I’ve just completed your survey after reading an article in our local Stewart Island News.

Our home came off grid on 9^th November 2021 and I’ve occasionally blogged about our progress, what we’ve learned and how our thinking has changed.  

Probably the most important snippet is the return on investment of slightly better than 18% (this is with depreciation, as we run a Bed & Breakfast).

We have cut our diesel central heating usage to 20% of pre solar, and this is factored into the financials.

By the end of June we will have retired our elderly diesel SUV and replaced it with a 40Kw Nissan Leaf, which will be set up as vehicle-to-home [a technology that lets electric vehicles transfer energy to homes for backup power] and we hope this will remove any dependence on our diesel gen set.

Our figures speak for themselves. Solar does work, even this far south in Rakiura Stewart Island. And it isn’t rocket science. The issues of micro grids are well understood worldwide, and the kit is there to make it work. If we can make to work at 46deg 50 minutes south, then it's do-able over most, if not all of New Zealand.

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