Thread: I saw this problem cominga couple of years ago

Originally Posted by PhilipA

Rooftop solar panels overloading electricity grid | The Australian

Is there no end to the stupidity and short sightedness of governments and the management of utilities?

Regards Philip A

Put simply NO and its just not utilities

"If you get a very, very hot night and there's obviously no solar, the mains voltage is going to drop a lot," he said. "If your wires aren't up to it, you've got a problem."

Not really a PV electricity problem.

Originally Posted by slug_burner

Not really a PV electricity problem.

I didn't understand that comment either. Dion, where are you?!

Same issue occurs here on a windy day!

The Onesteel Powerhouse (yes we have our own) shuts production down as the nearby wind farms ramp up in the wind because it overloads the grid.

We just need providers to extract their profit making fingers and upgrade infrastructure to a Smart Grid

The problem is not so much a problem of PV power on rooftops as one of inadequate distribution network capacity (largely, I suspect, because of the widespread adoption of airconditioning plus large screen TV in the last decade). You can hide the shortcomings of the network by upping the voltage (and wasting energy on heating the air) - but this only works if the power is coming from a single source. And is only financially viable while the extra wasted power remains cheaper than upgrading the network (or where you can simply increase prices to the consumer to cover it).

I think the increase in the domestic power consumption may have taken the supply companies by surprise, as well as the bill recipients.

John

Both population/consumption growth and green energy feeds require the grid to be strengthened instead of raising the pay of power industry CEO's. Surprising, innit.

Back when Starfish Hill wind farm (Cape Jervis SA) was new I was in a small group who got a guided tour with the chief engineer. One of the things the company had to do was to upgrade the power lines to the nearest major substation south of Adelaide. The bonus was the improvement of supply stability for the whole peninsula and Kangaroo Island as well. So in this case the wind farm was a benefit for a whole bunch of people.

So domestic solar installs have outstripped the ability of some of the grid to cope? No surprise as you say, but excessive consumption on hot cloudy days used to do the same in reverse. With the future roll out of electric cars there will be ready made solutions to better grid management available.

The problem I see is more on a micro basis and I have asked techs about it and they just shake their heads.

Each residential street or area has a step down transformer to go from High voltage to 240 volts.
What happens in the 240volt area when solar output exceeds demand by a big amount. Can the excess power then reverse through the step down transformer back up into the high voltage grid or is it isolated into the local area?
I see this scenario as quite probable as most solar power will be generated between 10AM and 2PM and AFAIK, demand is quite low at these times in residentail areas. How can the distributor control these voltages? By resistor banks? How can a smart grid control it?
Whatever way, it is going to cost a lot of money and I doubt whether the government will make the uptakers of the solar subsidies pay it,as IMHO they should.

Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by PhilipA

Whatever way, it is going to cost a lot of money and I doubt whether the government will make the uptakers of the solar subsidies pay it,as IMHO they should.

Regards Philip A

WHY?

Why should I have to pay for infrastructure issues?

My PV system is reducing requirements to build more and more power stations - Which all of us have to pay for if they are built...

No different to when a huge wind blow comes up and the Wind farms fire off... Traditional generators then have to ramp down or divert excess power.

Smart Grids can divert and utilise power efficiently and quickly, routing excess to meet damands of heavier consuming areas. Combined with smarter power stations themselves they can ramp requirements better.

And as for the "poor me, i didnt take advantage of the solar rebates (for whatever reason) and those who did should pay more"..

What a load of Dogs Bollocks

I know lots of people paying taxes and who don't have children who are essentially contributing to family benefits to those who choose to breed...

And I know a lot of people driving nice new D4s etc...
Just because they could afford them and they are marginally heavier than earlier models, does that mean they should pay more in rego to use the roads because they have a new vehicle?

Our power distribution and generation network in the country is a disgrace... Instigate upgrades to work with the PV systems..

But they wont of course, because they no longer make money from people like myself - in fact - I provide enough power per day (on average) to run my house and those of my 2 neighbours...

If they jerk me around I will pull completely off the grid - something which now will only cost me a few thousand.