Why can't I export all my solar? Export limits, explained honestly.
Finding out your solar is “capped” feels like being short-changed — but an export limit is a normal condition of your grid connection, not a fault and not a fine. Your home still uses all its own solar first; the cap only touches the surplus you push to the grid. And here’s the twist the word “dynamic” hides: flexible export usually lets you send more than the old fixed limit, not less.
Reviewed by the Mission Green Energy Team · Updated July 2026
A cap, not a fault
and often a better deal than the fixed limit.
The short, honest answer before the detail.
An export limit is the maximum amount of surplus power your system is allowed to push back into the grid. Your distribution network (the DNSP that owns the poles and wires in your area) sets it as a standard condition of connecting solar — it applies to almost every new system, and it is not a sign anything is broken.
Two things make it far less alarming than it sounds. First, the cap only touches what you export; your home keeps using every kilowatt of its own solar first, and the inverter simply throttles the leftover rather than shutting anything down. Second, if you’re offered a flexible (also called dynamic) export option, it usually lets you send more than the old fixed limit — up to 10kW per phase on SA Power Networks, versus a fixed cap as low as 1.5kW — and curtails only in the rare periods when your local network is congested.
So the smart move is almost never to fight the DNSP or refuse flexible export. It’s to size and load-shift around the cap, so more of your solar gets used at home where it’s worth the most.
It limits your surplus,
not the solar your home uses.
This is the single point most homeowners miss — and it changes everything about how much a cap costs you.
Picture a sunny afternoon. Your panels are making 8kW and the house — aircon, pool pump, a load of washing — is drawing 7kW. Only the leftover 1kW is trying to reach the grid, so a 5kW export cap doesn’t touch you at all, and nothing gets throttled.
Now the washing finishes and the house drops to 2kW. You’re still making 8kW, so 6kW wants to flow out. On a 5kW cap the inverter gently dials its export back to 5kW — it does not switch off, and your home keeps taking whatever it needs. The only energy affected is the 1kW of surplus that sat above the cap in that moment.
The two kinds of limit
and why flexible is usually the winner.
Limits vary widely by network and area, so always confirm your own DNSP’s rules — but the shape of the choice is the same everywhere.
One number, all year
A fixed limit is a single cap that never changes — commonly around 5kW per phase across most Victorian, NSW and Queensland networks, but as low as 1.5kW per phase on SA Power Networks, the strictest fixed option. It’s simple, but it’s set for the network’s worst-case moment, so you’re held to that ceiling even when the grid has plenty of room.
Moves with the network
Flexible (dynamic) export automatically adjusts through the day. On SA Power Networks it ranges up to 10kW per phase when there’s capacity, and only turns down when there’s an excess of energy on the local grid. Because it opens up far more headroom than a low fixed cap, most households can export more overall, not less.
It needs a connection
Flexible export relies on your inverter staying in touch with the network. On SA Power Networks, if your internet connection drops, exports simply ramp down to a lower fixed limit (commonly 1.5kW, lower in some network areas) until connectivity returns — a safe fallback, not a shutdown. Your home keeps self-consuming the whole time.
How much do you really lose
to a cap? Less than you’d fear.
Two things keep the real loss small. First, curtailment on a flexible scheme only happens when the local network is genuinely constrained — SA Power Networks describes turning exports down only when there’s an excess of energy on the grid, and turning them back up to full capacity the rest of the time. Those constrained windows are infrequent, and they tend to fall in the sunniest middle-of-the-day hours when feed-in credits are worth the least anyway.
Second, and more importantly, a well-run home is self-consuming during those same hours — running the dishwasher, pre-cooling the house, charging a battery or an EV. Every kilowatt you use at home is a kilowatt the cap never sees. So for a household that shifts load into the middle of the day, the energy actually lost to a cap is small; the loss lands only on surplus you were giving to the grid for a few cents.
How much a cap matters to you depends on your self-consumption, your feed-in tariff and your system size — so treat any single ‘you’ll lose X’ figure with suspicion and work it out from your own numbers.
New rules in WA
from 1 May 2026.
If you’re in Western Australia’s main grid (the SWIS), one date is worth knowing.
From 1 May 2026, connection rules change for new or upgraded solar and battery systems on WA’s South West Interconnected System. Under the new requirements, a site must either be capable of remote disconnection — which is what enables flexible export and participation in export or VPP products — or accept a fixed export limit of 1.5kW. Systems installed before 1 May 2026 are unaffected.
It’s worth being precise about the “remote disconnection” part, because it sounds ominous. It is an emergency, last-resort capability for the network operator — not routine disconnection of your solar. In normal running your system exports and your home self-consumes as usual; the capability exists so more systems can connect and export flexibly rather than being stuck on the low fixed cap. Confirm the current detail at the source below before you rely on any date or figure, as connection rules are updated over time.
Work with the cap,
don’t fight it.
Three moves that beat any cap by turning exported surplus into self-consumed value.
