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RNZ's money correspondent Susan Edmunds crunches the numbers and finds energy experts extolling rooftop solar's virtues, especially for those with EVs, big power users and those working from home.
Following on from the liquidation of SolarZero, RNZ money correspondent Susan Edmunds posed a question this morning: 'Is it worth getting a solar system?'
Answer: if you're looking for the cheapest electricity New Zealand households can get, then yes.
We regularly shout about solar from the rooftops, but we like it even more when others pick up our research and add to the volume. And, as Consumer's Paul Fuge summarised: "It's a real no brainer … now it just makes such financial sense to do it."
It makes even more sense for those who own electric vehicles because rooftop solar is the cheapest fuel on offer. And it is also the cheapest way to heat your water.
As she said: "It takes just five to eight years for a typical solar power system to pay for itself on a New Zealand home, experts say. But people who are high power users, or who work from home during the day could potentially benefit faster."
The cost of solar panels and batteries has fallen dramatically in recent years. But the playing field is still not level and that's why we are advocating for the rules to change so that customers are fairly rewarded for their exports, particularly at peak times.
Here's to running on the sun.
Financial 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.
Read moreDownloadAs Minister of energy, climate and local government, Simon Watts had a great opportunity to push the country towards cheaper, cleaner and more reliable New Zealand-made energy. And that’s why we laid down a challenge and gave him the ‘MegaWatts’ moniker last year. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey says he did some good things, like enabling more solar on farms, removing tax on solar exports, fixing onerous solar consenting requirements, putting pressure on the lines companies to pull up their socks, and getting the ball rolling on the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme. "But the LNG import terminal appears to have been a defining issue."
Read moreDownloadAfter ‘crunching the numbers’ and adding in new sources of ‘New Zealand-made energy’ to our equations, CEO Mike Casey has announced that Rewiring Aotearoa will be changing its name to Refuelling Aotearoa. There has been a huge amount of independently verified research showing electrification beats fossil fuels on economics, efficiency, emissions and energy security and that there is a huge opportunity for New Zealand to electrify, but the discovery of an infinite supply of snake oil in New Zealand has changed everything, he says.
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