Solar panel shake-up to offer clarity on supply

New national standards for solar panels have been developed as energy­ regulators scramble to prevent­­­ instability to the electric­ity market.

The Australian Energy Market Operator and the Energy Security Board have recommended nation­al technology standards for solar panels.

New national standards for solar panels have been developed as energy­ regulators scramble to prevent­­­ instability to the electric­ity market because of the high uptake­ of poorly regulated house­hold renewables.

The Australian Energy Market Operator and the Energy Security Board have recommended nation­al technology standards for solar panels that will give regul­ators visibility of how much electricity household renewables are releasing into the National Electricity Market. The national regulations will replace state standards that differ across jurisdictions.

The standards, which need to be ticked off by the Australian Energy­ Market Commission, will also require solar panel inverters to have software that will lower the risk of cyber attacks.

AEMO has backed away from its initial threat to apply the regul­ations retrospectively, which would have forced solar panel owners to undertake expensive retrofits of their systems.

The regulatory changes came amid warnings that “uncontrollable” and “invisible” electricity being generated by solar panels was causing instability in the energy­ market.

Household solar supplied up to 25 per cent of electricity in the NEM last year, according to AEMO. This could rise to 41 per cent by 2025. “It is increasingly evident as this contribution grows that the performance and capabilities of this fleet must be uniformly uplifted to meet the reliable and secure power supply outcomes,” AEMO said.

The director of the Grattan Instit­ute public policy think tank, Tony Wood, said the new rules would pave the way for energy companies to forcibly turn off household solar panels in extreme conditions, on AEMO’s advice.

Mr Wood said the technology rules needed to be complemented with legislative reforms on how solar panel owners sold electricity to the grid. “This is a technology issue that AEMO is looking for but it won’t actually work unless there is tariff reform which … gives the consumer the incentive to store their electricity when it is not very valuable and sell it when it is valuable,” he said. “Improving the technology without the tariff reform­ doesn’t really get you to where you want to go.

“Until we make those tariff changes, it is not a policy. It is a piece of regulation more than anything else.”

A spokesman for AEMO said the rule change would come at “minimal” cost to consumers.

“This covers new standards for inverter performance and grid responsiveness, interoperability and cyber security across the National Electricity Market and would only apply to the purchase of new inverters,” the spokesman said.

“Replacing varying state-based standards with a national stand­ard for inverter-based distributed resources will allow more (household renewable energy units) to be installed on the grid and improve the efficient operation of the power system, leading to a more affordable energy supply, along with an increase in free-fuel renewable energy systems.

“These new standards will mitigate the risk of residential solar (panel systems) disconnecting and ceasing exports following a network disturbance.”