Read our new Electric Homes and Vehicles report
Introducing Bright Sparks, a new regular feature where we shine a light on some of the country's electrification heroes. First up, electric maritime innovator Fiona Bycroft.
There's a lot happening in New Zealand's electrification scene, whether it's homeowners investing in solar, batteries and EVs, volunteers setting up community groups in their region, innovators pushing the boundaries in their businesses, or decision makers doing what they can to try and speed up the inevitable transition to electric machines run on local electrons.
We want to celebrate these legends, so we're launching a new section called Bright Sparks where we share the stories of clever, committed New Zealanders who are doing their bit to make our country more electric.
Our inaugural Bright Spark is Fiona Bycroft from Naut, whose company produces systems that can be dropped into boats from 7m to more than 24m long. She and the team recently brought one down from Whangarei to show off at the three-day Electrify Queenstown conference and it was put to the test on Lake Wakatipu.
As she says in the video interview, electric vehicles are now becoming more mainstream, in part because of the early adopters who bought the vehicles and those who advocated for (and built) the infrastrucure: "I want boats to be the same. We're in those early days of tech and so really we're building the market at the moment but I'd hope in ten years time that this is what everyone is using."
We've got a long list of heroes on our list, but we're always looking for more suggestions so get in touch if you think there's someone who you think deserves a shout out.
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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