Experts believe so-called virtual power plants could play a key role in Australia's energy future. The technology links households with rooftop solar and batteries to create a local grid.
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00:00Pippa Buchanan's house is, in many ways, a modern type of power plant.
00:07This is literally the beating heart of the system.
00:10A battery is attached to the wall of her garage at Kawarama, three hours south of Perth.
00:16The battery, in turn, charged by an array of solar panels on the roof above.
00:21What doesn't get used is exported.
00:23We probably are oversupplied for our current needs.
00:27Like millions of other Australians, Pippa and her husband took the plunge and invested
00:32in solar.
00:33They're part of a so-called virtual power plant, in which an energy company leases them
00:38solar panels and a battery.
00:40In return, there's a catch.
00:41When they need to, they can use our battery, either as storage or as supply to the grid,
00:50and they can also occasionally turn our solar panels off if they need to, if there's too
00:54much supply.
00:55Energy companies say the circumstances where solar needs to be spilled are rare, and households
01:00are forewarned and compensated.
01:02They say Australia's occasional overabundance of solar needs to be managed, and VPPs can
01:08help.
01:09When you install solar and battery in people's homes, they all individually have a power
01:14plant that can provide that exact same service, but they're too small individually.
01:20When you put them together, they can add up to something that's quite significant.
01:24Coordinating Australia's rapidly growing fleet of solar panels, batteries and other
01:29cleantech looms as a key plank, and key challenge, of the energy transition.
01:34Experts say it should be encouraged, particularly where households participate willingly.
01:39But they're warning against heavy-handedness.
01:42Building a network that is oriented around the customer is the issue, and it's really
01:48one that government needs to get a solid grip on.
01:52For Pippa Buchanan, the sacrifice is worth the rewards.