A significant rooftop solar record has been broken in South Australia, with net exports exceeding daytime electricity demand for 5.5 hours on Sunday, 16 October, 2022.
Net exports of energy are achieved when rooftop PV and other distribution-connected generation exceeds daytime electricity demand.
SA Power Networks manages the local distribution network, and the company reported the record of minus 236MW on 16 October, with 5.5 hours of net export achieved – the longest in the state’s history.
Paul Roberts, SA Power Networks’ head of corporate affairs, says the company has become a net exporter on more than a dozen occasions so far in 2022.
“This is a combination of low energy demand on some milder sunny days and the continued growth of rooftop solar,” he says.
“In the next five to 10 years, we expect to see South Australia’s energy needs during the middle parts of the day regularly being supplied 100 per cent from rooftop solar.”
