CSIRO Energy Centre scientists have established what they describe as virtual power stations at their homes, at the organisation's Mayfield premises and at the Kooragang Wetlands to enable networked solar power to be produced and fed into the electricity grid, on demand.

There is a total of eight stations, six of them at scientists' homes.

Research engineer John Ward said one of the potential benefits was the ability of a virtual power station to feed renewable energy into the grid when demand for power was forecast to peak.

"It gets easier the bigger the network is. It could be a group of schools," Dr Ward said.

The CSIRO is designing a control system that can signal the right time to release the stored solar energy and help avoid the disruption caused when demand for electricity peaks, which is common on very hot days when air-conditioning use increases.

Kooragang farm manager Rob Henderson said the batteries that stored solar power generated from photovoltaic cells on the roof of his shed were small and unobtrusive and he speculated on the benefits of having a similar set-up on every street corner.

The scientists believe combined power generated by the individual power stations can be co-ordinated reliably and controlled to the same degree as a centralised generation plant, making renewable energy a more valued part of the electricity generation mix.

"Understanding co-ordination of [power] generation and load on a local scale is crucial to long-term energy goals," Dr Ward said.

The eight power station-network will be operating by the end of August, when the CSIRO will be seeking community participation and, Dr Ward hopes, getting the attention of power companies.