Opportunity Assessment: Residential solar pre-cooling (H1)

This research theme aims to maximise net benefits of rooftop solar for electricity consumers and the electricity grid by better matching the timing of active heating and cooling of homes to the output of rooftop solar, and to times of supply surplus and constraints. This Opportunity Assessment (OA) will explore and identify the potential impacts and benefits of solar pre-cooling and pre-heating for customers and the electricity supply system.

This OA focuses on four key research questions:

1. Is solar precooling and pre-heating a cost-effective approach to improve consumer/prosumer outcomes between now and 2030, considering existing and new housing stock?
2. What is the indicative scale of the opportunity for peak load reductions, energy bill reductions, load smoothing and increasing hosting capacity for PV?
3. What are the barriers to uptake?
4. What are the knowledge or technology gaps that could inform future Reliable Affordable Clean Energy for 2030 CRC (RACE 2030) projects?