About Dynamic Connections
Queensland has one of the highest rates of solar photovoltaic (PV) system installations in the world. This only looks set to increase as people embrace renewable energy alternatives for their homes and businesses. In fact, solar PV installations have been so successful in Queensland, that some areas of our network have reached the limit of its ability to safely receive exported electricity during the day.
Our aim is to support Queenslanders who want to install solar PV solar, battery or other renewable generation on our network. To achieve this, we need smarter interaction between solar PV systems and our electricity network.
A smarter way to connect
To support more solar on our network we are offering dynamic connections, as an alternative to the basic connection option.
With a dynamic connection, signals are sent from our network to your solar PV system. Signals are sent in 5-minute intervals, using Wi-Fi or a hard-wired internet connection, and are referred to as Dynamic Operating Envelopes (DOE). The signals will tell your solar PV system how much exported generation our network can accept at that point in time.
This means, instead of potentially having fixed limits on how much electricity a solar PV system can export, the limits change and respond to network conditions to enable more generation to be exported, more often. This diagram explains how a dynamic connection works in practice:
How it works
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1 Monitor
we monitor the capacity of your local electricity network, and
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2 Calculate
we calculate how much of your excess energy can be exported to the grid, and
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3 Signal
your inverter receives a signal via a WIFI communications link with our network, and
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4 Maximise export
the signal allows your system to maximise the export of your excess energy, based on available network capacity.
Dynamic Connections for energy exports
Skip to descriptionWe've introduced a smarter connection option for your solar, allowing more of your excess energy to be exported while ensuring we maintain a safe and reliable electricity network.
With our smarter network, we continually monitor the capacity of our distribution system to calculate how much of your excess solar can be exported. New technology allows us to talk to your inverter, enabling it to maximize the export of your excess energy within the limits of the electricity grid.
More of your excess solar energy in our network helps ensure a brighter, greener future while making your energy work for you.
Make the smart move to boost your solar energy exports. Speak to your solar installer today to check if your new solar system will be compatible for dynamic connection.
Watch our short overview video
This video provides a quick overview of how Dynamic Connections work.
More options for new or upgraded solar connections
Before we had dynamic connections, when an installer submitted an application to connect a solar PV and/or battery system to our network, we would assess our network and determine if you could connect a solar PV system and how much solar could be exported. In some cases, where the local network already had large amounts of rooftop solar installed, to ensure a safe and secure network, solar exports were limited to zero and customers were unable to export any electricity to the network.
Now we can offer a dynamic connection which has the following main advantages:
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1 Customers can export more
Dynamic connections can export up to 10 kW per phase, compared to a maximum of 5kW per phase on a basic connection (or 2 kW for premises connected to our regional single wire network), and most customers will experience minimal or no restrictions on that limit, most of the time.
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2 Minimum export limit
Even when there is a need to reduce solar export, customers are still allowed to export 1.5 kW, unless there is a significant emergency event requiring all solar PV generation to stop.
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3 Customers can install a larger system
You can install a larger combined solar PV and battery system up to 20 kVA with a dynamic connection on single-phase - up to 10 kVA solar PV inverter and 10kVA battery inverter capacity - without the need to upgrade to three-phase power (which would be required for a fixed connection).
Note: For sites that use a hybrid inverter under a dynamic connection on single-phase, you can only install a system up 10 kVA total inverter capacity. So the combined capacity limits of each technology (eg. solar and battery) cannot exceed 10 kVA in total.
Want more information?
For more information on how to decide if a dynamic connection is best for you and how to choose a dynamic connection for your home or small, business, visit our Dynamic connections for homeowners & small business web page .
If you are an installer, visit our Dynamic connections for installers web page for key technical information and how to install and connect a solar PV system under a dynamic connection.
Read our FAQs which may help with any other queries you may have.