It’s a huge success story,but at the same time it has posed challenges for those who manage the grid. When the sun is shining brightest,rooftop solar squeezes out large generators like coal-fired power stations and large-scale wind and solar farms – and ramping these down during the day can destabilise the frequency of the grid. Rooftop solar also pushes daytime wholesale power prices more regularly to $0,raising the risk of coal-fired power stations becoming unprofitable and closing before the grid is equipped to handle such a move.
These challenges can be overcome and there is much to like. Large-scale renewable projects are needed as well,but rooftop solar is a healthy complement. It comes with the enthusiastic consent of landowners,so there are fewer planning obstacles,making it one of the fast ways to decarbonise the grid.
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There is a clear incentive to embrace solar for consumers who have been dealing with volatile and soaring electricity and gas prices for several years.
Solar industry analyst SunWiz estimates the payback time for a household solar panel array is 4.8 years on average,while for solar with battery it’s 8.4 years. That’s the length of time before the upfront cost of the installation is recouped by cheap or free power bills.
Storage batteries remain expensive – from $9000 to $15,000 depending on size – but are increasing in popularity because electricity bills are also high.