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Forest Lodge Orchard has taken out the Norwood Farming Efficiency Award and the NZFET Innovation Award at the Otago Farm Environment Awards. "Technology and sustainability are the hallmarks of this Cromwell orchard that has grown its harvest exponentially since being developed from bare ground in 2019 ... Right from the start, owners Mike and Rebecca Casey, and Euan and Rachel White have been striving to electrify all orchard methods and equipment – a goal they have achieved. They have an electric tractor, have electrified the orchard’s irrigation pump, installed New Zealand’s first electric frost–fighting fans and are developing an electric foliage sprayer. In 2022, they set themselves a challenge of going completely fossil-fuel-free in the orchard. This will potentially save about $50k per year in energy bills and continues to drive greater creativity in finding or developing alternative approaches."
Read moreDownload the document hereWhen 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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