It's not that strange, they know your export will be relatively well phase-balanced.Yep thats all correct, but the strange part is I get 10kw per phase as I have 3 phase. My neighbour is single phase so he gets a 5kw maximum.
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It's not that strange, they know your export will be relatively well phase-balanced.Yep thats all correct, but the strange part is I get 10kw per phase as I have 3 phase. My neighbour is single phase so he gets a 5kw maximum.
Also it is normal for rooftop solar arrays to produce less their nameplate maximum, since the azimuth and pitch of the roof planes they are put on are rarely optimal, and may suffer varying degrees of overshadowing during the day. So it mostly makes sense for the inverter rating to be less than the solar array size.The oversizing of the array compared to the inverter is also because inverters are more expensive per W than panels, so for the cheapest $/kWh there's a sweet spot where the inverter capacity is maxed out for more of the day.
Don't feel cheated. Your panels might be underutilized for those 90 minutes, but the inverter is being underutilized for the other 12 hours of daylight. It's possible the best cost-benefit tradeoff would have been another panel rather than a bigger inverter, to max the inverter out for even longer!As a result, my 5.8 kW array will cap out at the inverter’s 5 kW on sunny days for up to 90 minutes over about 4 months of the year. I feel a bit cheated actually and should have insisted a 6 kW inverter be installed, but I didn’t.
Thats fantastic stats, especially the 30 minutes for the year with no wind or sun. Our grid in SA has hit capacity though as it cannot deal with all the renewables when its sunny and windy. That excess is preventing any meaningful expansion of renewables, although lots of batteries (private homes and major installations) are being installed now which is enabling more renewables to be installed, and the new nsw interconnector is now underway, which once complete will take more of the SA excess, allowing more renewables to be contructed in our optimal zone for use in areas which arent as optimal.The SA grid is an interesting case study because its renewables are solely wind and solar - no hydro - and its only fossil generation is gas - no coal. Of course the usual attack on renewables is “what happens when the sun doesn’t shine and wind doesn’t blow?”.
Turns out it is extremely rare for both of those things to happen. Over the past 12 months in SA, zero renewable generation (no sun or wind) occurred 0.006% of the time, or a total of 30 minutes.
Of course there are shades of grey above this, but even that looks pretty impressive. Renewables generated less than 10% of the state’s power only 2.7% of the time, or a total of 10 days.
Another interesting fact is what proportion of the state’s power was provided by wind when solar production was zero. Over the past 12 months, the answer to that is 52.6%. And 2.3% of the time, the state was entirely powered by wind with the excess exported to Victoria.
So even at night in SA, the majority of power is generated from renewables!
Renewable energy generation for September (2020) - average for the month:
- National - 28.4%
- TAS - 99.5%
- SA - 66.4%
- VIC - 28.0%
- NSW - 20.4%
