Charmaine Watts says generating at home reduces carbon dioxide emissions.

Charmaine Watts says generating at home reduces carbon dioxide emissions.

Charmaine Watts hasn't had a power bill for eight years.

Her family of two adults and three children are one of hundreds around the country generating their own electricity.

With power prices on the rise, the $20,000 the Watts spent installing solar panels, a small wind turbine, storage batteries and wiring is starting to look like a good investment.

"I don't need to worry about power cuts," said Ms Watts. "It's just like a normal house. I flick the switch on my computer or my DVD player and away I go."

Watts is the head of the Sustainable Electricity Association of New Zealand, a group representing small-scale wind, hydro and solar power generators. Nobody knows exactly how many families generate their own power, but together it's thought they make between 5 and 6 megawatts of power a year - a drop in the bucket when measured against Meridian's planned West Wind wind farm near Wellington and its 142 megawatt production.

Watts says solar panels lasting between 25 to 30 years cost $25,000 , making them a good option even for city dwellers.

"Anyone with a roof has the potential to make their own electricity."

Solar panel dealer Mike Prior said the photovoltaic panels (the technology that generates electricity from the sun) were still too expensive for most people, even with prices falling all the time.

"A lot of people like the idea, but they run and hide when you tell them the cost," he said. "Most people spend about $40,000 installing a solar panel system, and you can buy a lot of electricity for that amount."

Mr Prior said home generation was a good option for people who lived away from the national power grid or who needed only small amounts of electricity. A basic system to power lights and hot water could cost as little as $5000.

For anyone living more than 500m from national power supply lines, installing a power supply worked out cheaper than connecting to the grid.

Mr Prior said solar generation would be affordable for most people only if the Government followed Germany and Australia and subsidised renewable power. "The market exploded in Germany. Manufacturers couldn't make enough panels," said Mr Prior. "The trouble here is the Government gets a return from state-owned renewable generators like Meridian Energy, so there's not much incentive to provide subsidies."

Ms Watts said the Government could do more to lower the barriers for home generators - like making it easier for people to sell their excess power back to the national grid. But for her family home generation was about more than saving money.