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"As the Middle East conflict drives up on-farm costs and prompts thousands of farmers to explore solar, ASB has extended its SMART Solar Loan and upgraded its solar planning tools. ASB SMART Solar helps farmers control their energy resilience and costs by generating their own power. Providing up to $150,000 interest-free for five years on solar and battery systems, the award-winning offer has now been extended to June 2027 ... Research by energy transition charity Rewiring Aotearoa for ASB found that while there was 66% latent demand for electrification among farmers, the high upfront installation cost was the key barrier to uptake. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey says: 'We're seeing plenty of demand for solar, batteries and other electric upgrades in the rural sector right now as the price of grid electricity and imported fuels rises. Our research has shown that solar offers big savings, increased resilience and emissions reductions, so it's great ASB is helping to unlock that potential.'"
Read moreDownload the document hereWhen Mike Casey bought his house near Cromwell, it came with gas bottles on the side of the home for water and an expensive diesel system for the underfloor heating. He replaced both of them with a Steibel Eltron system and it's been saving him money ever since. As technical manager Bhawesh Singh told him at the Electrify Queenstown conference, there has been a big influx in enquiries from homes looking to get off the molecules and onto electrons.
Read moreDownloadConfidence that cutting regulations to make solar power more accessible - won't jeopardise people's safety. A new Regulation Ministry reports laid out a potential blueprint to legalise plug-in solar and reduce the time and cost of panel installation. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey shares his thoughts with Andrew Dickens.
The burgeoning demand for solar was also a chance to address a mismatch between the numbers of training opportunities available and young people searching for work, Casey said. "The mums of New Zealand are telling me that there's not enough apprenticeships for their kids and the solar installers of New Zealand are telling me there's not enough trained people."
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