Enabled by Horizon Power’s Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), Smart Connect Solar has been completed ahead of schedule, enabling the regional energy provider to achieve its strategic goal of ensuring there are zero customer refusals when connecting rooftop solar by 2025.

Related article: Smart Connect Solar technology expands to Broome

The program has now been expanded to all towns in Horizon Power’s service area. The technology is providing thousands more households and businesses, in Horizon Power’s service area, with the opportunity to install rooftop solar and access the benefits of renewable energy.

Smart Connect Solar has delivered critical technical capabilities enabling Horizon Power to remove solar hosting capacity constraints. Previously, the number of solar installations had to be limited to ensure the security and reliability of power supply.

DERMS technology analyses weather patterns, power system conditions and renewable energy resources and uses this data to coordinate power flows to ensure the electricity network can operate safely and reliably at all times—maximising renewable energy output and benefits for Horizon Power’s customers.

In addition to rooftop solar, DERMS will enable Horizon Power to safely and reliably integrate and balance energy across customer energy resources like batteries and electric vehicles.

Horizon Power CEO Stephanie Unwin said, “Horizon Power established the strategic goal of zero customer refusals when connecting rooftop solar by 2025, to solve the technical challenges preventing customer access to rooftop solar.

Related article: Horizon Power’s Smart Connect Solar expands to NWIS

“Achieving this goal creates more customer choice to participate in renewable energy and ways to reduce energy bills. The advanced DERMS technology underpinning Smart Connect Solar will also improve the safety and stability of our systems as they evolve to incorporate greater levels of clean energy.

“We are proud to have completed the roll-out of Smart Connect Solar ahead of schedule, so that thousands of additional customers can reap the benefits of renewables, including reduced energy bills, earlier than expected.”

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Horizon Power is using state-of-the-art technology, known as a Distributed Energy Management System (DERMS), to increase access to renewable energy for these towns, while improving the safety and stability of the state’s electricity network.

Related article: Horizon Power’s Smart Connect Solar expands to NWIS

Horizon Power’s DERMS utilises analytics to consider weather patterns, power system conditions and renewable energy resources. The technology’s advanced algorithms then use this data to coordinate and dynamically optimise the power system to maximise renewable energy and benefits for our customers.

This innovative approach ensures the power system remains safe and secure and enables the removal of hosting capacity constraints in regional towns, which have previously limited the number of solar installations.

Smart Connect Solar is providing thousands of additional residential and business customers the opportunity to install rooftop solar and realise energy bill savings.

By September 2024, the technology will have been delivered to all towns in Horizon Power’s service area. This includes towns in the Pilbara, Kimberley, Gascoyne, Mid West and the Esperance and Goldfields regions.

Smart Connect Solar was launched in Carnarvon in February. Since then, it has expanded to towns in the North West Interconnected System (NWIS), including Karratha, Port Hedland, South Hedland, Point Samson, Cossack and Roebourne, and has been introduced to 20 towns in the Kimberley, Gascoyne and Mid West and Esperance and Goldfields regions.

Related article: Horizon Power trial to test vehicle-to-grid charging potential

In May 2024, the technology was also introduced in Broome, providing more than 6000 homes and businesses in the Kimberley town with the option to install rooftop solar.

Horizon Power CEO Stephanie Unwin said, “Smart Connect Solar provides us with critical technical capabilities so we can deliver on our commitment of ensuring there are zero customer refusals when connecting rooftop solar by 2025, across our networks.”

The post Horizon boosts solar access in Gascoyne and Mid West appeared first on Energy Source & Distribution.

In a complex and technically challenging endeavour, the hydrocarbon-free operation was achieved for 80 minutes utilising an DER System (DERMS), orchestrating both traditional energy sources with customer and utility solar and battery solutions.

DERMS uses predictive analytics to maximise the amount of renewable energy in the Onslow microgrid while maintaining network stability and integrity for all customers. This is the first time DERMS has been deployed for this purpose in Australia. Further testing will continue to maximise understanding of this operation before the functionality is commissioned later this year.

Related article: AMCOE microgrid centre launching in Perth

Horizon Power CEO Stephanie Unwin said, “Renewable energy solutions are front of mind and we have very clear goals for our energy future. This technical functionality developed in Onslow continues to lead the industry to overcome the barriers to increased rooftop solar installation which has been shown to reduce energy costs for our regional customers.”

“This is a significant milestone for energy control technology and renewable energy, with broad applications for the world at large,” said PXiSE Energy Solutions CEO Patrick Lee.

“The DERMS and microgrid-facilitated hydrocarbon-free period in Onslow demonstrates the possibility for certain communities to run solely on solar plus battery storage.”

Aided by DERMS, Onslow Power Project is projected to deliver cleaner, greener energy to Onslow with fossil fuel savings of about 820 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Onslow is a coastal town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 1,386km north of Perth. It has a population of 848 people and is located within the Shire of Ashburton local government area.

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