Operation Laser Kiwi: help us take New Zealand-made energy on the road
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.
Solar power is all the talk right now, especially after supply chains started creating pressure on petrol prices earlier this year. But is it all hype? Or is there genuinely an incredible opportunity for us to harness the sun and go electric here in New Zealand? Mike Casey discusses the truth about solar, how it can be financed, what kiwis need to know about it and what the future holds. When it comes to investing, everyone is focused on the stock market, crypto or the housing ponzi, but could this be an opportunity sitting right in front of us?
Read moreDownloadResearch overseas has shown that gardening gear can be a gateway drug for electrification. People often start small with a lawnmower or a weed eater, figure out that the tools perform better than petrol equivalents (without the fumes, noise or starting issues), and then they gain the confidence to upgrade some of the larger machines in their home. Mike Casey uses electric Stihl tools on his cherry orchard and he was like a kid in a candy shop at the Fieldays tent looking at all the new electric toys on offer. Just a couple of years ago, Stihl's product manager Phil Needham says it would have been full of petrol products, but now it's mostly batteries. There are still some petrol options for "the diehards", but it's clear where things are heading.
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