New Zealand’s Growing Utilization of Solar Power

Solar power has come a long way since the first time someone decided to use magnifying glass to light a fire. Today, cars, houses, and even entire countries run off solar and other renewable energy sources. In NZ, upwards of 43% of the population use, or are aiming to use solar in the near future, to power their homes and businesses.

This exponential growth in solar power has meant that this once costly approach to renewable energy has become far more budget-friendly. It’s also meant an extension in the kinds of services and products solar companies can offer clients. Where previously it was rare to even find solar panels on a house used for powering basic appliances and hot water heaters, now, companies like Ecoefficient enable customers to use solar to power anything from appliances to underfloor heating, swimming pools, and even their cars. Solar panels and batteries can also be offered according to client needs, which means homeowners wishing to move over to solar power no longer have to make space and budget allowances for commercial sizes or prices. A further development that’s friendly on consumers’ pockets is that excess power can be sold back to the grid.

While it is unlikely that NZ will move over to solar power alone, since the country has access to valuable other renewable energy sources like wind and hydro, the increased popularity of solar is a welcome relief for the environment. The move to renewable energy is also important in the light of dwindling fossil fuel supplies, which currently still makes up two-thirds of the country’s main energy supply but which can no longer be sustained long-term. The exponential growth in NZ’s solar industry may soon see future generations’ households and businesses gaining and consuming energy in an entirely different way to what we are used to today.

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