Welcome to Stand-alone Power Systems
Your property is now powered by a Stand-alone Power System (SPS).
If you are a SPS customer this means that you have been disconnected from the overhead electricity network and are solely supplied via the solar (PV) generation and battery storage in the SPS. A back-up generator has also been installed to supply to supplementary power when necessary.
The SPS is an innovative renewable energy solution making the most of the available sunshine at your property.
The SPS unit will rely on renewable energy (i.e. solar and battery) up to 95 per cent of the time.
At a minimum your back-up generator will run for 15 minutes once a week as part of its maintenance cycle. The amount your generator will run per week will be impacted by things like:
- How much electricity you’re using daily
- Electricity use over night
- Environmental conditions like cloud cover
- Seasonal changes.
Gifting of consumer mains and sub mains
As part of the commissioning process, new equipment will be installed on your property which will become your responsibility to maintain, including:
- consumer mains cable
And where required:
- half pole (where your meter box has been relocated to), and
- consumer sub-mains.
Consumer mains cable
The consumer mains cable forms part of your property’s electrical installation. Following completion of the works, the consumer mains cable is gifted by Western Power to you and now belongs to you as the property owner. It is your responsibility to maintain this as the property owner. You should consult with a licensed electrical contractor and/or a cable locator prior to undertaking any works which may affect the consumer mains cable.
Half pole and consumer sub-mains
If as part of transitioning you to SPS, Western Power relocated your meter box to a half pole, the half pole and the consumer sub-mains now also belong to you. As the property owner, these are now your responsibility to maintain.
An indicative plan of the underground cable route has been attached to the inside of your meter box. Please refer to this when undertaking future works on your property so as not to disrupt the cable.
If you are not sure of the location of the cable, please take the time to check with a cable location service provider, or an electrical contractor prior to any excavation.
Removal and disconnection of redundant consumer mains
When your SPS is commissioned, any redundant consumer mains will be removed from the consumer pole. As these consumer mains belong to the property owner, our contractor will leave these neatly coiled up for you on the property.
If there are circumstances where the consumer mains cannot be safely removed, for example, redundant consumer mains that attach to and run through the roof of the house, these will be disconnected and made safe at both ends by our contractor. In this situation we would recommend removing the redundant cable next time you have your electrician on the property.
FAQs
Call our 24-hour emergency line on 13 13 51 to report a fault or hazard. You’ll need to provide your property address, NMI or meter number. These details can all be found on your Synergy bill.
- No power or partial power
- Damage to the SPS, (panels, enclosure or generator) overhead or underground cables, green dome/pillar or other power equipment
- Electric shock or tingle
- Fallen or low hanging power lines
- Fire in or near an SPS enclosure
Although the risk of fire in an SPS is low it is always important to be prepared. In the event of a fire approaching or suspected fire within the SPS area, please follow the below steps:
- Do not attempt to fight a fire that is within the SPS enclosure (fenced area).
- Contact 000 and notify any relevant authorities there is a fire within the SPS enclosure and follow their directions.
- Contact 13 13 51 to report the fire.
- If safe to do so, implement methods outside the SPS enclosure, that could minimise the spread of a fire e.g., wetting down surrounding vegetation.
As part of its regular maintenance, Western Power is responsible for maintaining any vegetation within the SPS enclosure, we urge you to have other general fire mitigation measures in place to minimise risk. These include maintaining fire breaks, including surrounding the SPS enclosure, and updating your bushfire plans.
Visit dfes.wa.gov.au for more advice on bushfire preparedness.
Please contact us if you’re planning to expand, lease or sell your property. This is to help us understand how energy use at this property may change, as well as updating contact details.
If you are looking to significantly increase your energy use at the property, it is important you reach out to discuss with us, providing as much notice as possible.
There are several things we take into consideration when choosing where to place the SPS.
We aim to install the generator, on average, 250m away from any residential buildings. This is to minimise the noise that may come from the generator, particularly in the evenings.
The SPS unit will rely on renewable energy on (i.e. solar and battery) up to 95% of the time.
At a minimum, your back-up generator will run for 15 minutes once a week as part of its maintenance cycle. The amount your generator will run per week will be impacted by things like:
- How much electricity you’re using daily
- Electricity use overnight
- Environmental conditions like cloud cover
- Seasonal changes
You don’t need to refuel the SPS generator. We service the SPS annually at a minimum and receive notifications when your fuel level is low. We’ll contact you before we need to access your property to carry out any work.
Western Power’s SPS are designed to provide suitable levels of inrush current for most common appliances. The requirements within the Western Australian Service and Installation Requirements (WASIR) specify max inrush of 40A for the Western Power Small network area (which includes 10kVa and 25kVa split phase transformers).
Inrush above 40A may be possible in certain circumstances, however it is not guaranteed on an SPS or on the overhead network.
This means that any equipment larger than 2kVA is likely to exceed 40A inrush without soft starting mechanisms. If you would like more information, please reach out to our team and we can talk you through your individual needs.
For your safety, do not enter the SPS compound. If there is a fault please contact the Western Power Fault Line on 13 13 51.