Let’s take things back a step by introducing Origin Loop, and our Virtual Power Plant (VPP). Origin Loop is transforming the way people harness their solar energy by connecting hundreds of thousands of batteries and panels — and other energy assets like hot water systems and EVs — across countless locations and combining them into one big, virtual power station.

Why join the Loop?

The beauty of Origin Loop is its power to help balance the grid at times of peak demand, reducing the reliance on coal, gas and renewables that feed into the grid. When customers connect virtually to Loop, then generate solar energy through their home solar system and store it in their battery, Origin can pull on this stored energy. This energy can then be fed back into the grid, reduce the reliance on coal and gas. There are also perks in it for you too, at the moment, you’ll receive $1 – every time Origin discharges one kW of power from your battery and gives it to the grid.

There’s also a cherry on top, just to sweeten the deal. If you connect your eligible battery to Origin Loop on a no lock-in contract, you’ll get a $200 credit included on your next energy bill. That’s what we like to call a sign-up bonus. A little thank you for joining the VPP. On top of all that, you’ll get full visibility when Origin discharges power from your battery in our easy-to-use mobile app. And for added peace of mind, we’ll ensure you always have at least 20% of battery charge during a Loop event. So, you don’t need to worry about running out of power.

Tell me more about Loop…

We’re so glad you asked. Until recently, all the electricity you used in your home or business came from large power stations transported through power lines and distribution networks. But times, they are a’changing. 

Home energy is now more intelligent than ever. And smarter energy is all thanks to some of the smart folk at Origin. Our boffins built the Artificial Intelligence (AI) that powers Loop to help coordinate, and orchestrate, thousands of connected, remote energy assets virtually via the cloud.

Loop-connected product and services include home solar batteries, EVs with smart chargers, connected hot water systems, and even our energy saving reward program, Spike. And now we’re inviting more customers across Australia to join the Loop.

What if I don’t have a battery yet?

We can help! There’s a lot to consider, after all, you’re making a long-term investment with long-term rewards. So, we’ve pulled together a helpful guide about what you should look for when investing in a battery – and we made sure to have our experts weigh in.  A connected home really is the way of the future, and with Origin Loop, you can be sure that you’re making the most of your battery package – that extra $200 is really just the icing on the cake. Or the cherry on the icing of said cake. Whatever it is, you can have your cherry-garnished cake and eat it too.

The ‘fine print’ AKA eligibility

• You need to be a current Origin electricity customer or agree to sign up to an electricity plan with us and agree to our VPP BYO Terms and Conditions.
• Have a compatible battery and inverter installed at your home (from Tesla, AlphaESS, Sungrow, LG, Solax, GoodWe or Eveready with at least 5kwh capacity in the battery and at least 5kw capacity at the inverter).
• Have an operational solar system of at least 5kW capacity, that is compatible with your battery.
• Have continuous and reliable internet connection.
• Live in NSW, SA, VIC, QLD or the ACT

Whether you’re looking to switch to solar, get more from your energy assets, or simply keep your bills down, Origin Home can help show you the way.

The post Origin Loop and the benefits of battery storage appeared first on The Origin Blog.

Sun’s out, power’s on

The best way to get the most out of your solar is to make sure you’re using as much of your power as you can during the day. And some hours of the day are better than others. If your solar panels face north, they tend to get the most energy between 10am and 2pm. If they’re east facing, they tend to get the most sun in the morning, and west-facing – you guessed it – tend to generate the most during the afternoon.

So, get out your compass, get your bearings and flick on your appliances at the right time to ensure your panels are doing the heavy lifting during the day. Want to make things even simpler? Invest in a timer and set your appliances accordingly.

Trim back trees

The sun is all powerful. Unless there are leaves in its way. To make sure your solar panels are getting all the rays they can, trim back trees and branches that might be creating shade. Who knows, you might find a love of topiary while you’re at it. While you’re up the ladder pruning, make sure you also remove any other debris like leaves, random frisbees, balls and anything else that might be shading your panels.

Keep things clean

Most things are better when they’ve had a clean. Like a car after a road trip. Your teeth after eating garlic pasta. And, of course, your solar panels. In fact, dirty solar panels can lose 20% of their energy output. We recommend getting your panels professionally cleaned every 6-12 months to remove any dust, bugs and dirt that may have accumulated on your roof. That way there’ll be nothing in the sun’s way, and your panels will be so clean your neighbours will see the sparkle.

No sun? No problem

If you want to harness the power of solar when the sun isn’t shining, a battery is a great investment. But how do you know which battery is right for you? As a rule of thumb you should look at how much energy you use and compare that with how much energy your solar panels create.

If the battery is too large, the solar system will rarely be able to charge it fully. And if it’s too small you’ll be sending much of the power you’ve generated back to the grid. We know trying to find a Goldilocks battery (one that’s just right) can be confusing, which is why we have a handy guide to help you find the right one for you.

