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For Andrew Cranswick, operations manager at Tumu Timbers in Hastings, the calculation was pretty simple: solar costs had dropped by about a third since they last ooked at it, and power prices had gone up by about the same amount.
If something makes financial sense, he says the board will always support it. And, as they were on a fixed price for their electricity, it was clear the energy they could generate on their own roof was the cheapest energy they could get, something more homes, farms and businesses are discovering.
Working with local company Isaacs, they installed a 340kw solar array and the idea is to use as much of it as possible. The company is planning another similar sized install on another roof.
He says payback will be between 5 and 6 years and the savings will keep coming after that.
When 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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