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RNZ's Eloise Gibson has taken another look at the energy sector and found there are lessons to be learned from Australia, where around one third of homes have rooftop solar. In New Zealand, the number is a lot lower, but it's growing quickly and that's largely because it makes economic sense over the long term, especially if you've electrified your appliances and vehicles. Batteries and solar combos are also becoming more common and every home with a battery basically removes themselves from the peak period. "But Mike Casey of clean energy charity Rewiring Aotearoa said battery prices were falling quickly, and combined solar and battery systems were now the cheapest source of energy available to households - even including the upfront cost of buying the equipment ... Casey said if households had better access to low-cost loans, they could buy household batteries themselves and take pressure off electricity generators by using their own power in times of shortage. They could also sell their surplus to others, taking more pressure off the grid when supply is tight."
If you've got solar, the best option is to use as much of it as possible to avoid high grid prices, but being paid to export energy is a nice cherry on top. It means many New Zealanders end up getting paid by their power company and shorten the payback period of their systems. Regulatory changes that meant customers would be paid more for exporting at peak times were meant to make batteries more appealing to customers and reduce the need for more investment in expensive poles and wires, but, as Marc Daalder writes in Newsroom, some retailers are not passing on the full value of those exports.
Read moreDownloadFinancial commentator Frances Cook uses her own story to show that that an investment in solar and an EV significantly outperforms the stock market and fellow number cruncher Nadine Higgins says that if you do it right, EVs are cheaper to run and own; EV sales have climbed to their highest level since 2022 and are closing in on 2023's numbers and Go Rentals has just invested $2.3 million in some new Tesla Model Y Premiums; the gap between energy costs of diesel vans and utes and electric vans and utes is absolutely massive; solar is also going off right now, with one installer in Otago 448% above their sales target in March; Lightforce has gone back to the Barretts with a new TV ad; Wellington mayor Andrew Little explains its electrification strategy and Hutt City Council shares data showing how its fleet has gone from dirty Toyotas to cleaner EVs; Shenzen in China has electrified its public transport and taxis and that's come with big benefits - and some challenges; and a very simple illustration of the LNG terminal.
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