The Far North is emerging as one of New Zealand’s highest solar uptake regions, with more households and businesses installing rooftop solar than ever before.
With some of the highest sunshine hours in the country, it is no surprise that Far North energy consumers are exploring alternative and renewable sources of energy.
Across our network, small-scale solar connections continue to grow strongly. Currently, 2,281 households have rooftop solar connected to the network, with the ability to export surplus power back into the network. Many systems now also include batteries to store excess generation for later use.
Recently, Top Energy increased its consumer solar export limits to 10kW, giving consumers greater opportunity to benefit from their solar investment.
However, this growing uptake of solar is also changing how our network operates. In the past, electricity mostly flowed one way - from generators, through Transpower’s national grid, to distribution networks such as Top Energy, and then on to homes and businesses.
Now, as more consumers export power back into the network, electricity flows can become more variable and harder to balance.
Top Energy is improving its ability to monitor and manage these changing flows through better low-voltage network visibility, smart meter data and new management tools. This will help us respond more effectively to changing conditions while keeping the network safe and reliable.
At the moment, only grid-scale generation can be directly managed to help balance the network. As small-scale solar uptake continues to grow, there is a strong case for a New Zealand standard that would also allow domestic solar and batteries to be managed when needed, helping ensure the network continues to work well for everyone.