Join the Loop

If you do have a battery, or are thinking about getting one,  Origin Loop is a great program to be part of. It’s our Virtual Power Plant (VPP) – a smart, innovative, energy network that transforms the way people harness their solar by connecting batteries far and wide, so even more Australians can have cleaner energy.

When you’re a Loop member your battery will connect to our Virtual Power Plant. We can then draw on the power in your battery and feed it into the energy grid at peak times.

Being a Loop member means there’s less reliance on gas and coal, so it’s better for the environment. But it’s also better for you. You’ll receive $1 every time Origin discharges one kW of power from your battery and gives it to the grid. Right now we’ll also give you a $400 credit on your next energy bill when you connect your Tesla Powerwall to Origin Loop on a no lock-in contract.

To give you peace of mind, we’ll always make sure you have at least 20% of battery charge during a Loop event. Plus how much energy we discharge is completely transparent and you can track it all in our app. As a Loop member, you’ll be helping the environment, getting more from your solar, and getting a stack of savings. It’s win-win-win.

The post How to get the most out of your solar panels appeared first on The Origin Blog.

We’re taking part in a few community battery trials across Australia right now, and one of them is in Bungarribee Blacktown, Sydney. The residents in this area are ideal candidates to welcome Western Sydney’s first community battery – 95% of homes have rooftop solar.

This community is leading the way in rooftop solar, and residents will now be able to store excess solar energy to use later, without having to purchase and install their own home battery. Batteries store excess renewable energy generation and provide power during peak demand periods, and also help to manage variations in renewable energy – like when the sun isn’t shining, or the wind isn’t blowing.

Hey neighbour

Expected to run for at least 12 months across the Endeavour Energy network, the battery trial will involve 10 batteries with a total capacity of up to 640kW, serving around 350 customers.

The trial will look at how community batteries can support the energy transition and investigate the benefits to customers and the wider community.

Customers can rent a portion of the battery to virtually store and access neighbourhood solar energy, helping to reduce their household energy costs when they take part. The stored energy can be used by participating homes for a small fee, helping to manage demand in peak periods.

This inclusive approach will empower all residents – those with and without rooftop solar, to experience the benefits of battery storage, including bringing their energy bills down and reducing their carbon footprint.

Battery storage: the future of energy

As Australia transitions to a lower carbon energy system and we increase renewables in the energy grid, we need to increase battery storage across the country. This will allow us to capture excess renewable energy generated during the day to use later and help to stabilise our energy grid. That’s why batteries are a key part of Australia’s future energy mix.

And because more and more Aussies will use battery storage in the future, bringing down the cost of batteries for everyone is key. That’s why community batteries, just like the new Bungarribee Blacktown battery, are so important.

Eligible Bungarribee residents can register to take part in the Bungarribee Blacktown battery trial.

The post Big battery power for local communities appeared first on The Origin Blog.

What is Loop?

Until recently, all the electricity you used in your home or business came from large power stations transported through power lines and distribution networks. With more Australians generating their own electricity with rooftop solar and storing it in batteries, what if we could virtually connect thousands (or even millions) of batteries and assets across countless locations and combine them into one big power station?  

Loop is the name we’ve given to our Virtual Power Plant (VPP) that allows customers to be part of a smart, connected energy network, contribute to a cleaner energy future and be rewarded for it.  

Loop-connected product and services include home solar batteries, EVs with smart chargers, connected hot water systems, and our energy saving reward program, Spike.  

And now we’re inviting more customers across Australia to join the Loop.  

How can I get involved?

One way to get involved, if you live in Victoria, New South Wales or Queensland, is to purchase an eligible Loop-connected home battery from Origin. Using smart technology, our VPP will charge and discharge your battery to manage and meet demand across the energy network during peak times.  

Not only will you get a $1,500 discount* on the battery purchase cost, but you’ll also receive $240 in credit on your electricity bill – guaranteed every year for five years. 

You’ll always get more value back in credits from us than what we extract from the battery – we’ll never extract more than 200kWh from your battery per year.  

And if you’re in South Australia, don’t worry – we’ll be bringing an Origin Loop battery offer to you soon. So, it won’t be too long before you can join the Loop!

What if I can’t afford a home battery or don’t have solar?

Spike is a simple, free and rewarding way for Origin customers to be part of Loop today. To be part of Origin Spike, all you need is a smart meter. And if you don’t have a smart meter, but live in Queensland, you may be eligible to get one installed at no cost.  

Once you’re part of Spike, you’ll be invited to take part in weekly Spike Hours and rewarded for reducing your energy usage with Spike Points that can redeemed for cash.  

What can Loop do?

On hot, sunny days when energy demand is high, Loop can send renewable energy stored in home batteries into the grid – helping boost energy supply across the network. 

