Your solar stopped exporting to the grid?
Before you panic — or ring anyone — it helps to work out which of three very different problems you actually have. This is the calm, honest checklist to tell them apart safely, and to know exactly who to call when it's time.
Reviewed by Josh, Mission Green Energy Team · Updated July 2026
"Stopped exporting" is
three different problems.
Most of the confusion comes from lumping three very different situations under one phrase. Sort yours into the right bucket first and the rest gets much simpler.
Not generating at all
The panels aren't making power, so there's nothing to export. The inverter is off, showing a red light or fault code, or a rooftop isolator or the AC supply has tripped. Fix the generation first — the export follows.
Generating but not exporting
The inverter shows solar being produced, but little or none reaches the grid. Usually that's just high self-consumption (normal), but it can also be a network export limit, a zero-export setting, or grid-voltage rise curtailing the inverter.
Exporting but not credited
Power is flowing to the grid, but the credits aren't on your bill. That points downstream — a meter never reconfigured for solar, a retailer or plan change, or the feed-in tariff itself.
What can you safely
check yourself?
The good news: every genuinely safe check here is something you read on a screen or a bill — not something you touch. The moment a fix involves wiring, the meter or the roof, it stops being a DIY job.
Safe to do yourself: read the status light, screen and app on your inverter; read the display on a modern digital meter; and read your electricity bill. If your inverter manual describes a simple restart via its own isolator switch, you can turn it off and back on only if it is safe and simple to reach and the manual says to — wait the recommended time before switching back on. That's the limit.
Not a DIY job — call a professional: anything beyond a basic reset. Never open the inverter, meter or switchboard, never touch DC wiring or rooftop cabling, and never go on the roof yourself. All electrical work must be carried out by a licensed electrician. For faults, restarts that don't hold, or suspected wiring issues, call your installer or a CEC-accredited service technician. For metering, feed-in and billing, call your retailer. For grid-voltage and export-limit questions, your network (DNSP) and installer are the right people. When in doubt, don't touch it — ask.
Is the system actually
generating anything?
If the panels aren't producing, there's nothing to export — so this is always the first thing to rule out. It's usually the easiest to spot, too.
Check the inverter first. In daylight, a healthy inverter shows a steady "normal" or "on-grid" status and your monitoring app shows watts being produced. If instead you see a blank screen, a red or amber warning light, an error message, or the app shows zero generation on a sunny day, you're in Case 1 — a generation problem, not an export problem.
Common, mostly benign causes include the AC supply breaker for the solar circuit having tripped at the switchboard, or a rooftop or inverter DC isolator having tripped. If your inverter's manual describes a safe, simple restart via its own isolator, you can try that once — turn it off, wait the time the manual specifies, and turn it back on. If it faults again, or shows a specific error code, don't keep power-cycling it. Note the exact code and message and match it against our guide to inverter red lights and fault codes, then call your installer or a CEC-accredited technician. Never open the inverter or reset anything by touching internal wiring — a restart is a switch on the outside, nothing more.
Generating fine, but nothing's
going to the grid?
This is the trickiest bucket, because the most common cause is completely normal — and the rest need a professional to confirm. Here's how to read it honestly.
You're using it all
High self-consumption is the number-one reason. A hot day with air conditioning, a pool pump, an EV charging or a battery topping up can absorb everything the panels make, so exports drop to near zero. That's the system working as intended, not a fault.
An export limit
Your network (DNSP) may cap how much you can export — a fixed limit, or in some connections a zero-export arrangement that sends nothing to the grid by design. It's set in your connection agreement and configured in the inverter, so it's not something to change yourself.
Grid-voltage rise
On long or busy feeders, the local voltage can climb high enough that the inverter throttles or curtails export to stay safe — sometimes briefly disconnecting around midday. That's the inverter protecting the grid, and it needs the network or installer to measure and address.
To sort normal self-consumption from a real limit, watch your monitoring app at a quiet moment — say, mid-morning on a clear day with little running in the house. If the inverter is generating well and your usage is low but exports are still stuck at zero or a flat ceiling, that hints at an export cap, a zero-export setting, or voltage curtailment rather than plain self-consumption. You can gather that evidence safely, but the diagnosis and any change to inverter export settings must be done by your installer, retailer or DNSP. Don't attempt to alter export limits or inverter configuration yourself — it's both an electrical and a network-compliance matter. If a network issue is suspected, our note on the DNSP side of solar and battery connections explains who does what.
