..

Thanks Pen,

Yes, one of our inverters has stopped working, a replacement is on the way and will be refitted under warranty.

I don't think that was the issue Monday 10th, and through to end of day Wed 12th, as we were producing still 55% panel capacity through the main hub inverter still.

The SE app and AGL usage figures are pretty much what happened, and my question is, did curtailment go on through the whole days of Tues 11th and Wed 12th ??

Then perhaps a short curtailment middle of the day Thurs 13th ??

Even with the fully understood T&Cs for 200hrs curtailment, that would be unusual to have it happen all day, 2-1/2 days or so running, my knowledge of the parameters was spasmodic curtailment for grid stability.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

You can see all the peaking through the zero exports, which would not only cost one the miniscule FIT amount, but much more importantly see charges of shoulder and peak tariffs for those tiny incursions through the day(s).

Again small amounts, but it all adds up.

Lastly, the zero exports . . .

My email received on 6/10 . . . it was not clear at all about the reduction from 1.5kw to zero for the trial, there was no link or mention of limit change in T&Cs and the email below was not indicative that was a permanent change.

The email text . . .

Thank you for continuing to be a valued member of AGL’s Solar Grid Saver Trial.

As part of our commitment to transparency and fairness, we’ve reviewed recent curtailment activity and identified that your solar exports were reduced to 0kW during all previous curtailment events, when they should have been limited to 1.5kW. This may have resulted in a small increase to your electricity bill due to not receiving your feed-in tariff during those times.

To address this, we’ll be applying a credit to your next AGL electricity bill to cover the estimated difference.

Estimated impact to your bill: $1.42

Your total credit amount will be: $1.50

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact our solar experts on 1300 447 465 (9am to 5pm AEST, Monday to Friday).

Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.

Kind regards,

The AGL Team

As you can see it's not stating a export limit reduction at all in that email, nothing about Clause 4(b)(xv) or the T&Cs, just that exports should have been 1.5kw minimum.

I did have someone in the AGL dept supposed to get back to me early this week after speaking to them last Thurs, he was going to advise if curtailment was occurring through that time Mon afternoon, through Tues and Wed, and part Thurs noon.

But you seem to be able to get some faster responses Pen.

If that period event can be advised, that would be great, along with the lack of T&C changes advice in that Oct email.

I would have been happy to suspend curtailment while this was being sorted, but I'm also ok to simply leave the trial as it's already been done it seems.

I'll keep an eye on things, but should not see any more peaking through with no zero curtailment.

It might even solve my lack of full (download) data issues that are ongoing since early February, right on the day I signed up for the trial.

Ok, so maybe my email above prompted some checks at AGL about the mentioned Terms & Conditions email that was supposedly sent Oct 1st.

I certainly never received such as email, and just received this email this morning . . .

We’ve made an update to the Terms and Conditions for the Solar Grid Saver program.

What’s changed?

Clause 4(b)(xv) has been updated to reflect a change in minimum export limits. If you have a Flexible Export connection, your export limits will now range between 0 kW and up to 10 kW per phase, subject to available network capacity. This replaces the previous minimum of 1.5 kW.

You can review the updated Terms and Conditions here on our website.

This change only affects the energy exported to the grid and does not impact your ability to use solar energy to power your home.

If you do not wish to continue participating under the updated terms, please let us know to opt out of the trial.

We have also reviewed recent curtailment activity and identified that your solar exports were reduced to 0kW when they should have been limited to 1.5kW. This may have resulted in a small increase to your electricity bill due to not receiving your feed-in tariff during those times. As a result we will credit you for any bill impacts.

Estimated impact to your bill:  $5.46

Your total credit amount will be: $6.00

If you have any questions, simply visit https://agl.com.au/solargridsaver or contact our solar experts at 1300 447 465 (9am–5pm AEST, Monday to Friday).

Thanks,

The AGL Team

----

Firstly, thanks for the minor adjustment, the FIT loss in the trial is just a small cost overall, but it's a little goodwill, so appreciated.

If I'd received this / known this at the start, and how it affects more than curtailment, it would have confirmed I would not be wanting to participate in the trial, due to . . .

If you have a Flexible Export connection, your export limits will now range between 0 kW and up to 10 kW per phase, subject to available network capacity. This replaces the previous minimum of 1.5 kW.

It has never been minimum 1.5kw exports.

But was supposed to be, that 1.5kw export was a buffer to minor system needs, as below . . .

This change only affects the energy exported to the grid and does not impact your ability to use solar energy to power your home.

It did / does affect more than curtailment though, and caused more grid usage between systems adapting to the curtailments . . . handshakes / reactions / delays between the inverters and the grid backstop system (I guess).

It uses extra power, anywhere in the peak and shoulder periods through a day or during part curtailment.

In my 4 sets of screenshots above, you can clearly see late in the afternoon Monday, all day Tuesday and Wednesday, and noon Thurs, we constantly peaked through into grid usage, when we were supposed to be able to use our curtailed production for that usage.

It DID ramp up, but slowly, and I don't recall anytime it ramped up quick enough to actually cover all our usage before spasmodic usage ceased.

Again like the 200hrs curtailment at 2c, it was not a huge amount of usage, but it all adds up gradually.

So with the terms change, it definitely meant I could not even to begin to understand the total real cost of the small losses in usage we would accumulate.

NOW, WHY THE ZERO KW EXPORT LIMIT ?

I suspected it's possibly SAPN, so went for a look online.

A quick AI shows SAPN info. . . "Connectivity: A stable internet connection is required for the system to function correctly. During an internet outage, exports will automatically drop to either the fixed 1.5kW or 0kW limit." (my bold).

A deeper dive (selected text relative to exports) . . . The zero min limit only applies to "Single-wire earth-return (SWER) line customers who generally live in regional areas."

AND . . . Customers in other areas (non-SWER) have a choice between:

• A fixed export limit of 1.5kW/phase. 
• Flexible Export limit of up to 10kW/phase (with a fall back limit of 1.5kW)

I just called SAPN, and confirmed a few things . . .

Since we had solar on in Nov 2023, we have had nil curtailment for their needs, grid emergencies etc.

Was advised there is huge capacity in this area for solar feed in, and curtailment for their needs will likely not be needed for the foreseeable future.

We are not in a SWER area, and therefore on the flexible export connection, Anywhere from 10kw flexible down to a minimum lower limit of 1.5kw.

So, why / how is AGL limiting this trial to 0kw, and not with the usual (and originally advised) 1.5kw min limit ?

It could be something totally out of your control and understandable . . . but with zero threshold it is / could be costing all or some participants more than curtailment.

Hi Les, 

Thank you for sharing all of this detail and raising these questions. They’re really important and we appreciate you taking the time to outline your concerns. To make sure everything is addressed properly, we’ll have someone from our solar team give you a call today and go through this with you directly. 

..

Thanks Pen, spoke to James and he confirmed the curtailment for virtually the whole period concerned, Mon 10th 1400hrs - Wed 12th all day, and that part Thurs 13th.

We confirmed my withdrawal from the trial, based on the 0kw export limit.

I left it open if AGL do decide to introduce the 1.5kw minimum limit, I'm happy to pick it up again, as that creates a buffer to the little peaks into grid usage.

All the best with the trial and how it can assist grid stability, and reducing negative wholesale pricing spikes.