Loop can also turn hot water storage systems into batteries by pre-heating them during the day when there’s lots of extra solar energy flowing around the grid – so customers can enjoy hot solar-powered showers at night.   

Loop also brings more than 60,000 homes together each week to participate in SpikeHours – reducing energy use during peak times and earning rewards in the process. Since we launched, Spike customers have earned more than $2 million in Spike Points! 

How exactly does it work?

Some incredibly smart people at Origin built the Artificial Intelligence (AI) that powers Loop to help coordinate and orchestrate thousands of connected, remote energy assets virtually via the cloud. 

To do this, Loop draws on a range of data to manage and deliver power in real time including weather forecasts, usage data, market trends, and historical energy consumption.  

Loop’s AI also interacts with the rest of the National Electricity Market (NEM) and with Origin’s large scale generation assets so we’re able to coordinate these remote assets in the most effective way. 

With more energy now being generated, stored and used in homes and business across the country, it’s a smarter way to move electrons around the grid. 

*$1,500 discount applies to battery retrofits. If battery is purchased as part of a solar battery package, discount increases to $2,000. Offer valid 3 October 2022 to 30 December 2022.

The post Introducing Origin Loop – our Virtual Power Plant appeared first on The Origin Blog.

Now with more and more Australians adding battery storage, EVs and other energy assets, we can be smarter and more efficient way in the way we use and store power, by connecting and aggregating them as part of a virtual power plant (VPP).

A virtual what?

Until recently, all the electricity you used in your home or business was generated at a large power station and transported through a network of thousands of kilometres of high voltage transmission lines, and then along the poles and wires on your street and into your home or business.

A virtual power plant (VPP) can connect thousands, and even millions, of energy assets across many separate locations and coordinate or orchestrate them so they’re working together like a traditional power station.

Orchestration is when the platform tells your energy assets such as home batteries or electric vehicles to charge at certain time of day, such as when energy is plentiful and cheaper. It can also coordinate them to join forces to send energy back into the grid when it is needed.

How does it work?

The platform takes millions of data points from the electricity market and other sources such as the weather bureau in near-real time and feeds it into the algorithm, which continuously assesses the system and makes forecasts on energy demand. AI would then optimise solar and storage for each individual customer, for example, directing your devices to charge or discharge at the best time of day for you.

In the back end, the VPP also coordinates with our power stations helping us to optimise operations so we can send the power where it’s needed and when. The more assets we can connect into our VPP, means we may not need to invest in building a new power station or other energy infrastructure like transmission lines and interconnectors – the costs of which ultimately end up being shared across everyone’s energy bills.

What are the benefits?

• Smarter – A VPP allows us to use all the energy in the system more effectively.
• Cleaner – A VPP connects rooftop solar, batteries and other energy assets and can shift their usage or charging to times of day when energy is more plentiful – typically during the day when there’s lots of solar generating – and discharge at night, reducing reliance on energy from power stations.
• More efficient and affordable – Get more value out of your solar and storage when you join forces with others. Or be paid to help out with your excess energy at times of high demand.

Demand response

A VPP is not just battery and storage. When we connect different types of assets such as air-conditioning systems or pool filters to our VPP, that’s when we can start to quickly make a real difference. When the platform tells multiple hot water systems connected to the VPP to power down and use less energy at the same time, the collective energy saved can be used elsewhere in the grid. Because we’re spreading the load across many systems, you can still take a hot shower. How clever!

This type of demand response can include devices in the home or large industrial equipment – it doesn’t matter how large or small because the power of the VPP is when all these assets connect to form one big virtual power station.

Origin’s VPP

Origin’s VPP has quietly grown to more than 130MW of assets connected – about the size of a unit at a gas-fired power station.

Rooftop solar installations show no signs of slowing, and battery and EVs are expected to grow rapidly over the coming decade, which means our VPP is only going to get bigger and make more of a difference.

It will be easy for our customers to see what’s happening in their home with our award-winning app, with information about household energy usage, grid independence solar generation, battery charge and discharge, all in one place.

In the future, it may be possible for customers connected to the VPP to be offered cheaper rates to charge their assets like batteries or electric vehicles at certain times of day, be paid to use less energy to help stabilise the grid or be paid for their excess solar if proposals by regulators to constrain export to the grid come into place. In short, there are a wide range of opportunities to share value back to customers through different pricing, products and services.  

How do I join the VPP?

The easiest way to be a part of our VPP today is by joining Spike. Spike allows Origin customers to earn points that can be redeemed for cash or gift vouchers if they reduce their usage during nominated Spike hours.

All you need to do is wait an hour to put the dishwasher or dryer on or turn the air-conditioning up a couple of degrees in summer or even easier, program your smart plugs and connected devices do the hard work for you.

