Next Gen Energy Storage Program
Background
In 2016, the ACT Government embarked on one of the world’s largest roll-outs of energy storage batteries. Since then, over 800 Canberra businesses and households have taken advantage of government grants to install solar panels with battery storage.
The government needed a solution to collect all the information produced by these battery systems to see, in real-time, what energy is being generated and what is being stored. The system needed to be scalable and handle a potential 5000 battery storage systems across the Territory.
SRA was selected to design, develop, support and manage a new data management system for the Next Generation Energy Storage Program and Grants.
A big data challenge needed an innovative solution
The biggest challenge was developing a data management system that could cope with large amounts of data from so many sites, coming in small time increments. The data would grow exponentially at a rate much faster than traditional data storage could handle. The unseen backend of the system had to collect data continuously fed into central storage, which could then be accessed through various levels of authority – from the very light public-facing information to researchers, government and storage providers who needed more detailed reports. It also needed to gather data from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) for cross-referencing purposes.
From an academic perspective, the project itself was ground-breaking in the world of solar energy and storage, so it needs to be able to pull out a lot of data for research purposes.
- Thousands of data sources
- Highly available, mission-critical cloud platform
- Millions of dollars in public funding to be managed
- Security, performance, scalability and cost effectiveness
We can help with the cost of solar energy storage in Canberra. Storing power from solar panels can help you save on electricity bills and be more sustainable.
Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development / ACT Government
About the program
The Next Gen program supports the development of the energy storage industry in the ACT, along with research and training.
During the day, solar is turned into electricity for your home or business. A solar battery stores extra energy, so you have power when you need it:
- at night
- on overcast days
- at peak times when electricity prices are higher.
The rebate is available for homes and businesses within the ACT. This includes Hall, Tharwa and Oaks Estate, but not Jervis Bay Territory.
To be eligible for a rebate, your new battery system must be:
- coupled with solar panels
- connected to the electricity grid
- a new system that the program has not already supported.
