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Queenstown Electrification Accelerator project lead Josh Ellison explains the potential of V2G and the launch of the country's biggest trial in Queenstown. As he said: "A new EV can store three to four days’ worth of household electricity use in its battery, and EV owners with a V2G charger and rooftop solar could keep charging their vehicles indefinitely."
"In the future, when most vehicles are expected to be electric, just half of the nationwide fleet could hold more energy capacity than all the country’s power stations combined, he says.
A small number of chargers will be installed in selected homes and businesses early next year to allow some initial testing.
QEA will then release a more detailed application process for all the vehicle and charger types in the trial so the remainder of the installations can be done, probably by the middle of next year.
"We’ve already had a lot of people register their interest."
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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