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The age of fossil fuels is ending, and the world is entering the era of solar power. What matters now is how fast we make the shift. "New Zealand has a tendency to think big, he says—to look to large infrastructure solutions to problems. This time, maybe we could think small. Small but many. Getting enough homes, farms and businesses on solar would change how we think about our electrical grid, and it would prepare us for a warmer future in which demands on that grid might peak in summer, as we resort to air-conditioning. Households would become part of the country’s energy infrastructure."
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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