Operation Laser Kiwi: help us take New Zealand-made energy on the road
Research overseas has shown that gardening gear can be a gateway drug for electrification. People often start small with a lawnmower or a weed eater, figure out that the tools perform better than petrol equivalents (without the fumes, noise or starting issues), and then they gain the confidence to upgrade some of the larger machines in their home. Mike Casey uses electric Stihl tools on his cherry orchard and he was like a kid in a candy shop at the Fieldays tent looking at all the new electric toys on offer. Just a couple of years ago, Stihl's product manager Phil Needham says it would have been full of petrol products, but now it's mostly batteries. There are still some petrol options for "the diehards", but it's clear where things are heading.
Sales of petrol lawnmowers are definitely falling away across the board, he says; its electric auger for post hole drilling has more grunt that the petrol version; and its largest electric chainsaw is 30% faster than equivalent petrol products.
Casey says his electric weed eater would probably get 1,000 hours of use every year and while he doesn't bother using the leaf blower for the leaves as there are just too many of them on the orchard, he did manage to blow some snow off the solar panels when the price of power was quite high, so it basically paid for itself.
People installing solar power systems with batteries on their homes, hoping to avoid the disruption of a power cut, are being told to check with the installer that the battery can provide that protection.
Read moreDownloadKiwis are catching on to the benefits of solar panels - and demand's spiking ... But the industry warns we need about six thousand more trained electricians - across the country - to do the work. Rewiring Aotearoa Chief Executive, Mike Casey told Heather du Plessis-Allan he hopes interest will continue over time. He says oil shortages because of the Iran war is keeping demand high - with energy prices climbing. He says solar is the one reprieve Kiwis get.
Roger Robson-Williams owns 20% of New Zealand's electric tractor fleet. That sounds impressive, until you learn there are only five of them. But, like his fellow electric tractor enthusiast Mike Casey, he's on a mission to change that by providing a bit of inspiration and information.
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