Model Standing Offer contracts

Our agreement with solar customers

The Model Standing Offer (MSO) is our contract with each solar customer.

Solar installers typically act as an agent on behalf of the customer to coordinate the information required for the MSO.

The contract registers the solar connection and confirms:

• The system has been installed in a way that is safe and complies with all the conditions of the MSO, particularly those to do with Smart Inverter Settings.
• The system is set to export the maximum amount of power approved in our Solar Export Pre-Approval
• The obligations of the owner of the ‘embedded generator’ that is exporting power into our network
• Our rights to have access to the property or remotely to the system so that we can check it is operating in line with the agreed conditions.

The conditions in the MSO are important for ensuring that power quality, security and reliability is maintained for everyone.

Distributed energy resources technology

Solar systems are part of a new set of technologies called ‘distributed energy resources’ or DER.  This defines any type of system that is generating electricity in a localised way.

The market operator, AEMO, manages a register of distributed energy resources known as the DER Register.

Via the MSO, networks collect detailed information on the make and model of all distributed energy resources and provide this to AEMO for inclusion in the register.

This helps AEMO and networks like us to make better decisions about how best to invest in and manage the electricity market to help customers make the most of their investments in these new technologies.