Use power when the sun’s up
Run the dishwasher, washing machine, pool pump and hot water in the middle of the day. Pre-cool or pre-heat the house before the evening peak. Every load you move into sunlight is solar you use at full retail value instead of exporting for a few cents.
Match the system to your home
A cap changes the value of the last few panels on a big array, but it rarely makes a well-sized system a bad idea — a home that self-consumes well still uses most of what it makes. Our guide on what size solar system you need walks through sizing around your own usage.
Soak up the surplus
A battery, EV or hot-water diverter turns midday surplus — the exact energy a cap would otherwise curtail — into stored value for the evening. Whether that stacks up financially is its own question: start with is a home battery worth it in 2026?
So what should you actually do
about an export limit?
The plain-English version, ordered by the situation you’re in.
If you’re being offered flexible (dynamic) export, take it. On most networks it lets you export more than the old fixed cap and only curtails in rare, congested periods — refusing it usually strands you on a stricter fixed limit. If you’re stuck on a low fixed cap (like SA Power Networks’ 1.5kW), don’t treat it as money lost — treat it as a nudge to self-consume: shift big loads into daylight, and consider a battery, EV or hot-water diverter to soak up the midday surplus the cap would otherwise clip. If you’re still choosing a system size, size it around how much power you actually use during the day, not around exporting as much as possible — with today’s low feed-in tariffs, self-consumption is where solar pays. And if your export genuinely dropped to zero, that’s not a cap — check for a fault instead. What we’d urge against is paying anyone to ‘get around’ a DNSP limit, or refusing flexible export out of suspicion: the cap is a normal connection condition, and for a home that self-consumes well, the energy it costs you is small.
Export limits
your questions, answered.
Because your distribution network (DNSP) sets an export limit as a standard condition of connecting solar. It caps the surplus power your system can push back to the grid to protect local network voltage and capacity. It is not a fault or a penalty, and it applies to almost every new system. Importantly, the cap only affects the surplus you export; your home keeps using all of its own solar first, and the inverter simply throttles the leftover rather than shutting down. Limits vary by network and area, so check your own DNSP for the exact figure that applies to you.
For most households, flexible (dynamic) export is the more generous option. A fixed limit is a single cap that never changes, commonly around 5kW per phase but as low as 1.5kW per phase on SA Power Networks. Flexible export automatically adjusts through the day, ranging up to 10kW per phase on SA Power Networks when the network has capacity, and only turning down when there is an excess of energy on the local grid. Because it opens up far more headroom than a low fixed cap, refusing it can leave you stuck on a worse fixed limit. Confirm what your own network offers.
Usually much less than people fear. A cap only affects surplus you were exporting, not the solar your home uses itself, so if you self-consume well the loss is small. On a flexible scheme, curtailment happens only when the local network is genuinely constrained, which is infrequent and tends to fall in sunny midday hours when feed-in credits are worth least. The exact amount depends on your self-consumption, your feed-in tariff and your system size, so work it out from your own numbers rather than trusting a single headline figure.
No. An export limit only caps the surplus sent to the grid, never the solar your home consumes. Household loads are always served first, and the inverter throttles only the leftover export; it does not shut down. For example, a home drawing 7kW while generating 8kW is only trying to export 1kW, so a 5kW cap does not affect it at all. Your self-consumption is unaffected by the cap, which is why shifting more of your usage into daylight hours is the best way to get value from a capped system.
From 1 May 2026, new or upgraded solar and battery systems on WA's main grid, the South West Interconnected System, must either be capable of remote disconnection, which enables flexible export and export or VPP participation, or accept a fixed export limit of 1.5kW. Systems installed before 1 May 2026 are unaffected. The remote-disconnection capability is an emergency, last-resort provision for the network operator, not routine disconnection of your solar; in normal running your system exports and your home self-consumes as usual. Confirm the current detail with Energy Policy WA, as connection rules are updated over time.
Usually not. On most networks that offer it, flexible export lets you send more power than the old fixed limit and only curtails during rare periods of local network congestion. Refusing it can strand you on a stricter fixed cap; on SA Power Networks that means a 1.5kW fixed limit instead of up to 10kW. Flexible export does rely on your inverter staying connected, and on SA Power Networks a dropped internet connection simply ramps exports down to 1.5kW until it returns, which is a safe fallback rather than a shutdown. For most homes, accepting flexible export is the more generous choice.
Where these figures come from.
Primary sources for the figures and rules in this guide. Limits and dates change over time, so confirm the current detail at the source.
- SA Power Networks — Solar Flexible Exports (fixed 1.5kW vs flexible up to 10kW per phase)
- SA Power Networks — What is Flexible Exports (customer explainer and internet-outage fallback)
- Energy Policy WA — New requirements for solar and batteries (from 1 May 2026)
- ARENA — SA Power Networks Flexible Exports for Solar PV Trial
- Gridly — Solar export limits and grid connection in Australia (industry summary of DNSP limits)