Lester

+21 more

Powerhouse

•

800 Messages

Noticeable curtailment discrepancies

Hi group,

I'm seeing more curtailment happening from time to time, and there seems to be some issues with how it's supposed to work.

For example this Sunday just gone, the 7/9.

From 1045 to 1315 (2.5hrs) we saw a full curtailment of export to the grid, when it should be minimum of 1.5kw export.

During that time, we also drew from the grid fairly substantially, where our production should be used to cover our homes usage still.

See 3 chart screenshots from my solaredge app below, from final 0kw grid draw to middle of the curtailment, to the end of curtailment where we again drew back down to 0kw from the grid.

I think the start of curtailment began when the clouds cleared quickly on Sunday, and production shot up, most likely this triggered some sort of curtailment to reduce grid exports, or to counter some sort of grid negative price spike from state solar feed in.

That aside, we were managing quite well with production covering usage before the event began.

Not sure if this is to do with the SGS trial, I feel it must be.

Also not sure if AGL does adjust for these blips in the billing . . . perhaps it is picked up and corrected.

The trial started March, on my billing transactions 8/5, there was an adjustment - Unbillable consumption credit $29.69.

While I am not sure exactly what this was for, it could be adjustments for these situations when something is not right during curtailment, and usage is charged in error ?

Just looking at the daily 30 minute intervals for Sunday, they reveal 2 clocks of usage in that timeframe, though it seems like it is less than the solaredge app showed.

If any light can be shared on that, it would be fantastic.

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Pen_AGL

+10 more

AGL Employee

•

41 Messages

Hi Lester,

Thanks for sharing all the detail and screenshots, that’s really helpful. We’ve got our team looking into what happened during the curtailment on Sunday and I’ll come back to you in a few days with more information around that event.

Just to clarify regarding curtailment, the variable export limit automatically adjusts between 0kW or 1.5kW up to 10kW per phase (subject to available network capacity at the customer’s location throughout the day, installed inverter capacity and the reliability of the customer’s internet connection). You can read more about flexible exports here: https://www.sapowernetworks.com.au/industry/flexible-exports/

As for the billing side - I’ll send you a private message with more detail on that credit and what it was applied for.

Thanks again for raising this, we’ll follow up shortly once we’ve reviewed the data more closely.

Lester

+21 more

Powerhouse

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800 Messages

Thanks 🙂

All good, will await anything on the sunday event that you find out about.

Re exports, we've been on flexible exports since solar went on, apart from a bit of a gap where the 6 month 'test' failed, and we went back to fixed exports for a bit in Winter 2024, after which the reduction became apparent and test was passed and put back to flexible.

Re the export minimum, I was going off the intro letter sent by email 25/3, the day before the trial commenced.

This is in the 'What to expect' section . . . (my red text highlighting) . . .

Thank you for electing to participate in this exciting trial aimed at maximising the value of Solar! We’re excited to let you know that the trial will officially begin from 26 March 2025.

Here’s what you can expect

Increased solar exports for most of the time: You’ll be able to export more solar energy, up to 10kW, and get paid your solar feed-in tariff for these increased exports. This means more savings and greater efficiency for your solar system.

Reduced solar exports during high grid capacity: During times when the grid has too much solar energy, your solar exports will be reduced to a minimum of 1.5kW. This will occur for no more than 200 hours a year, ensuring that your system continues to benefit you while supporting grid stability.
Credits on your bill: You’ll see tangible rewards reflected in your energy costs, with credits being applied to your bill for participating in the trial.

Join our Solar Grid Saver Neighbourhood community to connect with other participants, share your experiences and be part of the conversation.

There’s nothing more you need to do right now. We’ll handle the rest and keep you updated throughout the trial.

If you have any questions, simply visit agl.com.au/solargridsaver or speak to one of our solar experts on 1300 447 465 (9am to 5pm AEST, Monday to Friday).

Thank you for being a part of this exciting journey towards a more reliable and sustainable energy future.

Thanks

The AGL Team

Lester

+21 more

Powerhouse

•

800 Messages

24/9/25

Hi @Pen_AGL

I haven't heard from anyone about this yet.

All has been fine with things since that last reported anomaly Sunday 7th Sept, up until yesterday when things went into an even more alarming discrepancy again.

From midday 1200 yesterday Tues 23rd Sept the SolarEdge app showed production dropping to zero for the rest of the day.

The real time app (and web) overview showed production excess to home usage was going to the grid, right up to the usual approx 1700hrs, but this is not reflected in the app graphs.

My web based SolarEdge chart shows no production / export OR usage (from the grid), which is even more odd . . .

I've waited to post this reply until yesterdays AGL data update came up in the app, to see if there was any feed in showing for the afternoon.

(I can't check actual data, that has been mis-formatted since Feb, and from start July data can't even be download !)

The AGL app daily usage / feed in chart for yesterday shows solar feed in and usage.

I'm not sure if this is / was any sort of curtailment event, or just a glitch between the SolarEdge - SAPN - AGL communications, but the trial is supposedly only with systems using SolarEdge inverters for compatibility.

It could be a SolarEdge drop out, which has not even happened before, but I have asked my solar people to check it.

As the AGL app shows what looks like normal usage / feed in, I am ok to let the investigation continue, as slow as it might be, I imagine the complexities of dealing with the equipment manufacturer (SolarEdge), SAPN, and AGL depts can be quite a complex task.

Pen_AGL

+10 more

AGL Employee

•

41 Messages

Hi Lester,

Thanks so much for your patience while we looked into this—you're absolutely right, checking across multiple systems can get pretty complicated!

On the export minimums: really appreciate you flagging that. We’ve paused all curtailments for now and will be following up via email soon with more detail on what the minimums look like.

About the 7/9 event - SolarEdge’s review shows the behaviour wasn’t triggered by AGL or SAPN’s export curtailment controls. We can only manage the export limits from your site, not the actual PV production. SolarEdge confirmed your inverter entered energy limit mode, which can happen due to app settings or internal inverter factors. It’s best to reach out to them directly for a deeper dive.

And for the event on 23/9 - AGL didn’t issue a curtailment. It’s possible there was a telemetry outage on SolarEdge’s end, which they may have since backfilled.

Thanks again for raising this and staying engaged!