Why grid voltage can quietly
cut your export.
It's one of the least-understood reasons a healthy system exports less than you'd expect — and it's not a fault. Here's the plain-English version.
Every grid-connected inverter in Australia is required to keep the voltage at your connection within a safe range. When lots of homes on the same street export solar at the same time, or when you're a long way down a rural or fringe-of-grid feeder, the local voltage can rise toward the top of that range. To protect the grid, the inverter responds by throttling or curtailing its output — and if the voltage climbs too high, it will briefly disconnect until things settle, then reconnect. That's designed behaviour, not a defect.
What you'll notice is the inverter running below its rated output when the sun is strong, or short drop-outs around the middle of the day. The honest catch is there's nothing here for you to adjust — the fix lives on the network side or in inverter settings only a professional should change. If you suspect voltage rise, the useful thing you can do is log it: note the times, take screenshots of the inverter or app showing the reduced output, and pass that to your installer or network (DNSP). They can measure the voltage at your connection and, where it's justified, adjust settings or investigate the feeder.
Exporting fine, but no
feed-in credits?
If the inverter clearly shows power going to the grid but the credits never show up, the problem is downstream of the panels — in the meter, the plan, or the tariff. This is a paperwork-and-phone-calls fix, not a rooftop one.
The most common culprit is a meter that was never reconfigured to record exports after solar went in. Until the meter is set up to measure energy flowing out, your generation is effectively invisible to the retailer, so no credit appears. Other causes are a retailer or plan change that dropped or reduced your feed-in tariff, a straightforward billing or account error, or simply a feed-in rate that has fallen over time.
To check safely, read your latest bill and look for a feed-in or solar export line — a rate (c/kWh) and a number of kilowatt-hours credited. Then compare that exported figure with what your inverter or monitoring app says you exported over the same dates. If the two roughly match, your metering is working and the question is really about the rate — see why a bill can rise after solar. If the bill shows no export at all, or a rate you never agreed to, that points to a meter-reconfiguration or retailer issue. Contact your retailer first — they arrange any meter reconfiguration through the network — and involve a licensed electrician only if the metering or wiring itself needs checking. You should never open or reprogram the meter yourself.
Installer, retailer or
network — who fixes what?
Once you know which of the three cases you're in, the right phone call is obvious. Here's the honest map so you don't waste a week bounced between parties.
Your installer / a CEC-accredited service
For Case 1 — an inverter that's off, faulting or showing a red light, or a restart that won't hold. They service the equipment and read fault codes. Always the right call for anything involving the inverter, wiring or the roof.
Your retailer
For Case 3 — feed-in tariff, credits and billing. They handle your plan and the feed-in rate, and they're the ones who arrange a meter reconfiguration through the network when the meter isn't recording exports.
Your network (DNSP)
For Case 2's technical side — export limits, zero-export arrangements and grid-voltage rise. They own the poles, wires and your connection agreement, and can measure the voltage at your connection point.
So — what should you actually do?
Here's the sequence we'd give a friend: read before you touch, sort it into one of the three cases, then make the one right phone call.
Start with your inverter app and your latest bill — two safe reads that tell you whether you're not generating (Case 1), generating but not exporting (Case 2), or exporting but not credited (Case 3). If it's Case 1, try one manual restart via the inverter's isolator only if the manual says it's safe, then call your installer if it doesn't hold. If it's Case 2, gather a few screenshots and take them to your installer or network — much of what looks like a fault is either normal self-consumption or protective voltage curtailment. If it's Case 3, ring your retailer about the feed-in tariff and metering. And across all of it: leave wiring, the meter and the roof to a licensed electrician. Being methodical here saves you money and needless call-outs — the honest answer is often "nothing is broken", and it's worth knowing that before anyone quotes you for a repair.
Solar not exporting?
Your questions, answered.
