Vic launches solar technology strategy

The Victorian Government has released a landmark technology strategy for Solar Victoria — the agency delivering the state’s $1.3 billion Solar Homes Program.

Solar Victoria CEO Stan Krpan officially launched the Solar Victoria Technology Guidelines at the annual Smart Energy Conference in Sydney, which provide the organisation with direction to encourage innovation, new businesses and business models; and leverage its programs to improve safety, quality and standards through the technologies it supports.

The guidelines also outline the strategy and principles to deliver the government’s Solar Homes Program and all future Solar Victoria initiatives. They are designed to provide the small-scale solar industry with clear market signals to encourage investment, keep safety and consumer protection at the heart of all future innovation, and demonstrate how distributed energy resources such as solar will be integrated into Victoria’s electricity system.

With technology in the renewables sector rapidly evolving, the guidelines prioritise ensuring the safety and quality of installations, optimising integration with the grid, and maximising the benefits of generation through innovation for all Victorians.

These priorities are supported by guiding principles such as encouraging self-consumption of generated electricity, implementing eligibility criteria that go above industry minimum standards, and promoting energy market participation and improved information and data governance.

Solar Victoria’s recently announced Battery Aggregation Pilot Program is an example of such support for industry innovation, through encouraging the establishment of ‘virtual power plants’ to help customers increase the value of their investment and improving customer engagement while contributing to grid stabilisation opportunities.

“The guidelines show how the government is leveraging the Solar Homes Program to encourage new technologies that strike the right balance between consumer access to the benefits of renewable energy and encouraging innovation while ensuring we have a stable electricity grid of the future,” Krpan said.

“By creating safety and quality benchmarks for retailers and installers that exceed industry standards, Solar Victoria and the Technology Guidelines ensure better outcomes for all energy users.”

The Technology Guidelines also consider stakeholder interests in innovation and investment, and support the Victorian Government’s record $1.6 billion investment in continuing growth in the renewable energy sector and raft of renewable energy initiatives and investments.

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