The SI (International System) unit of electrical current measurement. It is named after inventor André-Marie Ampère.

Amperage is the one-word term for “electrical current,” which is measured in amperes (amps). It describes the amount of electrical charge that is flowing through a system or alternately the maximum amount of electrical current that a system is capable of handling safely.

The type of current that is used in our homes and most transmission lines. Rather than just flowing in one direction, the current rapidly moves back and forth 50 times a second, which is the standard in the majority of countries.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) is responsible for the administration, operation and also the security of the wholesale National Electricity Market (NEM).

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) makes decisions that promote efficient investment in, and efficient operation and use of, energy services for the long-term interests of energy consumers.

Energy fuelled in ways that do not use up the earth's natural resources or otherwise harm the environment, especially by avoiding the use of fossil fuels or nuclear power. The main sources are wind energy, solar power and hydroelectric power (including tidal energy, which uses ocean energy from the tides in the sea). Solar and wind power are able to be produced on a small scale at people's homes or alternatively, they can be generated on a larger, industrial scale.

Amp hour is the rating used to tell consumers how much amperage a battery can provide for exactly one hour. In small batteries such as those used in personal vaporizers, or standard AA sized batteries, the amp hour rating is usually given in milli-amp hours, or (mAh). For large batteries, the rating is abbreviated as Ah. Most deep cycle batteries will tell you the Ah rating at multiple C ratings. The C rating tells you how many amp hours the battery can provide for a very specific period of time. For instance, at C/5 a battery might safely provide 26.8 amp hours. This means that is supplies 26.8 amps in the duration of 5 hours without dropping off. Meanwhile, the same battery may safely provide 36 amp hours for a period of 100 hours. Depending on the amount of use you intend to get out of your battery (daily versus sporadically), you will want to compare amp hours for different C ratings. However, if you aren’t sure which C rating to use, it is best to go with the C/20 because it is the middle ground and will give you a general sense of battery performance.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency funds innovation and shares knowledge about renewables, accelerating Australia’s shift to a renewable energy future.

A group of two or more solar panels connected together. Supplies usable solar power by means of photovoltaic (PV) activity.

Batteries give you the option to store the excess solar power produced by your solar system rather than exporting it to the grid.

The Clean Energy Council is the peak body for the clean energy industry in Australia. Its member have to agree to a code of conduct and if they meet its standards they can become accredited installers and retailers.

The Australian Electric Vehicle Council launched in May 2017. It represents its members involved in producing, powering and supporting electric vehicles. Its mission is “to accelerate the electrification of road transport for a more sustainable and prosperous Australia”.

An embedded network is where the apartment building has a single grid connection and manages the metering and billing of units internally. This system can leverage aggregated demand to access better market arrangements. A solar system in this arrangement utilises more of the energy it produces. Residents who do not wish to be involved may have difficulty buying energy from a seller other than the strata, due to the way the network is wired.

The rate your energy retailer will pay you for the solar power which you export to the grid.

The distribution network for electricity. An electrical grid is a network of synchronised power providers and consumers that are connected by transmission and distribution lines (power lines). This is operated by one or more control centres. A power “grid”, colloquially refers to the transmission system for electricity.

A type of inverter specifically designed to convert direct current (DC) electricity into alternating current (AC) and feed it to an active utility grid.  Its applications are converting DC sources such as solar panels or small wind turbines into AC for connection to the electricity grid.

A gigawatt is a billion Watts.

One gigawatt is enough energy to power about 750,000 homes.

This device converts the DC current coming from your solar panels to the 240 V AC current that your home uses. Some solar panel systems only have one inverter, while others have a micro-inverter attached to each panel. The advantage of this is that if any inverter fails, the other panels can still continue generating electricity.

A kilowatt is a thousand Watts. A Watt (W) is a unit of power. A 40 Watt light bulb needs 40 Watts of power to operate.

A kilowatt hour is a measure in thousand-watt steps of how much energy an appliance uses (or produces) in one hour. A 1,000 Watt microwave running on maximum for one hour uses 1 kWh of energy. A 1 kW solar panel running at maximum capacity for an hour generates 1 kWh of energy. However, in reality, solar panels do not operate at maximum efficiency continuously throughout the day.

A megawatt is a million Watts. A coal-fired power station like the now-retired Hazelwood plant in Victoria could produce about 1,600 MW of power at peak production. In 2017-18 the peak demand in Australia’s National Energy Market was 32,469 MW.

PV stands for photovoltaic, the electricity-making process that solar panels use. This happens when the sun’s light (rather than its heat) hits the solar cell. This makes the cell’s electrons flow around and this creates an electrical charge. Silicon PV is the most common type, but others include, cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), copper indium diselenide (CIS), and organic.

A smart metre lets you use the energy produced by your solar system in your home, before sending it to the grid. A smart metre also records 30 minute interval data on your energy consumption which can be monitored remotely allowing you to access time of use rates for electricity. Smart meters are being rolled out in NSW when a new meter is required.

A VPP is when lots of small power generators, like yours and your neighbours’ solar panels, network via computer and the electricity network so they act as one unit. This creates one ‘virtual’ power plant, rather than thousands of little ones. The manager of the VPP controls all the solar power generated by the plant remotely via the internet.

The advantage for solar panel owners is that your VPP manager is then selling and buying your electricity on the market and making a profit. You share in this, which gives you cheaper electricity. A VPP is also better for the electricity grid, because grid regulators can control it more easily when thousands of solar systems function as one manageable unit.