There are three different things people mean by this, and they have different causes. First, your system may not be generating at all — the inverter is off, showing a fault or red light, or a rooftop DC isolator or the AC supply has tripped, so there is nothing to export. Second, it may be generating but not exporting — you could be using all the power yourself, an export limit set by your network (DNSP) may cap or zero your exports, or a grid-voltage rise on your street can make the inverter throttle or curtail its output. Third, it may be exporting but not being credited — the meter may not have been reconfigured for solar, or your retailer plan or feed-in tariff has changed. The honest first step is to check your inverter or monitoring app to see whether it is generating, then check your meter and your latest bill. Anything involving wiring, the meter or grid voltage is a job for a licensed electrician, your retailer or your network.
If your inverter shows solar being produced but little or nothing is going to the grid, the most common and completely normal reason is that your household is simply using it all — a hot day with air conditioning, a pool pump, an EV charging or a battery topping up can soak up everything the panels make. Beyond normal self-consumption, there are three technical causes: an export limit set by your network (DNSP) that caps exports to a fixed level or, in a zero-export arrangement, to nothing; a grid-voltage rise on your street that makes the inverter throttle or curtail export to stay within its safe voltage window; or the inverter being configured for a lower export cap than you expect. You can sanity-check normal self-consumption yourself by watching your monitoring app when nothing much is running mid-day. Diagnosing an export limit, a zero-export setting or a voltage problem is a job for your installer, retailer or DNSP — do not attempt to change inverter export settings or wiring yourself.
Grid voltage rise is when the voltage on your part of the network climbs toward the top of the allowed range, often because many homes on the same street are exporting solar at once, or because you are a long way down a rural or fringe-of-grid feeder. Australian inverters are required to protect the grid by reducing their output — throttling or curtailing export — and, if the voltage goes too high, briefly disconnecting until it settles. That is the inverter doing its job, not a fault, but it can noticeably cut how much you export in the middle of a sunny day. You may see it as the inverter running below its rated output when the sun is strong, or as brief drop-outs around midday. There is nothing safe for you to adjust yourself. If you suspect voltage rise, log it and contact your installer or your network (DNSP), who can measure the voltage at your connection and, where warranted, adjust inverter settings or investigate the network.
If your inverter and monitoring show power flowing to the grid but the credits are not appearing on your bill, the problem is usually downstream of the panels — in the meter, the retailer plan, or the tariff itself. A common cause is a meter that was never reconfigured to record exports after solar was installed, so your generation is invisible to the retailer. Other causes are a retailer or plan change that dropped or reduced the feed-in tariff, a billing or account error, or a feed-in rate that has simply fallen. Start by reading your latest bill: look for a feed-in or solar export line and check the rate and the kilowatt-hours credited. Compare that against what your inverter says you exported over the same period. If the bill shows no export at all, or a rate you did not agree to, that is a meter reconfiguration or retailer issue — contact your retailer first, and your network or a licensed electrician if the meter needs to be reprogrammed or checked.
The safe way to check is on paper and in your app, not at the meter box. First, look at your electricity bill for a feed-in tariff or solar export line and a kilowatt-hour figure for energy exported — if solar has been running for a full billing period and that line is zero or missing, the meter may not be configured to record exports. Second, compare the exported energy on the bill with the export figure in your inverter or monitoring app over the same dates; a large mismatch points to a metering or billing problem. You can safely read the numbers on a modern digital meter's display, but you should never open the meter, touch its wiring or attempt to reprogram it — that is the network's or a licensed electrician's job. If the checks suggest the meter is not set up for solar, contact your retailer, who arranges a meter reconfiguration through the network, or ask your installer to help chase it up.
It depends on which of the three problems you have. If the system is not generating — the inverter is off, faulting or showing a red light — call your installer or a CEC-accredited service technician, after safely trying a restart via the inverter's isolator only if the manual says to. If the system is generating but not exporting because of an export limit, a zero-export setting or grid-voltage rise, that is a network (DNSP) and installer matter — they can check the connection agreement and measure the voltage. If the system is exporting but not being credited, start with your retailer about the feed-in tariff and billing, as they arrange any meter reconfiguration through the network. For anything involving wiring, the switchboard, the meter or work at height, always use a licensed electrician — never open equipment, touch DC wiring or go on the roof yourself. If you are not sure which bucket you are in, a free Mission Green assessment can help you work it out and point you to the right party.