The case for energy loans: read our latest explainer
RNZ's Kathryn Ryan has talked to energy researchers who claim rising demand for electricity in summer (largely due to increasing air conditioning requirements and EVs) will have repercussions on lake levels come next winter. And while Transpower says the risks of an electricity supply shortage this year have eased, next winter's forecast is concerning. Irrigation is also a major user of electricity in summer in some regions. Solar is well-suited to both of these cases as the electricity is usually required during the day when the sun is out, so more solar at home and on our farms can provide a lot of what we need with less strain on the grid and at the lowest cost.
As we have mentioned previously, New Zealand's electricity is much less renewable - and much more expensive - when there’s not enough water in our hydro lakes and we have to burn coal or gas in winter at times of high demand, like we did this year.
Rooftop solar is the cheapest form of electricity availlable to New Zealand households, because the price of the panels has declined so rapidly and the energy is generated where it is used. The price has declined rapidly, while grid electricity has risen and is expected to keep doing so (the red line is what customers are expected to pay for more expensive upgrades to the poles and wires).
Sunshine hours are, on average, 5% higher in a dry year compared to the average and 10% higher in April/May/June. More rooftop solar could help provide the electricity the country needs through winter, and also ensure we go into winter with higher lake levels.
In the last Electric Avenue of 2025, we look at the two biggest trends in the world of energy; the Government goes electric for its fancy fleet upgrade; Nick Offerman offers his services to a US campaign extolling the virtues of EVs; Australia shows what's possible in new homes when you add solar, batteries and smart tech; a start-up selling portable solar and battery systems that wants it to be as easy and common as wi-fi; and The Lines Company looks to put some solar on the roof of the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House.
Read moreDownloadWhen it comes to electric farming, "the numbers are becoming undeniable," says Nicholson Poultry's Jeff Collings. With 60kW of solar, a Nissan Leaf as a 'farm quad', electric mowers, an electric ute that can run a water blaster, and even a chicken manure scraper made out of a wrecked Tesla that, as Rewiring's Matt Newman says, looks a bit like something out of Mad Max, "almost everything is electric". There aren't many others in New Zealand who have gone this far down the electric road. And, with his electric Stark Varg, the fastest off-road motorbike in the world, he's obviously having plenty of fun on that road, too.
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