What next? Infrared Drones Spying on Faulty PV Panels
 Â
Intersolar Confirms: Australia is the best country for solar power
Australia is world renown as being the land of sunshine, kangaroos, and koalas. I like to remind my international solar colleagues that we also have spiders, snakes, sharks, and politicians  (in increasing order of danger). Australia’s solar industry has had more than our fair share of premature changes to incentives and policies. So on my first visit to the world’s largest solar trade show, it was eye-opening to discover that (contrary to my expectation) the Australian solar power sector has a lot going for it. I spent one and a half days engaging with industry analysts from around the globe. First at SolarPlaza’sDemand Conference, then at the IEA-PVPS meeting of national solar organisations, where I was representing the APVA. The other two-and-a-half days was spent wandering through a solar exhibition space bigger than the entire Melbourne Convention Centre. Here’s a reminder of why Australia is the best country for solar power, followed by a summary of technology trends at Intersolar.
Unlike many countries whose incentives targeted solar farms, our incentives targeted voters. This created a formidable voting block that has prevented retrospective changes to feed-in tariffs, as the NSW and Queensland governments have discovered. Many European countries have suffered far worse fates. Indeed, unlike the Czech republic, we have a right to self-consume the power we generate (something the Queensland Competition Authority tried to scrap but backed down in the face of overwhelming opposition). Still, everyone is horrified that our net metering occurs on a half-hourly basis; in most countries ‘net metering’ occurs on an annual basis. And while we receive little value for the excess power, thanks to the greed of network operators (mostly owned by state governments), a solar power system can offset some of the highest priced electricity in the world with some of the world’s best solar resource. This means that despite the lack of PV-specific subsidies, Australian solar power has great economics, economics that are thankfully no longer dependent upon PV-focussed incentives. Still, our political influence pales in comparison to that of the German solar power industry. I was shocked to find they only self-consume 20% of the power generated from a 5kW system (in Australia the figure is about 50%). This leads to high dependency upon the government-set value given for exported power. But rather than settle for a smaller system that would increase self-consumption levels, the German solar industry organisation is able to powerfully tell the German government that if it wants to achieve its energy transition (away from polluting sources), they must provide sufficient incentive for solar. Meanwhile, the German government has created an incentive that will keep everybody happy, including the networks. There is an upfront subsidy for grid-interactive battery systems that act to increase self consumption – the same solution that could provide a superior-value alternative to network augmentation in Australia. Like Queensland, Germany is also considering how to ensure that solar owners pay a fair share of network costs, though hasn’t yet identified a sensible answer.
Latest trend: battery storage and battery-backup grid-interactive inverters. The German government has created a subsidy for battery-backup grid-interactive systems, which means there’s a plethora of batteries and inverters at intersolar this year, all drawing a crowd. I was happy to see Selectronic’s Australian-made technology creating some interest, and to see the Kaco-branded Selectronic-Kaco joint developed product attracting attention on Kaco’s stand. Despite there being only sufficient funding for 5000-7000 systems in Germany, Australia is likely to be a beneficiary of the technology development that occurs in this space. Hot Topic: Anti-dumping tariffs – its likely that the price of solar panels in Europe will rise due to the introduction of punitive tariffs on Chinese panels. Most of the people I spoke with weren’t happy with this situation. Of course, there is likely to be flow-on effects of price and providers into Australia. Biggest Difference to Australia (apart from beer on tap at many stands): The data logging provider SolarLog was always busy. Logging system performance is essential in Europe, where investors want to track their return. Coolest technology: Solar drones – infrared cameras mounted on high-power drones for finding hot spots in faulty solar panels, an essential technology to quickly cover the thousands of panels in a solar farm. (This narrowly beat an electric wheelbarrow wheeled about by a Bavarian woman in high heels; panel-cleaning robots came a distant third). Watch this space: Refusol’s PV hot water heating system – its retrofit-able, and direct DC so eliminates roof plumbing, but unfortunately it won’t soak up your excess AC production. Also, there’s some whitegood manufacturers bringing out smarthome/solar friendly equipment that will be able to increase self-consumption of generated solar power, thereby improving economics.Â
Trends from Intersolar; Market Synopsis: market leaps to 85 MW registered; QLD 50% of STC market; RockClimbing in Geneva
What next? Infrared Drones Spying on Faulty PV Panels
 Â
Intersolar Confirms: Australia is the best country for solar power
Australia is world renown as being the land of sunshine, kangaroos, and koalas. I like to remind my international solar colleagues that we also have spiders, snakes, sharks, and politicians  (in increasing order of danger). Australia’s solar industry has had more than our fair share of premature changes to incentives and policies. So on my first visit to the world’s largest solar trade show, it was eye-opening to discover that (contrary to my expectation) the Australian solar power sector has a lot going for it. I spent one and a half days engaging with industry analysts from around the globe. First at SolarPlaza’sDemand Conference, then at the IEA-PVPS meeting of national solar organisations, where I was representing the APVA. The other two-and-a-half days was spent wandering through a solar exhibition space bigger than the entire Melbourne Convention Centre. Here’s a reminder of why Australia is the best country for solar power, followed by a summary of technology trends at Intersolar.
