Couldn't a home system feasibly be built to just auto shut off when prices become negative?
this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2025
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yeah it def can be done, I've seen people who are on Amber electric do it as they pay the cost if they export solar during the day (see screenshot) the problem is that they'd switch off most days, any time the state isn't covered in rain clouds or going through a heat wave the price is negative:
So for Amber customers their primary job is fill up battery and don't export power until night time which is basically a practical implementation of what the article is saying
I was hoping to get this:
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/redearth-v2g-charger-mb3299/
The RedEarth V2G charger will enable owners of compatible EVs to power their home with their car’s battery (Vehicle to Home – V2H) and export power back to the grid from it (Vehicle to Grid – V2G).
As for compatibility and according to information on RedEarth’s website, Ambibox has completed official testing with Ford, VW and Polestar, and carried out its own successful testing with electric vehicles such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5, BYD Atto 3, MG4, BMW i4 and Tesla Model Y.
So cool! I'll fill up my 40kw EV battery during the day (as it sits at home most days) and then export to the grid at night!
The 11kW three-phase charger will retail for $9,990 ex GST — or $10,989 with GST — and that’s before installation.
................. what a joke, it needs to be around $2000 tops... for $11000 I may as well just buy a 40kw battery, it'll be cheaper
Then you need it wired in AND you need to upgrade to 3 phase. I do think they have a single phase version in the works.
This is actually done by law since I think 2025 in Germany and (I assume) other EU countries. Your inverter has to be comfortable by your electricity provider to be disabled or throttled when prices become negative.
That's how it should be done - overbuild renewables and intelligently shut some of them off when not required.
too bad, isnt it time to rethink the system instead?
how would you rethink the system of too much supply and not enough demand?
probably in a way that doesn't consider "supply and demand" of a nearly endless resource.
The nearly endless resource doesn't put out at night though - hence the supply and demand problem still being an issue. We've now got enough production to cover demand at peak solar output but now we need enough storage to utilise that peak supply and cover demand at other times.
at night we buy energy from the grid. figure out a system that doesn't include stupid stuff like negative pricing for the mostly coal or petroleum fired energy.
or we go all out on batteries and store the extra energy from the day.
they could try all sorts of solutions instead of telling people to stop using solar panels if they really wanted to.
or we go all out on batteries and store the extra energy from the day.
Yes that's what the article is saying
The day time negative pricing is because coal power plants can't turn off but are needed at night, if we stop needing them at night we can just shut them down
not enough demand
I'm not up to date on how effective large-scale battery tech is, but it seems odd that there wouldn't be demand for electrical energy, especially when non-renewable power sources are still in use.
If we can make electricity a post-scarse resource that isn't profitable to generate, that's an amazingly good thing.
Honestly might even be worth the government investing in a sort of nationalisation of home solar electricity, rather than this counterproductive market.
it would be but it’s unrealistic as infra needs paying for and someone has to pay for it
if you make electricity non-profitable then everyone’s fit rate gets reduced to 0c removing a major incentive for people to get solar, if you make electricity ultra cheap, why would anyone buy solar panels?
the energy market is a near perfect market, supply has to meet demand and demand has to meet supply at all times 24x7, if either get out of whack the power goes out
it seems odd that there wouldn’t be demand for electrical energy, especially when non-renewable power sources are still in use.
that’s the problem with solar, only works when the sun is out :p
that’s pretty much the main convo happening right now, grid firming
there is more demand coming in the form of big batteries but a big problem is that the people with the capital don’t have much incentive to build them when they are not very profitable, if you had 10 billion would you invest it in renewables and get 2% return or something else and get 8%
try to pretend you’re someone who likes money 😝
so the labor gov stepped in to underwrite revenues so projects don’t become unprofitable:
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/renewable/capacity-investment-scheme
the idea of the gov taking over the whole thing is you run the risk of getting a tony abbott who immediately halts all renewables, gotta remember we went nearly 30 years with coalition in power majority of the time and they’re still not happy with renewables at all
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-27/the-coalition-s-ongoing-civil-war-over-net-zero/105939634
you’d also have to explain to tax payers why they are now paying even more tax when the largest users of electricity are factories and businesses
so it’s a bit complicated 🫠
Thanks for the details :)
try to pretend you’re someone who likes money 😝
Haha, I just can't stand that the people with the capital get to stop society from fixing so many things.
the idea of the gov taking over the whole thing is you run the risk of getting a tony abbott who immediately halts all renewables, gotta remember we went nearly 30 years with coalition in power majority of the time and they’re still not happy with renewables at all
Yeah that's a good point. Nationalising is unstable in our current two-major-party flip-flopping.
We need to just create energy sinks.. well effectively batteries but not in the traditional sense. Like kinetic storage. Sure, they're not efficient, but what does it matter if they're only in use when electricity has a negative value
I would get a batter system before solar anyway. My electricity has hourly rates and in addition to those savings being able to function in a power outage is a rather nice quality of life.
@HubertManne @Eyekaytee It's sticking in my mind that's there extra "stuff" that needs to happen for a battery to supply power to the house if the mains feed drops. But I can't remember what the man said. I will have to read up on it again and consider if it's worth it - I'm not sure I expect many outages (metro area, with newly-upgraded/buried power lines). And i'd just go to the park if there was one.
Surely this varies by region? My area is definitely one where it would just shave a bit off my electric bill.