No, in Australia a solar system without integrated battery storage switches off in the event of a power failure. There are two reasons why your solar system shuts down when the grid goes down:
- Safety: During a power outage, repair teams work to fix the grid to restore power. To avoid a hazard, it is important that no electricity flows from solar systems into the grid.
- Tech: The devices in your home need a steady flow of electricity to function properly. In many cases, equipment can also be damaged if the current flow is not constant. Since a solar system does not generate a steady flow of electricity, the system must be switched off if the grid fails.
For these two reasons, unless you have a backup battery, your solar system needs to shut down automatically in the event of a power failure.
Battery storage with blackout protection
Tesla Powerwall is the battery we recommend for households that want blackout protection.
As part of our installation service, we will work with you to identify circuits that can be operated with your battery in the event of a power failure. Typically this includes a modem, lights, small pumps, garage doors, and other high priority devices, for example. Anything that uses a lot of electricity is usually not backed up by a power outage like air conditioning and pool pumps.
The final step is to determine how much capacity you want to leave in your battery in the event of a power failure. For example, if you choose 30%, your Powerwall will never discharge more than 70% of its battery capacity to ensure that in the worst case scenario, you still have 30% of the Powerwall's capacity to get through the night. In the morning the solar system will generate electricity again and the Powerwall will be charged from the generated solar electricity. Contact a member of the Solaray team for more information.