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Rewiring Aotearoa has long argued that there were arbitrary restrictions on the amount of power those with rooftop solar could export to the grid and that was leading to smaller systems and savings - and higher electricity prices for everyone else. We said we'd be keeping an eye on the networks to ensure they followed the Government's recommendations so it's pleasing to see Aurora double its export limit for households from 5kw to 10kw.
Aurora Energy is one of the first electricity distribution businesses in Aotearoa New Zealand to increase the limit on how much solar power households can export back to the grid.
The change is a response to strong customer growth across the Otago network and follows the Government’s plans to expand the voltage range from +/- 6 percent to +/- 10 percent.
Aurora Energy’s recent smart meter data trial, along with mandated inverter voltage control, gives confidence that the export limit can be raised ahead of the Government’s increase in voltage limits.
It means that from 1 August 2025, Aurora Energy will raise its limit to allow Single Phase Domestic Connections to export up to 10 kW of electricity. The current limit on the network is 5 kW.
Chief Executive Richard Fletcher says the change represents the lines company’s move towards a smart and future-ready network that encourages greater adoption of renewable energy while still maintaining grid safety and stability.
Increasing the export limit can make the value proposition for investing in solar and battery technology more appealing to homeowners, by enabling excess domestically generated power to be exported into the network, thereby generating income.
“This change is one of the examples of Aurora Energy leading the way in enabling smarter, more sustainable energy solutions,” Mr Fletcher says.
“By increasing solar export limits, we’re not just responding to customer demand, but showing how electricity distribution businesses can support the transition to renewable energy.”
Technical details
In the last Electric Avenue of 2025, we look at the two biggest trends in the world of energy; the Government goes electric for its fancy fleet upgrade; Nick Offerman offers his services to a US campaign extolling the virtues of EVs; Australia shows what's possible in new homes when you add solar, batteries and smart tech; a start-up selling portable solar and battery systems that wants it to be as easy and common as wi-fi; and The Lines Company looks to put some solar on the roof of the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House.
Read moreDownloadWhen it comes to electric farming, "the numbers are becoming undeniable," says Nicholson Poultry's Jeff Collings. With 60kW of solar, a Nissan Leaf as a 'farm quad', electric mowers, an electric ute that can run a water blaster, and even a chicken manure scraper made out of a wrecked Tesla that, as Rewiring's Matt Newman says, looks a bit like something out of Mad Max, "almost everything is electric". There aren't many others in New Zealand who have gone this far down the electric road. And, with his electric Stark Varg, the fastest off-road motorbike in the world, he's obviously having plenty of fun on that road, too.
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