Read our new Electric Homes and Vehicles report
For households, upgrading to an electric vehicle is likely to save you money over the long term (and the proposed RUCs scheme will make EVs even more economically appealing). It is also likely to have the biggest impact on your emissions. Similar benefits apply to businesses and it makes increasingly good sense as more electric machines become available and the upfront costs drop further. All these electric machines set to be put to use in New Zealand will increase demand for electricity and put pressure on our existing network. And that's where a company like Thundergrid comes in.
As CEO Johnny Parker says, it tests about 50 different brands of chargers - from AC chargers for fleet managers and employee home charging to DC chargers built for heavy transport - and helps design, install and monitor them.
Smart chargers are able to dial power use up or down automatically when required and some of the newer models can even recognise individual cars with a 'handshake', so there's no need for RFID fobs.
Chargers that can also send power from the car's big battery back to the home or the grid are becoming more widely available in New Zealand and more are on their way. There are no regulatory or system issues standing in the way of this; we just need all the manufacturers to allow that capability and when our cars can play a role in the energy system, that changes the calculations.
As Parker says: "People have got batteries in their home and batteries in their car and it creates a lot more stability out there."
If you know of anyone who deserves to be featured on our weekly Bright Sparks segment, get in touch.
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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