Is Solar Right For Me?
Solar panels are popping up on roofs all over the country, is it time you considered solar?
While New Zeaaland is working its way to 100% renewable energy by 2030 you may wonder how you can be part of this transformation, or how installing solar will reduce your power bill.
So, how popular is solar power?
Since 2019, the country’s residential solar has grown by 73% to 43,000 households but it is still a small portion of the market, representing just 2.23% of all households.¹
There is a lot of nitty gritty detail to understand when it comes to solar installation, so we thought we’d start at the top. How much electricity can your roof provide, and does it make sense to consider your solar potential in the future?
How does your solar potential stack up?
Finding out your home’s solar generation potential is a good place to start if you’re curious about how the sun could power your home. There are two things to understand; if your roof is located to make the most of the sunshine, and when you need electricity.
GenLess offers a useful tool to assess the value of solar, based around a number of parameters. Those include:
Where you live — your town or city's sunshine hours will impact your potential savings. Those of you who bask in the long sunlight hours in Nelson or Marlborough will get the most bang for buck.
The location of your home — the more sunshine that hits your roof, the better. So that means no trees, buildings or anything that could obstruct the sun coming in
Total annual usage — of course the amount of electricity your home uses will affect savings and whether you use electricity exclusively, or have gas.
Usage patterns throughout the day — more importantly, the time of day you use your power and what appliances you use, will have a big impact on your potential. Those who work from home can get a lot more out of their solar panels. Perhaps it’s doing all your laundry, loading up the dishwasher, charging your EV, or keeping your house warm/cool.
Your retailer's solar buyback rate — have you got excess power you need to sell back from all that generation? Octopus Energy has one of the leading solar buyback rates for all customers on OctopusFixed. You can earn 13c for every kWh of solar you export back to the grid.
Source: https://genless.govt.nz/for-everyone/at-home/explore-solar-energy/solar-power-calculator/
So, how did your solar potential look?
Solar installation is a substantial investment but it could cut your power bill in the long term.
If you are settled in your home for the foreseeable future, investing in solar could be worth investigating, particularly when banks are offering sustainability loans with low interest rates.
It’s also worth reflecting on how you plan to spend time in your home. It’s not uncommon for workplaces to offer hybrid working arrangements, meaning you may be spending a little more time at home during the week than you used to
Working on sunshine is not only better for the planet, it also might be better on your wallet in the long run.
¹ EMI installed distribution dashboard: https://www.emi.ea.govt.nz/Retail/Dashboards/5YPBXT?MarketSegment=Res&_si=db|5YPBXT,s|dmt,v|2
