Grin and Barrett

He’s known for running through gaps on the rugby field, but now Beauden Barrett is running on sun at his holiday home and has signed up as a brand ambassador for Lightforce Solar to show off his self-sufficiency. 

He’s fronting a new campaign with the tagline 'The Future is Obvious' and it uses his story (and him pointing at the sun, like a solar-focused Kim Jong Un) to showcase the many benefits of solar electric homes and cars.

“Beauden and his wife Hannah own a holiday home not far from Auckland and have recently installed a state-of-the-art Lightforce Solar system on the roof of the property. The solar install is the gold standard and includes a 20kW Sigenergy 3-phase hybrid inverter plus 24kWh batteries allowing the family to store the power they generate, building resilience from power outages, reducing the power bill, and creating a sustainable energy solution.”  

The Barretts have even got a very fast 25kw Sigenergy bidirectional capable charger, which we mentioned a few weeks back. 

As we wrote in a recent explainer 'why electric vehicles matter': "Technology like vehicle to home (V2H) or vehicle to grid (V2G) turns EVs from what many believe is a problem (‘the grid won’t be able to handle all this extra charging load’, which is BS, by the way) into a resource (‘batteries in cars could help smooth the peaks on the grid and power their home or their neighbours’ home and provide weeks of resilience in a natural disaster')."

Good stuff, Beaudy. A master tactician on the field and a good decision maker off the field, too. Let's hope his star power can help draw attention to benefits of solar power.  

False economies

Over in Australia, it’s election season and the parties are offering voters sweeteners on energy to help Aussies with their cost of living pressures. Our friends at Rewiring Australia have called it a “BATTLE OF THE BAND-AIDS” because they are only offering short-term solutions. 

As CEO Francis Vierboom says: “Labor's giving out time-limited cash off electricity bills, Coalition's doing it for petrol instead. What about a plan that actually reduces energy AND petrol bills in the long term - moving to solar electric homes and cars?”

As this news coverage shows, there are plenty of savings on offer for electric homes - and it’s a similar story in New Zealand. 

An electrification loan scheme is one of the best ways Governments can help reduce household bills over the long term, something we’re also working hard on here in New Zealand. 

Electric marae

We’ve seen a few examples of marae installing solar (and often batteries) to improve resilience and, in some cases, helping to reduce costs for those in the community through energy sharing schemes. 

In Tairāwhiti, a major project is underway to install solar on 21 marae. 

As Trust Tairāwhiti wrote: “Marae have always served as a space for whānau to connect. During recent severe weather events, marae have played a crucial role in providing a safe space for communities and displaced whānau, distributing supplies and acting as community hubs to coordinate emergency response efforts. Installing solar energy systems will ensure that these marae can continue operating during times of crisis – even through power cuts, strengthening the overall resilience of their communities.” 

Funded primarily by an $856,979 grant from the Cyclone Gabrielle Appeal Trust (CGAT), as well as funding from a number of other organisations, the $2 million project is kicking off soon. 

Ripple effect

In a piece on the Herald, one of Rewiring Aotearoa’s resident energy experts Steve Batsone and his Whiteboard Energy colleague David Reeve lay out the reasons New Zealand’s electricity system needs to get smarter rather than just rely on more generation and looks back at the story of a true pioneer, Lloyd Mandeno, to show what’s possible. 

As the story says: “Taking a step back from the relentless focus on how we can power New Zealand’s predicted growth in energy demand, the question arises: what if we change the demand?

This was the bright idea of Lloyd Mandeno, a pioneering Kiwi engineer who ran one of New Zealand’s first hydropower stations at Ōmanawa Falls in the 1920s. Mandeno had just invented what was possibly one of the world’s first water storage heaters – a galvanised-iron cylinder, insulated with 15cm of pumice, with a 350W heating element.

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While electric hot water on demand was an instant hit with people, it was also an instant hit to the power system. Tauranga residents were all taking hot baths at the same time of day and overloading the power station. The simple but ingenious solution was a two-way switch above the stove labelled “stove” and “water heater”. It meant that if the stove was on, the water heater was off – and vice versa. This reduced demand on Mandeno’s power station because people couldn’t cook and bathe at the same time.

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This was New Zealand’s first-ever technology for electricity load management. By the 1940s, many electric power boards had installed control systems that sent electric “ripple” signals down the power lines instructing water heaters to switch on or off, and many more would be installed. “Ripple control” of household water boilers is still a major part of our electricity system today. The amount of potential demand that can be shifted through smart hot water management is about the same size as the entire Huntly Power Station.” 

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Ripple control, while effective, is a fairly blunt instrument and we have much better ways of managing demand now. Using EVs as an example, time of use plans offer economic signals to charge when the rates are low and most owners are pretty savvy, either using timers or apps to set charging times.

Given our poles and wires are only at 40% capacity on average, the grid can handle the extra charging - if we do it smartly.  

Bubbling away

While we’re big advocates of rooftop solar because of the economic benefits to customers, it’s always good to see more large-scale renewable electricity come on stream. New Zealand has major advantages in this regard, with a world-class hydro system (that solar could work very well with to keep more water in our lakes) and plenty of underground activity that we can harness.

As part of the World Energy Council’s Humanising Energy series, Contact shows geothermal energy is a taonga. 

“The team share stories about their mahi at our geothermal power stations in Taupō – how they help keep the lights on for New Zealand, the importance of tangata whenua relations, and innovations to be kinder to the planet.” 

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