If you’re a solar owner in the ACT, participating in this Australian National University (ANU) study may interest you.
Of the 80MW capacity of solar panels installed in the ACT, around 50MW of that is on residential rooftops.
Researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) state there is no accurate real-time data on how much electricity is being produced by these solar power systems and exported into the mains grid – and this is important information. The researchers are scouting for solar household volunteers across the ACT to take part in a new study that will help determine generation and exports.
“The ACT has close to 13 per cent of households with solar panels. If it reaches 30 per cent of users with solar panels installed it will become vital to predict what energy will be produced to ensure the stability of the grid,” Dr Webers said.
“This project has a very local approach which will allow us to collect a lot of data to develop a model where we can predict what will be fed into the grid at a particular time.”
60 volunteers are wanted for the study, which involves a data logger being installed in the meter boxes of participating households at no cost. Those taking part will also be able to monitor how much solar electricity is being produced on their rooftops and when their modules are generating the most power.
The ANU team is collaborating with Data61’s Machine Learning Research Group on the project. A registration form for the study can be viewed here.
September data from Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator indicated there were approximately 15,933 small scale solar power systems in the Territory. More than 10,000 of these installations have been supported by Canberra’s legislated solar feed in tariff.
While feed in tariffs are not as generous as they once were, that’s been compensated for by a decrease in solar prices – exactly what FiT’s were designed to do.
The ongoing benefits of installing solar in the Territory are still significant. According to Energy Matters, a 5.3kW battery-upgradeable solar power system installed in Canberra can return a financial benefit of between $1,020 and $1,474 , depending on installation scenario and electricity consumption profile.
