The natural drop in voltage down the line increases when houses are consuming more electricity, just as the reduction in water pressure would be greater if the drippers were swapped for higher-flow replacements. Your appliances, although nominally rated for a voltage of 230 V or so, can tolerate this sort of range. 250 V) at the transformer and inevitably drops to a lower level at the final house (e.g. The electrical equivalent of pressure is voltage, which starts at a relatively high level (e.g. The tap supplies water at a high pressure, but as it progresses down the pipe, friction and offtake by drippers progressively reduces this pressure to a low point at the final tree. Your transformer is a big grey device, probably up a pole somewhere in your street or around the corner. Your garden tap pushes water into the hose, like your local transformer pushes electricity into the wires. Why does voltage vary in my street?Įlectricity flows down your street a bit like water down a hose in your garden watering a row of trees via drippers. However, planning in this area has been lacking.
Networks have had clear warning of a future problem since at least 2012, when the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) forecast that by the 2030s a majority of suitable roofs might host solar panels. Renew has been monitoring this issue for several years. We’ve also seen network companies refuse new solar connections because the local area can accept no more solar due to voltage issues. Some households have noticed that at times the voltage of their electricity supply is much higher than the nominal 230 or 240 volts. Some solar households have discovered that their system is not generating as much energy as it should, especially around midday on sunny days. We at Renew have had many anecdotal reports of this happening. But it is possible to have too much of a good thing if the local electricity network infrastructure cannot properly ‘digest’ solar exports. Renew energy analyst Andrew Reddaway looks at the issue.Įxcess solar power feeding into the grid is a good thing because it displaces generation by centralised generators, putting downward pressure on electricity prices and reducing emissions. There’s been some recent attention in the news linking the boom in solar power with spikes in grid voltage.