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St Heliers Presbyterian Church and Community Centre has seen the light! Jody Bews-Hair, one of the directors of the charitable company operating Community Centre facilities and project co-initiator, says installing 68 solar panels and a battery was driven by three key motivations: building community resilience, environmental sustainability, and managing rising energy costs.
The system is estimated to save over $500 per month; carbon emissions are expected to be reduced by almost five tonnes; and the church's new battery system means it can operate as a Community Emergency Hub during power outages.
Over 100 congregation members came together to launch the installation – many wearing yellow in recognition of the solar milestone – alongside community leaders, Ōrākei Local Board representatives, Rewiring Aotearoa, Eco Church New Zealand, and Lightforce Solar representatives. Rev Dr. Jordan Redding led the ceremony and there was also a cake cutting featuring a church-shaped cake complete with chocolate solar panels.
"We are exceptionally grateful to our parishioners who generously donated close to $60,000 to make this vision a reality," says Bews-Hair. "Combined with the Ōrākei Local Board's $8,000 grant, this community support shows what's possible when we work together. We hope this inspires other churches and community centres to explore solar solutions. The research by Rewiring Aotearoa shows incredible potential for household power savings from solar across New Zealand. If we can lead by example, perhaps more of our community will consider solar for their own homes and businesses."
Political Power has gone local! Dr Nick Smith, mayor of Nelson and ex-National Party minister, is an early adopter when it comes to electric machines but, through his efforts with the council and his close involvement with the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme, he's also embracing one of Rewiring's core mantras: once you've electrified your own life, electrify someone else's life, too.
Read moreDownloadWhether it's the growing number of electric buses, new electric trains for the lower North Island and City Rail Link, or new electric ferries, we love seeing more electric transport options in our big cities. It's also good to see some of our smaller cities like Palmerston North, Timaru and Nelson going electric and, as is almost always the case, the drivers reckon it's better on electrons. At the Electrify Nelson expo, we spoke with one driver Lee about the city's electric buses. And he definitely wouldn't go back to diesel.
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