Unlike many countries whose incentives targeted solar farms, our incentives targeted voters. This created a formidable voting block that has prevented retrospective changes to feed-in tariffs, as the NSW and Queensland governments have discovered. Many European countries have suffered far worse fates. Indeed, unlike the Czech republic, we have a right to self-consume the power we generate (something the Queensland Competition Authority tried to scrap but backed down in the face of overwhelming opposition). Still, everyone is horrified that our net metering occurs on a half-hourly basis; in most countries ‘net metering’ occurs on an annual basis. And while we receive little value for the excess power, thanks to the greed of network operators (mostly owned by state governments), a solar power system can offset some of the highest priced electricity in the world with some of the world’s best solar resource. This means that despite the lack of PV-specific subsidies, Australian solar power has great economics, economics that are thankfully no longer dependent upon PV-focussed incentives. Still, our political influence pales in comparison to that of the German solar power industry. I was shocked to find they only self-consume 20% of the power generated from a 5kW system (in Australia the figure is about 50%). This leads to high dependency upon the government-set value given for exported power. But rather than settle for a smaller system that would increase self-consumption levels, the German solar industry organisation is able to powerfully tell the German government that if it wants to achieve its energy transition (away from polluting sources), they must provide sufficient incentive for solar. Meanwhile, the German government has created an incentive that will keep everybody happy, including the networks. There is an upfront subsidy for grid-interactive battery systems that act to increase self consumption – the same solution that could provide a superior-value alternative to network augmentation in Australia. Like Queensland, Germany is also considering how to ensure that solar owners pay a fair share of network costs, though hasn’t yet identified a sensible answer.
Latest trend: battery storage and battery-backup grid-interactive inverters. The German government has created a subsidy for battery-backup grid-interactive systems, which means there’s a plethora of batteries and inverters at intersolar this year, all drawing a crowd. I was happy to see Selectronic’s Australian-made technology creating some interest, and to see the Kaco-branded Selectronic-Kaco joint developed product attracting attention on Kaco’s stand. Despite there being only sufficient funding for 5000-7000 systems in Germany, Australia is likely to be a beneficiary of the technology development that occurs in this space. Hot Topic: Anti-dumping tariffs – its likely that the price of solar panels in Europe will rise due to the introduction of punitive tariffs on Chinese panels. Most of the people I spoke with weren’t happy with this situation. Of course, there is likely to be flow-on effects of price and providers into Australia. Biggest Difference to Australia (apart from beer on tap at many stands): The data logging provider SolarLog was always busy. Logging system performance is essential in Europe, where investors want to track their return. Coolest technology: Solar drones – infrared cameras mounted on high-power drones for finding hot spots in faulty solar panels, an essential technology to quickly cover the thousands of panels in a solar farm. (This narrowly beat an electric wheelbarrow wheeled about by a Bavarian woman in high heels; panel-cleaning robots came a distant third). Watch this space: Refusol’s PV hot water heating system – its retrofit-able, and direct DC so eliminates roof plumbing, but unfortunately it won’t soak up your excess AC production. Also, there’s some whitegood manufacturers bringing out smarthome/solar friendly equipment that will be able to increase self-consumption of generated solar power, thereby improving economics.Â
Market Synopsis
PV Market
85 MW of PV was registered in May, a substantial upswing on the prior months’ figures.
Queensland was the hot market in May (and again in June), responsible for the entire upswing and returning to 40% of the Australian PV market in May
Though many are feeling the pain, some are doing well enough to compensate for others’ losses. Similar volumes have been registered this year as at the same point last year – true nationally and in each state. However, this is because there are far fewer sales but the average system size has increased to compensate; nevertheless business profitability is difficult due to declining system prices.Â
With the highest PV density of any postcode in the Nation, 4109 (Robertson, QLD) wastes least of its incoming solar resource. 575 kW of PV per square-kilometre – equivalent to 0.575 W/m2 of PV coverage.Â
Last week was the biggest week for STC creation for many months, and particularly notable as 90% of STC creation was from a 1x multiplier (earlier weeks relied heavily on the 2x multiplier to achieve high volumes).
