What is Load Following Curtailment?
One of the issues affecting solar homes across Australia in 2023 is negative feed-in tariffs for solar exports at times. FiTs turning negative is a price signal from the energy market that there’s a lot of renewable energy in the grid in the middle of the day, and not enough demand for it (people to use it at that time). When there’s more renewable energy trying to enter the grid than is needed at that time, negative feed in tariffs mean you get charged to export.
To learn more about negative feed-in tariffs and why they occur, head here.
There are a number of steps we’re taking to limit the impact of negative FiT for our customers - and there’s a bunch of ways you can increase your chances of ending up better off too. Solar curtailment is one of these options. It involves Amber limiting the solar energy you produce during periods when FiTs turn negative, to restrict the amount you export at these times.
Who does Load Following Curtailment apply to?
Any SmartShift customer with the following:
- DC-coupled solar battery system
- AC-coupled battery systems paired with a SolarEdge, Sungrow or Enphase inverter and a consumption meter
- SolarEdge inverters with a SolarEdge consumption meter
- Redback battery with single inverter
- Redback solar only inverter
- A single Hybrid Sungrow inverter
- Fronius inverters with a consumption meter (otherwise known as Fronius smart meter)
- Enphase inverters with a consumption meter
👉 Not sure if you have an AC-coupled or DC-coupled system? Head over to AC- vs DC-Coupling: What It Means for SmartShift to find out more.
👉 To learn more about consumption meters and how to check if you already have one head here: What is a (solar or battery) consumption meter?
👉 On/off curtailment is available in the case that you have multiple Sungrow inverters, a grid-tied Sungrow inverter only or a compatible inverter without a consumption meter. Learn more about On/Off curtailment here.
How does Load Following Curtailment work?
If your device is compatible with load-following curtailment, SmartShift will send a command to your inverter to set the export limit to 0 during periods of negative FiT. Your inverter is then expected to modulate solar generation to align with your household consumption.
So if you're generating 10kW of solar energy and your house is consuming 8kW, your inverter will reduce generation to 8kW — exporting nothing to the grid.
Curtailment will only start once your battery is fully charged and you'll see when curtailment is active on the Live Prices tab as well as in the Devices tab of the Amber app. Outside of active curtailment, your system is expected to produce as much energy as possible.
Getting enrolled for Load Following Curtailment
If you have a compatible solar inverter, please enrol it via the 'Devices' tab in the Amber app. If you're already on SmartShift with your battery, you can enrol another device in 'SmartShift Settings'.
If you've made changes to your setup (e.g. added a consumption meter), please email info@amber.com.au so that we can update your automation configuration.
Comments
Can I please confirm my understanding? There are a number of different FAQ Articles now regarding Negative FiT on this site. Does the load following curtailment also reference the purchase price of electricity (as well as the FiT) to enable 100% solar curtailment when the IMPORT cost of electricity is NEGATIVE? - I have a Sungrow Hybrid 3 Phase inverter.
@Mark Brooks
Not at present but we are looking into it. It will only be possible on certain solar and battery setups. At present the best way to take advantage of a negative grid price is to maximise your consumption and manually charge your battery from the grid.
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