Decentralised rooftop PV is the largest supplier of clean power in Australia. With grids catching up, a range of storage options available and rapid uptake of electric vehicles, it is time to build onto this success. Neat brings together designs that define this purpose.
It has taken nearly a decade and dozens of reviews, but finally an Australian regulator has recommended that rooftop solar installations – along with other distributed generation such as small wind turbines – be rewarded for the value they bring to the grid, and their environmental benefits.
Victoria’s Labor government last asked the Essential Services Commission to assess the value of distributed generation. After an allegedly faulty start, the ESC has produced a report that delivers a landmark shift in regulatory thinking, even if the solar industry no doubt thinks it could and should go further.
The ESC paper released on Friday also suggests that governments and regulators will continue to struggle with the reality that software and smart new technology is evolving rapidly and changing the game in ways that the regulator is yet to understand.