More than 30,000 Origin customers have already signed up for Spike since we launched it late last year and in that time, we’ve given nearly $1 million in rewards to power down during our regular ‘Spike Hour’ events.

With around two-thirds of Spike customers answering the call to participate in each event and reducing their energy use by nearly half, we know customers are increasingly ready to embrace new ways to save energy and earn rewards.

To be part of Spike, you need to have a smart (digital) meter. Don’t have one? If you are in South Australia or Queensland then don’t worry, it is possible to request a free meter upgrade as part of the sign-up process for Spike.

We are also launching more affordable battery and solar offers, with financing plans and rewards. These will initially be available in Victoria, but will be expanded into other states over the coming months.

The post Artificial Intelligence and the tech behind the VPP appeared first on The Origin Blog.

While it might be difficult to envisage today, in the not-too-distant future most of us will be driving an electric vehicle (EV) to get us from A to B. Admittedly this seems like a pretty huge challenge when combustion engine vehicles still dominate the Australian market, with EVs making up just 0.6 per cent of new car sales last year. So, what makes us think things will turn around so quickly?

by Tony Lucas, Head of Future Energy & Technology

Well, firstly, it’s starting to slowly change. The number of EVs sold in Australia more than tripling from 2,216 vehicles in 2018 to 6,618 in 2019. Why? It’s quite simple, the benefits of EVs are so compelling.

First, using EVs instead of combustion engine vehicles can help reduce Australia’s carbon emissions and therefore contribute to our efforts to combat climate change. Transportation is the second highest source of carbon emissions in Australia, making up nearly 19 per cent of greenhouse emissions.

The economic benefits are also stacked heavily in favour of EVs, not least because you don’t have to worry about petrol costs anymore. They will also play an integral role in the future of our electricity system.

EVs are essentially batteries on wheels that have the potential to help make our electricity system more flexible and responsive, and to help us manage peak demand events. There are also benefits for owners of EVs if they can optimise how they use and charge their vehicles, helping them manage their power costs.

How can EVs help the electricity grid?

Operating as mobile batteries, EVs can provide flexible storage to help manage demand across the network if this is coordinated and managed effectively.

EVs can absorb excess renewable energy generated in the middle of the day and discharge back to the grid during periods of peak demand.

Conversely, without a degree of coordination, there is a risk that an increased volume of EVs across the network could lead to constraints across both the wholesale energy markets and distribution networks. Imagine if there was significant growth in EV ownership in future and everyone returned home in the evening and charged their cars at the same time when demand is already at a peak?

How can EV owners benefit?

Smart charging solutions potentially offer the key to unlocking the value of EVs for both the energy market and for EV owners.

This week, Origin launched an EV smart charging trial in partnership with automotive and energy partners and funding from ARENA.

Working in partnership with Custom Fleet, Hyundai, Nissan, Schneider Electric, GreenFlux, Ausgrid and United Energy, we will provide residential and fleet owners 150 smart chargers that work three times faster than regular charging.

The smart chargers will be connected to Origin’s proprietary Virtual Power Plant (VPP) so we can optimise the charging of these EVs to reduce the impact on peak demand and absorb excess renewable generation during the day. Origin’s VPP orchestrates distributed assets such as residential and commercial-sized batteries, residential air-conditioning units, electric hot water and pool pumps, industrial chillers, water cooling pumps for our power stations and this is growing every day.

The VPP will direct the chargers to turn on and off and up and down in line with the wholesale price – charging vehicles when prices are low and turning off chargers when the price is higher. We can help bring down the price of running an EV for owners as well as manage demand and load on the system. Origin will look to use insights from the trial to design EV charging solutions for more customers that reward EV drivers with faster and cheaper charging.

Fleet owners lead the way on EV take-up

In Australia, while very few households have EVs today, we are slowly starting to see some good momentum with the fleet sector leading the way.

Origin has commenced the process to transition our fleet of passenger vehicles to electric, with 10 EVs operating in the fleet so far and a plan to electrify as many vehicles as possible.

We have partnered with one of Australia’s leading fleet management providers, Custom Fleet, to offer business customers an end-to-end EV fleet management solution which will provide the best vehicle, charging, energy management solutions to make it seamless for customers to transition their fleet to EVs.

Where to next?

The opportunity for the energy sector, for policy makers, regulators and governments – is to help provide the right settings that make it easy for customers to realise the benefits of owning an EV.

Origin’s trial, with the help a grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), will help shape the way forward and the role that EVs can play in a future energy world that is smarter, cleaner and more efficient.

Want to learn more?

Tune into episode two of our So Watt? podcast as we chat about all things EVs:

This Project received funding from ARENA as part of ARENA’s Advancing Renewables Program. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the Australian Government does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.

The post The future is electric appeared first on The Origin Blog.