With PV and a battery your Household line voltage will tend to be higher, when the PV and or battery are supplying your property. Firstly because your household is taking less load from the SWER. IE lower line voltage drop, resulting in a higher connection voltage. Secondly, if at any time you are exporting surplus power. The voltage at your connection to the SWER will need to rise above the line voltage to feed power back down the line though the local grid network.
2 Likes
Hi Mark_m, your comments would explain the UPS not Beeping, they are probably set at 20v or more below normal. Another point I forgot to mention we are Zero Output because Ergon wouldnāt allow Out going power so our Voltage is probably high all the time while the Sun is shining.
3 Likes
An interesting observation. Ergon says,
https://www.ergon.com.au/network/contractors-and-industry/solar-pv-installers/assessment-criteria
Ergon permit up to 2kVA export on an SWER or higher subject to a technical assessment. Itās something the companies who quoted your system should have advised on with their quotes. A suitable inverter with line current monitoring is all that is usually required.
As you are zero export your install will be in that configuration with the export setting = zero. There may be some other explanation, if you have that, as to why you cannot export up to the nominal 2kVA. Have you asked Ergon directly?
4 Likes
It is maximum inverter capacity rather than exports.
Ergon would assess the maximum additional potential load based on the inverter and assess this in conjunction with other generators on the same part of the network/SWER, as well as the physical capacity and operation of the SWER. It could be that the same part of the network/SWER already has additional small scale generation or canāt support additional potential generation inputsā¦without significant augmentation. Usually augmentation of a SWER is cost prohibitive.
3 Likes
The unknown at present is whether Ergon has been consulted by the PV installer. As Ergon suggest it might add 8 weeks to the approval for the install. It may have been the easy and convenient answer from the installer.
Yes, there are numerous possible explanations as to why a consumer may not be permitted to export if connected to a SWER line, or have an export limit applied. Providing the technical requirements are met it is also possible to export if you are connected to an SWER.
@wj.ca may not want to look any further. It may be worthwhile for others in the community to understand that a technical answer from the installer is not necessarily the best answer.
In @wj.ca example the better response would be knowing Ergon has assessed the proposed install and determined it is not suitable, based on the site and particular SWER line.
2 Likes
Hi Guys, the original installer told me he filled out paperwork to apply to Ergon for our system and they came back with Zero Output only. A year or two later I was talking to a neighbour a couple of kmās away[ we are in rural area] who said they were allowed to put into grid so I donāt know the reasons for the decision for our placeā¦ Having said that isnāt it now prefered to keep your power onsite, ie batteries for night power and donāt rely on export and payment. Also I have walked past Battery/inverter to hear fans going and battery discharging on a sunny day so 4kw from PVās and battery discharging with only fridges and TV going? I finally worked out how to log into Inverter and get it to email a report monthly which is how I found out Inverter had died with a FAN Fault months later. There is so much to learn when you are green to the area, I made up a solar system to run my bore pump ,ie- panels,solar controllers,inverter and batteries , its been fun learning ,some mistakes as well.These Forums tell me so much more as well.
2 Likes
If they installed earlier than you, they might have taken any export/additional load capacity of the same SWER lineā¦meaning when you connected, there wasnāt any opportunities to export. The same has been happening in local distribution networks where the local generation capacity (residential roof solar) has met what the local network can handleā¦with any new generation in the same local network not allowed to export or be connected to the grid.
Alternatively they might be on another SWER or distribution line where the physical network is different to where you are.
It sounds like Ergon did an assessment and it is likely connecting your system to the SWER line could result in operational issues with the local network.
EDIT:
Ergon is interested in protecting its own assets and reliability than letting anyone/everyone connect to the network.
A SWER line is also unidirectionalā¦like most of the rest of the grid. This means electricity and the network flows from the higher voltage network to the lower voltage. It is a bit like trying to push water uphill with a shovelā¦it always flows downhill. Having to much generation at the very end of a network (e.g. SWER) can easily overload that part of the network causing outages (from automatic line and transformer protection being triggered) or damage to unprotected equipment (either network or consumer) connected to the same part of the network. This is why there may be some who can connect residential PV systems, while later installations canāt.
This website is also worth a readā¦
3 Likes
Hi phb, I never had a problem with being Zero Output and have been watching advances in storage, being rural with Bore water and Rain water , pressure pumps are a big power user, high tank stands are expensive so having a battery or stacked batteries to last busy times of night would be great. I subscribe to RENEW magazine so yes they have some very interesting reading, mainly focused on colder climate areas ,ie heating ,heat loss insulation whereas cooling and ventilation are high priority here in summer months. Another magazine Silicon Chip quite often has renewable energy stories and letters.
3 Likes
Itās great to hear some of your other experiences. We are rural, but at the long end of a poorly regulated 3phase line. When our old Davey pressure pump died, it was replaced with a Grundfos CME variable speed booster pump. There is now a cheaper and better option Grundfos Scala2 variable speed pump, permanent magnet with solid state controller. IE low inrush and starting current. Features suited to off grid or low output solar/battery systems. Total power use is a function of water consumption. Approx 0.5kWh or less per day for 6,000lpm consumption.
3 Likes
I think you could start another TOPIC heading on Pumps ,PV sytems and Battery storage as I have 26yrs experience with our pumps, only about 3 yrs self taught experience with Solar and Batteries system for my Bore Pump.
They donāt have any Programs for Bore Pump systems that I know of, my bore Electricity Bill was about $500 per year,of that only $45 was power,rest was service charges.
1 Like
Update of sorts, we had a hail storm wipe out all my solar panels, I had a new bigger system fitted with extra module to run house from solar panels or battery in power loss situation, able to do about 1800w supply only so fridges and lights only. One surprise was we are able to export now as well. Iāll be looking at another battery to keep power onsite if possible once rest of hail damage is fixed.
3 Likes
