if the Communications from Network control is interrupted the default output is 1.5Kw per phase, and if customers do not want flexible export for some reason we are required by the regulations to set exports at 1.5 Kw Fixed.
Here is a Link to SA Power Networks showing which areas are currently a Flexible export zone and what areas are about to become one.