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Solar Energy Buyback Program

Households (or companies) can enter into a business arrangement with Power and Water to sell the power generated by their solar photovoltaic cells during the day, and then purchase that same energy at the end of the day. Power and Water gains because the surplus energy is generated during our peak demand periods, during the day.

In a way, Power and Water’s electricity grid becomes the storage for electricity generated domestically, or on commercial premises.

The steps required for a successful solar buyback arrangement to be agreed are:

1. Read our Requirements for Grid Connection of Photovoltaic Systems via Inverters PDF 57 kb document.
2. Safety is a key concern – our power workers must be able to work on safe systems. Including private households changes our network profile – but solar photovoltaics make this possible.
3. To meter the output of the photovoltaic equipment, a dual metering arrangement will be put in place. It will measure the gross output of the photovoltaic unit, which is of interest to both you, the customer, and us.
4. Two contracts are arranged with Power and Water business units contained in the above requirements document.:
   Power Networks – PV Inverter Network Connection Agreement PDF 33kb
   Retail – Power Purchase Agreement for PV Inverter System PDF 33kb. The current buyback tariff is 14.38 cents.

Read also the ESAA Australian Guidelines for Grid Connection of Energy Systems via Inverters PDF 42 kb.

For information on the Photovoltaic Rebate Program (PVRP) contact:
Renewable Energy Unit, Department of Primary Industry Fisheries and Mines 08 8999 5194 or visit the Make the Switch web site.

 

These documents are available in PDF format.
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