Queensland represented 50% of STC creation activity last week – their SBS-surge is certainly noticable.
There are still seven large STC creators with deep pockets (or poor STC strategies) that are holding 100% of what they’ve ever created. The question is: when will the Clearing House shift, and by how much?
The weekly and monthly STC creation tally are displayed on our website – check in regularly.
Compared the cost-effectiveness of AC with DC runback on string and central inverters in a ground-mount solar farm
Performed financial evaluation for a number of commercial projects on behalf of clients
Continued analysis of the National Solar Schools Program
Presented at Intersolar and the SolarPlaza Demand Conference
Visited solar colleagues in Sweden, Switzerland, and EnglandÂ
Rock Climbing and paragliding in Geneva and Chamonix; enjoyed the endless days in Stockholm, where the sun moves sideways; cycled around the Stockholm Archipaelgo with my father (who I had to push for the last 5km to our destination when his chain broke while attempting a cheeky overtaking manouver – not about to live that one down!); envied surfers in the river in Munich
To learn more about what we can do for your solar business, visit www.sunwiz.com.au
Latest Tweets
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Interactive versions of these maps can help you find the best places to target your solar marketing…http://t.co/Ep1MQnZH541:56PM
These are the graphs that Insights subscribers get each month (plus analysis showing QLD is still the largest…Â http://t.co/I3AsxSQc8C11:05AM
Queensland is still the biggest state for PV – applications for new systems running higher than any other state http://t.co/YDoccKPMbw11:04AM
Darebin Council pioneers solar panel scheme for low-income earners (1M solar roofs take note)http://t.co/9jTHmoyvm58:39AM
The Interval Meter Data Tool is designed to convert standard form meter data for the OpenSolar platform.
Users are responsible for meeting the requirements of the data that needs to be uploaded to the tool, which extends to but is not limited to
The completeness and accuracy of the data
Ensuring that there are no missing records
Uploading the data in one of the compatible intervals (15m, 30m or 1h).
Data uploaded to the Interval Meter Data Tool should not contain multiple datasets. In the case an excel file is uploaded, only the first sheet will be considered.
The accuracy of the output is dependent on the user’s dataset, therefore SunWiz does not guarantee the accuracy of the output.
The user must acknowledge that the output of the tool is beyond the control of SunWiz, and they must ensure that the data is accurate on their own behalf.
In the event that the program runs into an issue, the user will be issued with warnings or solutions to address or resolve the issue.
If the user requires additional support, they can avail it as a separate service from SunWiz
Warranties on performance
The Interval Meter Data tool from SunWiz attempts to convert most frequently occurring types of standard meter data file types in specific formats for the purpose of being used on the OpenSolar platform. Unless mentioned otherwise, SunWiz does not extend any guarantee of any kind, either expressed or implied, on the limited success of the Interval Meter Data Tool and the extent of it’s automation. Depending on the user’s upload, the program may require additional inputs, the training for which is not included in the purchase of this service and can be purchased separately.
Quality of inputs
The user’s success is inherently dependent on the quality of their input uploaded to the Meter Data Tool. Therefore, the success of the tool depends on the user’s input, and it is the user’s onus to ensure that the data is accurate, complete and follows the input requirements.
Input requirements
The Interval Meter Data Tool accepts data in the 15-minute, 30-minute and 60-minute(hourly) intervals. In case the file is uploaded in an excel format (*.xls, *.xlsx, *.xlsm), only the first sheet of the file will be considered. Our tool is required to accept raw meter data, usually highlighted as ‘E’ data in its standard format; and therefore SunWiz does not guarantee that all data formats will be accepted.
For complete automation, the file must adhere to an acceptable standard format. In the case of an issue, the user will be provided with instructions by the tool on how it can be resolved. Warnings will be issued if the data is incompatible, incomplete with missing records and if multiple datasets are uploaded at once.
