3 days ago
Landmark trial to enable energy trading between solar homes and those without
Maree Tynan knew that her cottage in Mittagong, in the New South Wales Southern Tablelands 110 kilometres south of Sydney, was the place for her more or less the first time she saw it.
It was more than four decades ago and, in time, her and her late partner turned what was a getaway into their permanent home.
During that time, Ms Tynan has seen her fair share of changes in Mittagong and in so many other ways besides.
Among them has been the extraordinary rise of rooftop solar in Australia, where one in three homes now has the technology.
It's long been something she's wanted, too.
"We were very keen to be part of it, but we had two major problems," recalls Ms Tynan, whose home was built in the late 1920s.
"The first is it's the original roof. That is terracotta.
"As you can imagine, after 100 years in a very cold climate, it is very, very fragile.
"Apart from the roof, we also have a lot of trees."
Faced with those challenges, Ms Tynan feared she may have been locked out of the solar market for good.
That was until she came across a project aiming to connect people who don't have solar panels with those who do.
"To have had rooftop solar put on, we were going to have to have the whole roof replaced," she explains.
"That just seemed crazy because, yes, we'd have solar, but we'd be spending an awful lot of money.
"We decided that, while ever the roof was secure and not letting rain in, we'd stick with that and we'd look for alternatives.
At its heart, the project aims to enable energy trading between solar households and those without the technology.
Known as WinZero, the project is centred around the Wingecarribee Shire Council.
Households taking part in the so-called virtual energy network are given a smart meter and hooked up to a scheme allowing them to buy from or sell to other participants in their local area.
In order to participate, they must go through small, privately-owned electricity retailer Energy Locals, which uses third party software to handle the trades.
Those without panels can buy surplus solar power for a rate lower than a standard tariff over the grid.
Similarly, solar householders facing ever lower — or even non-existent — feed-in tariffs can yield higher payments for their exports.
Now a new study based on the Wingecarribee model is being led by Deakin University, which is hoping to widen its scope to the entire national electricity market, which spans Australia's eastern seaboard.
Of particular interest to researchers are consumers who don't or can't have solar panels themselves.
Andrea La Nauze, an associate professor of economics at Deakin, says Australia might lead the world in the take-up of rooftop solar, but most people are still missing out.
"We have the highest rate of rooftop solar in the world," Dr La Nauze says.
"But there are many of us who are renters or live in apartments or for various reasons can't install solar panels.
"First of all, it's expanding access to rooftop solar, which is good for the environment.
"It's also hopefully good for the back pocket."
As of last year, there were more than 4 million "small-scale" solar installations across the country.
Under the definition in Australia, a small-scale installation can be anything up to 100 kilowatts, meaning many businesses with solar are also grouped with the category.
However, most installations are on standalone homes and the vast majority of these are owned by their occupants, according to Dr La Nauze.
She says virtual energy networks could be a way of bridging what is an inherent divide.
By allowing customers with excess generation to sell it to those without panels, she says, both sides of the transaction might just end up winning.
"Using the existing poles and wires, people who have excess energy from their rooftop solar can sell it to their neighbour or a local cafe," she says.
"They can get more, hopefully, for that energy that they sell than they otherwise would.
"And the cafe or the neighbour can buy energy at a lower price than their current retail contract."
More broadly, Dr La Nauze says solar trading schemes could help answer a number of thorny questions hanging over Australia's energy transition.
While equity in access to clean tech is one of them, she says the over-abundance of solar generation in the middle of the day is another.
"We might also relieve some of the congestion that we have on the distribution network," she says.
"The poles and wires in many parts of Australia are struggling because we have so much energy coming from rooftop solar in the middle of the day.
"If we can encourage households and small businesses to soak up more of that power during the middle of the day, that's beneficial for the network.
Michael Dello-Iacovo from Energy Consumers Australia, which is helping to fund the new trial, says the lobby group is keen to see how feasible an expanded network is.
Mr Dello-Iacovo acknowledges the idea of trading might be an intimidating idea to some householders but notes the trial would be seeking to overcome this.
"It ultimately comes down to the platform itself," Mr Dello-Iacovo says.
"And so the platforms that I've seen for virtual energy networks … you can be as engaged as you like and there is an option to be very disengaged.
"You can set up very simple trades to either sell electricity from your solar and battery or to buy electricity from someone else with solar or battery.
"You can set up more specific trades and trade with an individual you know at a set price, for example.
Although such networks are in their infancy, Mr Dello-Iacovo says the notional potential of "peer-to-peer" trading is enormous.
He notes there are still millions of people in Australia who do not have access to solar power, making them a huge source of potential demand.
"At Energy Consumers Australia, we advocate for all energy consumers," Mr Dello-Iacovo says.
"And part of that means making sure everyone who wants to have access to consumer energy resources like solar and battery can have access to it.
"So this trial is really exciting for us because there's a lot of potential for bringing those benefits from the energy transition to all households, not just those who are physically able to install solar and batteries."
For Mittagong householder Maree Tynan, the scheme seems to be working.
She acknowledges her electricity bills are generally modest anyway because she tries to limit how much power she uses.
Even still, Ms Tynan says her costs are lower now.
To that extent, she reckons buying other people's surplus solar power while cutting her bills is the next best thing to have some panels herself.
Asked if she would be happy to keep doing it, she says: "Oh yes, I definitely will keep going while it's available."
"I'd dearly love to have solar myself," Ms Tynan says.
"But I can't see it happening anytime in the near future for the reasons I've explained."
She says that for people in similar circumstances to her, the scheme should hold great appeal, especially if it can help save them money.
"I'm very cognisant of what's happening in the world," she says.
Along with Deakin University and Energy Consumers Australia, the new trial will be delivered in partnership with QuantumNRG, ReThink Sustainability and WinZero.
Anyone interested in taking part in the trial can find out more information at
