Home Solar Boost For Broome

In Western Australia, residents of Broome and some other towns in Horizon Power’s service area previously locked out of rooftop solar power can finally install panels – with more towns to come.

Broome has excellent solar resources, but has suffered from a lack of hosting capacity due to network limitations. Back in 2018, just 357 solar power systems had been installed in Broome’s postcode area due to Horizon Power only permitting 10 percent of the town’s electricity to be sourced from solar energy due to its fragile grid.

Extra hosting capacity became available in 2019, and was snapped up very quickly. At the end of April 2021, approximately 459 systems in total had been installed. Then in mid-July 2021 an additional 900 kilowatts (kW) of capacity was made available; all of which was spoken for just hours after it was released. A further 250kW of hosting capacity was earmarked for residential customers in December that year, and again, it didn’t last long.

The situation then stagnated – approximately 663 small-scale systems had been installed in Broome’s postcode as at January 31, 2024; with a collective capacity of 8,851 kW. But as of the beginning of this month, hosting capacity limits have been removed and systems can be installed. However, there is a small catch.

Smart Connect Solar Rolls Out

In order to ditch hosting capacity limits in Broome and other towns, Horizon is rolling out what it calls the Smart Connect Solar initiative. This involves a gadget called a Secure Gateway Device (SGD) included with installations that is connected to the internet. Provided and maintained by Horizon Power, it enables Horizon to control solar systems remotely in scenarios where the level of electricity being exported threatens network stability. It’s not clear how often Horizon is contemplating such situations will occur.

The device is only required on new system installations, or existing installations that are upgraded. While the SGD is supplied and maintained free of charge, costs of installation and connecting the SGD are at a solar installer’s discretion.

Other WA towns in Horizon’s service area including Derby have already been Smart Connect Solar enabled, with it being rolled out to the remainder of towns in the third and final quarter of this year; assuming all goes well.

Given Horizon Power has more than 46,600 residential and business accounts, full implementation of Smart Connect Solar should result in a noticeable boost in home solar power uptake in Western Australia in the time ahead.

Also In Western Australia …

While on the topic of clean energy related stuff in WA, the Cook Labor Government announced yesterday it will invest a further $5.2 million for the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) rebate as part of the 2024-25 State Budget. Since its introduction, sales of electric vehicles in Western Australia have seen an almost fourfold increase.

“We’ve seen huge growth in the number of Western Australians purchasing electric vehicles and our rebate scheme is one of the reasons we’re seeing such a high take-up,” said WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti.

The ZEV scheme provides a $3,500 rebate on eligible vehicles.  Based on $3,500 a pop, the new funding will be enough for another 1,485 rebates. Up to the end of March, more than 5,900 ZEV rebates had been paid, totalling almost $20.7 million.