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Rewiring Aotearoa has been advocating strongly for rooftop solar, because it's the cheapest form of delivered electricity available to New Zealanders, unlocks a lot of the savings associated with household electrification and would help deal with dry years because there's more sun when it's not raining. So it's always nice when someone agrees with you and a piece by academics Stephen Poletti, Bruce Mountain and Geoff Bertram backs our argument up. As it says: "To alleviate the energy supply shortfalls primarily attributable to low rainfall, we suggest rapidly expanding cheap solar photovoltaics (PV), specifically rooftop solar for ordinary households. Our soon-to-be-published research suggests such capacity can be expanded quickly and cheaply... we encourage the energy minister to make the expansion of rooftop solar the top option for expanding the electricity supply and tackling the gentailer power that bedevils the market. He will almost certainly find it quicker, cheaper and more popular than importing gas.":
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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