I live in an estate and one section of the estate is considering a power sharing system. 
 

The majority of houses have a solar/battery/inverter system and one of the directors is thinking that it’s a good idea to somehow use surplus power to help people that don’t have a backup solution, as well as use some of this excess power to run the lights and other electrical systems in the communal areas. 
 

Does anyone know if this could cause problems with insurance and, if there’s potential to cause damage if, for example my inverter spikes and harms the electrical appliances in a neighbors house. 
 

Simply put, I’m not sure if this is a good idea and what the legal implications will be. 
 

Any help will be appreciated. 

I’m no electrical wizz but potentially one way this could work is if the complex has a communal battery, when you export the power goes into that battery then whomever needs power can draw from that when there is no grid. There are frequency and earth-neutral considerations as well

Edited October 7, 20232 yr by mzezman

There was an similar  post a few month ago worth looking it up .

I personally don't have an issue when power is down for a few days to  throwing an extension over the wall just for my neighbor to keep his fridges cold through the day saving him hundred or thousand in lost meat . 

I remember someone in an the similar post mentioning you not allowed to connect your houses power to neighbors house . So permanent sharing could be an issue 

Municipal electricity bylaws are the largest stumbling block if the grid infrastructure within the estate is not owned by the estate, Does the estate buy power in bulk from COJ or Eskom or does each property have their own COJ/Eskom meter?

The idea is admirable and is possible by forming a microgrid that is owned by the estate. However, this is not as easy as just wiring everyone with an inverter together - certainly not on the load side of the inverters and requires a fair amount of technical issues that need to be considered and controlled. For example, power sharing would only really work if a good majority of the inverters already in place are proper hybrid inverters that at minimum respond to frequency shifting to up/down regulate their power output to the microgrid. Such a setup also requires a reference grid forming inverter or typically inverters, batteries and some black-start solar, all of which has to be properly sized. Also, there has to be load power measurement, limitation and control so that someone doesn't plug their bar heaters in when running off battery or to control the size of the load.

On 2023/10/08 at 8:53 PM, GMAC said:

I remember someone in an the similar post mentioning you not allowed to connect your houses power to neighbors house . So permanent sharing could be an issue

The by-laws in most municipalities state that you are not allowed to share power across property boundaries that you bought from the grid.
If you generate your own power then there is no by-law that states you are not allowed to share it with your neighbors

@WannabeSolarSparky

I had another look at section 17 of the bylaw - see item 4. So if you have solar, you should be SSEG registered, which means there would be an agreement between you and the municipality regarding power generated on your premises (exported or not). In this context, my reading of item 4 would still not permit you to supply to anyone else without authorisation (which probably means no). If you are off grid, then the municipal agreements would appear to fall away but it wouldn't surprise me if there is a clause somewhere that prohibits someone from receiving power from another entity besides the municipality if they are grid connected.

Edited October 13, 20232 yr by AlexTZA

7 minutes ago, AlexTZA said:

@WannabeSolarSparky

I had another look at section 17 of the bylaw - see item 4. So if you have solar, you should be SSEG registered, which means there would be an agreement between you and the municipality regarding power generated on your premises (exported or not). In this context, my reading of item 4 would still not permit you to supply to anyone else without authorisation (which probably means no). If you are off grid, then the municipal agreements would appear to fall away but it wouldn't surprise me if there is a clause somewhere that prohibits someone from receiving power from another entity besides the municipality.

Yip 4) pretty much restricts you if you are "contracted and or under an agreement" with the municipality and or eskom - I have looked and have not yet found any by-laws restricting sharing if you are off-grid.

Edited October 13, 20232 yr by WannabeSolarSparky

9 minutes ago, AlexTZA said:

but it wouldn't surprise me if there is a clause somewhere that prohibits someone from receiving power from another entity besides the municipality

The clever folk who formulate the various by-laws have agents who actively monitor forums like this and "find our loopholes" and then go back and plug them 🤣

Thanks. This helps a lot. 🍻

3 minutes ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

The clever folk who formulate the various by-laws have agents who actively monitor forums like this and "find our loopholes" and then go back and plug them 🤣

Yes, yes of course.

That does circle back to the original topic  that in an estate that does bulk power purchasing from Eskom/CoJ and they have or implement a microgrid, strictly speaking that bulk purchase agreement would have to be modified as per as any other SSEG registered system. So all related costs, change to Time of Use tariff and all the resulting administrative grey hairs. Somewhere the issue of generation within a bulk purchaser must be addressed i.e 10 houses have solar in such an estate, does the bulk purchaser have to collectively be SSEG registered?

 

On 2023/10/07 at 1:07 PM, vinodh said:

I live in an estate and one section of the estate is considering a power sharing system. 
 

The majority of houses have a solar/battery/inverter system and one of the directors is thinking that it’s a good idea to somehow use surplus power to help people that don’t have a backup solution, as well as use some of this excess power to run the lights and other electrical systems in the communal areas. 
 

Does anyone know if this could cause problems with insurance and, if there’s potential to cause damage if, for example my inverter spikes and harms the electrical appliances in a neighbors house. 
 

Simply put, I’m not sure if this is a good idea and what the legal implications will be. 
 

Any help will be appreciated. 

Better qualified folks have dealt with technical issues.

Insurance wise it's problematic. If y'all just go ahead there will be no pre-emptive cancelling of cover on buildings or contents because the insurer(s) won't know. But if there's a claim and a loss adjuster comes out and sees all the changes to the wiring, then they may rule that you have not been dealing in good faith and the claim could be turned down and cover possibly terminated.

The alternative is to get everything done by the book, get all the necessary COCs issued, declare all of this to the insurer(s) and see what happens to your premium or what extra exclusions are added to the policy.

I also see potential stumbling blocks in the future. What when new owners move in and are not happy to participate? Is the body corporate going to amend their rules to mandate participation in the scheme?

It's a noble idea, but it may be better to keep things informal: sling an extension cord over a wall, or give your neighbour some space in your freezer. This looks like a non-trivial technical challlenge and a legislative minefield. 
 

Edited October 13, 20232 yr by Bobster.