A trial of 100 heavily subsidized battery systems combined with solar power has been launched by SA Power Networks in an Adelaide suburb. The Tesla Powerwall and an energy storage product from Samsung will be used in the trial.
“We want to work with customers to avoid the need to invest in new poles and wires. Instead of building a new power line, we would like to see whether we can defer or avoid that by tapping into local solar PV generation and combining this with energy storage,” said Paul Roberts, the SP Power Networks Manager of Stakeholder Relations.
SA Power Networks is the electricity distributor for South Australia and is the 5th largest for all of Australia, with its headquarters in Adelaide. It provides electricity to over 800,000 customers.
Salisbury is the suburb where the trial is taking place and it already has a solar power presence, with slightly over 4,000 installations equal to 1.2 MW. It has been estimated that using a solar power system combined with a Tesla Powerwall in Adelaide could result in annual electricity savings of up to about $3,000 per year.
Combinations of solar PV, battery storage, and grid connections are the future of energy provision. With the right settings and approach they will provide benefits for customers and to us as managers of the network and also help contain long–term network costs for customers,” explained Mr. Roberts.
This is a fascinating project for a number of reasons, but the prospect of not having new utility poles and wires is intriguing on its own.
The City of Adelaide also offers incentives for the installation of solar power and energy storage systems. The city’s population is about 1.2 million.
Image Credit: Pdfpdf (Public Domain)
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