Restructuring of Western Australia’s electricity system has removed a number of barriers to the uptake of renewable energy, as well as creating opportunities for renewable energy generators to participate in the market. There was however a lack of information about whether grid connected photovoltaic systems were able to take full advantage of these opportunities, whether the system-wide benefits of solar PV are recognised in the market and regulatory framework and whether there were remaining barriers to the uptake of these systems.

The Photovoltaic working group (PVWG) was established to provide a forum for the Government and industry to work together to identify and address barriers to the uptake of PV systems connected to the South West Interconnected Network (SWIN) and regional grids.  It examined whether the system-wide benefits of solar PV are recognised in the market and regulatory framework, and whether there are remaining barriers to the uptake of these systems. 

A critical first step was quantifying the benefits that solar power provides to electricity systems such as helping to meet peak demand and reducing transmission losses. The working group also looked at other barriers, including administrative, to the uptake of solar power systems.

The report of the Photovoltaic working group can be downloaded here: PVWG report (PDF 1.48 MB).

NSW University consultants, the Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets (CEEM), were engaged by the working group to research grid-connected PV in the State and the executive summary of their report can be accessed here: CEEM executive summary (PDF 1.12 MB). The full report is available by request from SEDO.

To access Adobe Acrobat Reader for the PDFs provided on this site: www.adobe.com.au