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Diesel generators, you're cooked! We’ve seen a few of our electric communities plug in to their EVs at small events and that's great to see, but Hamish Roberge from Tom Tom Productions in Queenstown has developed a solution that can be rolled out for bigger gigs. Roberge is currently on the job delivering the third Electrify Queenstown conference and it was during last year's conference that he was inspired to create NRG Event Batteries.
He looked around for other options that were already on the market, but couldn't find the right solution so he built one himself with the help of a bank loan.
He says the quiet, clean 76 kWh substitution is designed for music events, remote weddings, corporate events and film sets.
"The more you dive into it, it's better for events. And the fact that it has environmental benefits is just an added bonus on the end."
He says it's around the same price as running a diesel generator, but the price of diesel is "pretty spicy" right now and unlikely to come down quickly, whereas charging via cheap solar could bring that price down.
During the first Electrify Queenstown conference, Mike Casey brought his electric tractor along and plugged in some electric heaters to warm the marquee for the exhibition. Gas heaters were not going to fly at an event like that. And, increasingly, with battery powered options like this one, diesel generators aren't going to cut it for events either.
Electric vehicles are increasingly pulling into New Zealand workshops - and mechanics need the right qualifications to work on them safely. High-voltage battery systems carry risks for untrained technicians, and as EVs become a larger share of the national fleet, workshops without qualified staff risk being left behind. Some vehicle manufacturers are also beginning to require demonstrated technician competency as a condition of warranty-related work - a trend that is expected to grow. Here's where the training is on offer.
Read moreDownloadSolar and storage on farms has been going off like a frog in a sock recently. And Federated Farmers has made it a big part of its election manifesto. While Wayne Langford recently missed out on a fourth term as president, he's a Bright Spark in our books for all the work he's done to get this issue on the political radar and help speed up adoption.
Read moreDownload"To emphasise both the risk and the opportunity for New Zealand’s political economy, the price of Brent crude hit US$100 a barrel again on Friday, which is likely to push petrol prices back towards $3.50/litre. But New Zealand’s uptake of EVs, home solar, home batteries and grid-scale solar and batteries is lagging far behind most other countries, who have incentives and national strategies to electrify fast."
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