- WA - 18.9%
- QLD - 16.9%
Renewable energy generation for September (2021) - average for the month:
- National - 34.0%
- TAS - 100.0%
- SA - 65.7%
- VIC - 36.0%
- WA - 32.4%
- NSW - 26.0%
- QLD - 18.8%
Jul-20 | Aug-20 | Sep-20 | Oct-20 | Nov-20 | Dec-20 | Jan-21 | Feb-21 | Mar-21 | Apr-21 | May-21 | Jun-21 | Jul-21 | Aug-21 | Sep-21 | |
National | 21.5 | 25.1 | 28.4 | 28.8 | 29.5 | 30.0 | 29.9 | 29.4 | 28.9 | 27.9 | 27.3 | 26.6 | 28.1 | 30.3 | 34.0 |
Tas | 97.9 | 97.1 | 99.5 | 99.6 | 98.8 | 99.8 | 99.7 | 100.0 | 99.9 | 99.8 | 99.2 | 99.2 | 99.9 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
SA | 37.6 | 55.1 | 66.4 | 63.4 | 67.0 | 73.2 | 72.4 | 72.6 | 69.3 | 56.4 | 55.0 | 54.0 | 60.6 | 57.0 | 65.7 |
Vic | 22.9 | 25.7 | 28.0 | 31.7 | 29.7 | 28.9 | 30.3 | 28.1 | 27.6 | 27.8 | 28.0 | 28.7 | 29.7 | 32.0 | 36.0 |
WA | 14.0 | 16.2 | 18.9 | 25.3 | 27.4 | 36.5 | 35.0 | 36.3 | 30.8 | 22.5 | 22.6 | 21.3 | 24.2 | 26.2 | 32.4 |
NSW | 12.7 | 18.5 | 20.4 | 20.4 | 23.3 | 26.1 | 24.4 | 24.4 | 24.1 | 22.4 | 20.3 | 18.2 | 18.8 | 21.3 | 26.0 |
Qld | 13.1 | 15.1 | 16.9 | 15.8 | 18.7 | 15.1 | 17.1 | 16.1 | 16.0 | 15.7 | 15.8 | 15.0 | 16.1 | 16.8 | 18.8 |
Jul-21 | Aug-21 | Sep-21 | |
National | 6.6 | 5.2 | 5.6 |
Tas | 2.0 | 2.9 | 0.5 |
SA | 23.0 | 1.9 | -0.7 |
Vic | 6.8 | 6.3 | 8.0 |
WA | 10.2 | 10.0 | 13.5 |
NSW | 6.1 | 2.8 | 5.6 |
Qld | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.9 |
Unfortunately no. The ACT is rolled in to NSW (and is close to 100% in any event) and the NT is made up of lots of independent grids and is not part of the NEM.Is it possible to get the Territories figures as well (ACT,NT)?
Cool stuff… you’ve saved me some workThanks Vostok, I look forward to this information each month!
Here is a table since you have been publishing this information.
Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21 Mar-21 Apr-21 May-21 Jun-21 Jul-21 Aug-21 Sep-21National 21.5 25.1 28.4 28.8 29.5 30.0 29.9 29.4 28.9 27.9 27.3 26.6 28.1 30.3 34.0Tas 97.9 97.1 99.5 99.6 98.8 99.8 99.7 100.0 99.9 99.8 99.2 99.2 99.9 100.0 100.0SA 37.6 55.1 66.4 63.4 67.0 73.2 72.4 72.6 69.3 56.4 55.0 54.0 60.6 57.0 65.7Vic 22.9 25.7 28.0 31.7 29.7 28.9 30.3 28.1 27.6 27.8 28.0 28.7 29.7 32.0 36.0WA 14.0 16.2 18.9 25.3 27.4 36.5 35.0 36.3 30.8 22.5 22.6 21.3 24.2 26.2 32.4NSW 12.7 18.5 20.4 20.4 23.3 26.1 24.4 24.4 24.1 22.4 20.3 18.2 18.8 21.3 26.0Qld 13.1 15.1 16.9 15.8 18.7 15.1 17.1 16.1 16.0 15.7 15.8 15.0 16.1 16.8 18.8
Here is the change over the same month last year...
Jul-21 Aug-21 Sep-21National 6.6 5.2 5.6Tas 2.0 2.9 0.5SA 23.0 1.9 -0.7Vic 6.8 6.3 8.0WA 10.2 10.0 13.5NSW 6.1 2.8 5.6Qld 3.0 1.7 1.9
It looks like SA had a step change in Aug/Sep 2020 (or July 2020 was a very bad month). Looks to have stablised at around 55-65% for non summer months.
WA had a step change of 10% over the year.
Yes, Queensland have a lot of catch up to do.
5.2 to 6.2% increase year on year for July - September Nationally.
Only ~12 years to get to 100%.
Let's see if we can vote a federal government in next year that will set a target of 100% for 2030!
...or what Barnaby and Scotty and other pollies say....I’m going to add a “Sun Not Shining Wind Not Blowing” (SNSWNB) index to show how much time non-hydro renewables generate zero power. I suspect the number is much smaller than what we’d think.