More switching on to solar power

Tarewa Mega Centre, is among an increasing number of homes and businesses installing solar power in Northland.

Northlanders are increasingly turning to solar power and an expert says it is a good option for the region - given high power prices and sunshine hours.

There were 577 solar connections in Northland to the end of March, up on 292 the previous year. Of the connections, 537 were residential, 23 commercial and 17 industrial.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority spokeswoman Jane O'Loughlin said these days most people were installing photovoltaic (PV) panels which created electricity from sunlight, rather than installing solar water heating.

Lyndelle Boniface of Healthy Homes Solar said Northland had some of the highest power prices in the country because of its distance from conventional power sources. But the region also had good sunshine hours.

"The solar energy is high for Northland and the power costs are high so it does make good sense to look at solar." The organisation heard from three or four people a week who were keen to find out about solar, and installed a system most weeks.

Ms Boniface said she thought the number of people using solar in Northland would continue to increase. She recommended people buy solar systems outright, rather than lease, to get the full benefits over 20 to 25 years.

According to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), solar systems could cost more than $10,000 to buy and install.

Ms Boniface said the environmental impacts of solar power were complex. Whether it was more environmentally sustainable than other power sources depended on where the user lived and how their alternative power supply was generated, she said.

Nationwide, there were 9506 solar connections at the end of March, up on 5756 at the same time in 2015 and 2709 the previous year.

According to EECA, the main barrier to the uptake of solar energy was the cost.

Solar generation made up only 0.1 per cent of New Zealand's total renewable energy.

Price reductions in solar equipment had made it more popular with homeowners and businesses, despite it being generally more costly than grid-supplied electricity.