FAQs

Solar Connect was a townwide solar and battery trial linking households via a Virtual Power Plant (VPP). House­holds in the VPP shared solar and battery power in ways that benefited the Alice Springs grid and informed the opportunities for the next generation of more sustainable energy solutions.

A Vir­tu­al Pow­er Plant (VPP) is typ­i­cal­ly a col­lec­tion of solar and bat­tery stor­age sys­tems that work togeth­er to allow coordinated control of their energy.

VPPs use smart technology to control the energy flow to and from the grid on demand – benefitting the household, grid and the community.

The VPP in Alice Springs, known as Solar Connect, invited households with rooftop solar, with or without a battery to join the trial.

The experience in developing the trial, engaging participants and running the trial, provided valuable insights to the project stakeholders on what future trials might look like. The functionality developed during the trial provided the opportunity to investigates these new technologies and concepts – that is, this was the first VPP in the NT, and it allowed the participants to share energy and data in new ways.

The trial became operational in October 2022 and ended in October 2023.

Alice Springs Future Grid created the Northern Territory’s first residential Virtual Power Plant (VPP). The trial looked at how a VPP can help keep the grid stable while increasing the amount of clean energy in the Alice Springs power system.

The VPP was part of a suite of innovative trials, models and investigations that looked at how to keep the Alice Springs network within voltage limits, reduce the reliance on gas power generation, and help the Northern Territory to reach 50% renewable energy by 2030.

While this statement is an oversimplification of the process, it is true that at certain times of day and during certain periods of the year, not all the solar power being generated can be used by the grid. The Alice Springs electricity system is heavily reliant upon gas generation – not only for power, but also to provide essential system services (ESS) such as voltage control, frequency, and inertia. These services can be provided by technical solutions like batteries, but at this stage this is a prohibitively expensive means of addressing the problem in its entirety. The aim of the Alice Springs Future Grid’s Roadmap to 2030 is to provide information on how more renewables can be tied into the use of gas generators at the main power stations.

This is a subject of much discussion and study, and is even the focus of a current Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) funding opportunity. It does pose a looming waste management issue, with the design life of solar panels at 20 to 30 years, and many installed well over a decade ago. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates there could be 60 to 78 million tons of photovoltaic panel waste accumulated globally by 2050. It also estimates the recyclable materials will be worth $15bn in recoverable value.

It is envisaged that recycling solar panels will create industry and employment opportunities, keep valuable resources out of landfill, help to retain rare elements, and prevent heavy metals leaching into the environment. There are a couple of companies working in this space in Australia.

All reputable installers are registered with the Clean Energy Council. You can find out more in the Consumer section of its website.

You don’t need 3-phase power to charge an EV. In fact, you can purchase charging cables that plug into a standard domestic socket. The most common way to charge an EV is via a "type 2" charger, and many EV drivers will opt to have a charging point installed in their home. A 3-phase connection will charge your car more quickly. A single phase type 2 connection will be slower than 3-phase but faster than your standard household sockets. Your local solar installer or electrician can assist with questions specific to your case. The cost of the charge will depend on the general cost of electricity, the capacity of the vehicle’s batteries, and whether you’re incorporating solar power. A fuel cost savings calculator can be found on myelectriccar.com.au, with plentiful similar resources available elsewhere online.

There are enough chargers along the highway to comfortably travel the length of Australia. There are a surprising number of charging points all over Australia, including in some incredibly remote locations, such as Kiwirrkurra, which is one of the most remote settlements on the planet! It is easy to view the full range of charging points on the app PlugShare.

Plans are underway to build the world’s largest solar farm in the Northern Territory’s Barkly region, exporting the power via a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable. The $20bn project, known as SunCable, plans to send most of the power to Singapore, which relies on LNG for the majority of its electricity.

Producing green hydrogen (via renewable energy processes as opposed to fossil fuels) is another way to export solar. A National Hydrogen Strategy was developed by the COAG Energy Ministers and released in November 2019. It highlights the opportunity in the NT, given its proximity to Asia, and recommends a focus on exports and enhancing energy security in remote areas, amongst other market ideas.

There have been other projects around Australia carrying out investigations in many similar areas to Future Grid. The difference is that Future Grid looked at a series of interventions in aggregate and how they could integrate as a system on a technical, economic, and regulatory basis. This is what made Future Grid fundamentally different; it brought public utilities together with leading industry experts, and local organisations. We collaborated in a way that was simply not possible in other locations. For comparison, if we look to WA; Horizon Power has demonstrated many of the technical interventions we were working towards, but they are doing it in the context of being a vertically integrated energy supply company, so its activities don’t require complex engagement with other entities. In other areas, such as South Australia, there are fundamental differences in the market structure, which provide economic signals that are not available in the NT. What Future Grid did, which was different to other projects, is to work out how to bring parties and interventions together to collaborate.

The Future Grid car was an electric vehicle (a Nissan Leaf) and there were individuals in the team and community who were highly enthused about this technology. However, operating within a constrained budget and timeline, electric vehicles or related trials were not considered as part of the project. The team designed a series of interdependent activities that served to consider immediate issues in the system and support further renewable energy penetration into the Alice Springs grid in a cost-effective and realistic way. These interventions made use of and optimise existing grid infrastructure, which is a valuable public asset. The Future Grid team always welcomed any future or parallel projects that supported the increased use of electric vehicles in Alice Springs or focused on the integration of this technology as another means of supporting the grid.