Working together to avoid rush hour on the electricity highway
The wires of the electricity grid are much like the lanes of highway. There are peak times when more people are using it, either to power their homes or to feed-in rooftop solar generation.
Electricity usage is at the highest level in the morning and early evening, which is known as periods of ‘peak demand’. When there is peak demand, the network can experience power quality issues which can result in things like flickering of lights or a brief loss of power (known as a brown out).
The network can also experience similar issues when there is too much electricity being exported from rooftop solar generation, without people consuming it.
These power quality issues occur when the network experiences very low or high voltages. The network is designed to manage power quality. Power quality is about making sure our network works within its technical (voltage) limits. We need the right voltage levels to avoid power quality issues that damage equipment or customers' appliances.
Voltage levels are best likened to water pipes and water pressure. You need enough water pressure to deliver water to all the taps in different households but not so much pressure that the pipes burst. The network is designed to operate within a safe voltage level envelope.
We can all work together to avoid rush hour on the electricity highway by making better use of times when there is more renewable energy on the network between 10am and 3pm. If you can adopt ways to soak up the electricity when it is in abundance, then we can avoid the cost of upgrading the network which keeps downward pressure on everyone’s electricity bills.
Simple tips for soaking up renewable energy between 10am and 3pm:
- Set your dishwasher to run
- Schedule your clothes washing
- Hang your clothes outside on a clothesline or clothes rack rather than using the dryer
- Set your pool filter to run
- Use a slow cooker during the day instead of using your oven at dinner time
- If your house is well insulated, run your air-conditioner or heater on a reduced setting over the middle of the day to stop the house getting too hot or cold – you won’t need to use as much electricity to get it comfortable when you return home
- Charge your electric vehicle.
Remember – don’t ever put your health at risk to reduce your electricity bill.
