Flexible Exports

It turns out you can have too much of a good thing. A sunny spring day is a joy for most South Australians. But for our energy operators, days like these have been a challenge.

Lots of sun has meant lots of solar energy, leading to congestion on our network. This can cause issues from rising voltages — with inverters switching off through to outages.

And this isn’t a problem just in South Australia — it’s becoming an issue everywhere.

Until now the solution has been to place low or zero limits on solar exports — so each home could only export small amounts of solar, if at all, to avoid network congestion.

This is the option we’ve had available until now, and it’s called fixed exports.

Fixed exports waste valuable solar energy. They don’t give you the best value for money and reduce the broader benefits of solar.

SA Power Networks has developed world-leading technology to stretch solar further — and reach our goal of doubling the energy we can use from the sun.

We’ve called this option Flexible Exports.

It’s an option that’s:

• New, smart and innovative
• Designed to positively impact the future of energy worldwide and
• Developed right here in South Australia.

How can Flexible Exports give us all more energy from the sun without changes to the network?

It’s sometimes easier to think of these different kinds of solar energy options like light switches.

The fixed export limit option is like a regular light switch:
It’s either on (sending back a fixed and limited amount of energy to the grid all the time) or it’s completely off.

The new Flexible Exports option is more like a dimmer switch:
The Flexible Exports option is adjustable — so think of a dimmer switch that can be smartly turned up or down according to need — for example, when community power use increases or decreases significantly or when the local power substation is congested.

This adjustable ‘dimmer switch’ prevents the network from getting congested, with direct benefits for you and a brighter future for South Australia.

To coincide with the SA Governement Dynamic Export requirements going live on 1 July 2023, SA Power Networks has the progressive rollout of Flexible Exports as a standard connection option. 

The rollout commenced on 1 July beginning with 37 suburbs currently in the Flexible Exports trial area, and will be expanded to more suburbs in the Cities of Mitcham and Onkaparinga in the following months. Our intention is to have Flexible Exports rolled out state-wide by mid-2024.

Flexible Exports will be offered to customers in selected areas, until the full roll out is complete in mid 2024, who are looking to connect new solar to the network, or who are upgrading or making significant changes to their current solar systems. For existing solar customers, your current arrangements will not change until you are looking to upgrade your system and you're in an eligible area of the network.

Speak to your solar installer – they can help you to understand your options and how Flexible Exports could benefit you.

No, you can make a choice between a fixed export at 1.5kW or Flexible Exports between 1.5-10kW if you are in the Flexible Exports eligible area.

For all other areas, the exiting 5kW fixed export applies until Flexible Exports becomes available.

New regulations introduced by the South Australian Government mean that any exporting solar system installed from 1 July 2023 must be compatible with Flexible Exports. Talk to your installer to ensure they set up your system correctly at time of installation.

In the event of an internet outage, the solar exports will ramp back down to 1.5kW until the internet connection comes back online. Ensuring to set up and maintain a reliable internet connection will maximise the benefits you receive. Your solar installer will advise on the best method of internet connection when they discuss the options with you.

With Flexible Exports option, you can export more than the fixed 1.5kW export option.  

Past performance of Flexible Exports at your location will be available in the Eligibility Checker. Outcomes will vary with the network location, inverter capacity and the reliability of your internet connection. 

Your solar installer will help you work out the most cost-efficient solution from the range of options and equipment available. 

Flexible Exports will allow you to export the maximum amount that the network and your inverter can handle - from 1.5kW up to 10kW per phase throughout the day, automatically adjusted to match the available capacity of the local network in your area. This can be impacted by the size of your system (including inverter capacity), the amount of solar in your area, and reliability of your internet connection.

Most electricity retailers offer different feed-in tariffs as part of their energy plans. Go to Australian Government’s Energy Made Easy website to find the best offer for you. 

Building on the success we’ve seen with the trial, we’re making Flexible Exports option available to more customers from 1 July 2023 as a standard offering for new and upgrading customers. The offer will be rolled out suburb by suburb and we expect that it will be available in most suburbs by mid-2024. Customers can opt into Flexible Exports once it becomes available in their suburbs. There will be no change for existing solar customers.  

Use Flexible Exports Eligibility Checker to find out if Flexible Exports is available in your area.