Solar households in virtual power plants a part of 'Australia's electricity future'

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Experts believe so-called virtual power plants could play a key role in Australia's energy future. The technology links households with rooftop solar and batteries to create a local grid.

Transcript

00:00Pippa Buchanan's house is, in many ways, a modern type of power plant.

00:07This is literally the beating heart of the system.

00:10A battery is attached to the wall of her garage at Kawarama, three hours south of Perth.

00:16The battery, in turn, charged by an array of solar panels on the roof above.

00:21What doesn't get used is exported.

00:23We probably are oversupplied for our current needs.

00:27Like millions of other Australians, Pippa and her husband took the plunge and invested

00:32in solar.

00:33They're part of a so-called virtual power plant, in which an energy company leases them

00:38solar panels and a battery.

00:40In return, there's a catch.

00:41When they need to, they can use our battery, either as storage or as supply to the grid,

00:50and they can also occasionally turn our solar panels off if they need to, if there's too

00:54much supply.

00:55Energy companies say the circumstances where solar needs to be spilled are rare, and households

01:00are forewarned and compensated.

01:02They say Australia's occasional overabundance of solar needs to be managed, and VPPs can

01:08help.

01:09When you install solar and battery in people's homes, they all individually have a power

01:14plant that can provide that exact same service, but they're too small individually.

01:20When you put them together, they can add up to something that's quite significant.

01:24Coordinating Australia's rapidly growing fleet of solar panels, batteries and other

01:29cleantech looms as a key plank, and key challenge, of the energy transition.

01:34Experts say it should be encouraged, particularly where households participate willingly.

01:39But they're warning against heavy-handedness.

01:42Building a network that is oriented around the customer is the issue, and it's really

01:48one that government needs to get a solid grip on.

01:52For Pippa Buchanan, the sacrifice is worth the rewards.

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