Australia has installed 1.5 million photo voltaic systems on rooftops.
Australia has installed 1.5 million photo voltaic systems on rooftops.
New Zealand electricity company leaders say solar power has become part of the energy mix for consumers but less so than in Australia.
In a panel discussion at the 2016 Downstream energy sector conference in Auckland yesterday, the leaders of several electricity generator-retailers and lines companies talked about the changingface of New Zealand's energy industry, including the uptake of solar power.
The latest figures from the Sustainable Energy Association show there have been 8400 installations of solar power to the end of 2015, with an increase of 800 to 3500 last year over 2014.
By comparison, Australia has installed 1.5 million photo voltaic systems on rooftops with some states such as Queensland and South Australia showing a 29.4 per cent and 28.4 per cent penetration of households respectively, said Tom Butler from the Clean Energy Council in Australia. But he admitted it had been something of a "solar coaster" with booms during times of high subsidies which are not available in New Zealand.
Contact Energy chief executive Dennis Barnes said other differences between the two countries included Australia being sunnier than New Zealand and also having sunnier conditions at times of peak demand unlike in this country when the peak occurred during cold weather.
Some energy retailers caused outrage last year when cutting back their solar buyback rates. A 2015 Canterbury research paper found buyback rates were so much lower than retail power prices - 7 to 8 cents versus 26 cents/kilowatt-hour - that the only way to get a good return on solar power was by using more of the power generated at home rather than selling it back into the grid.
Powerco CEO Nigel Barbour said there needed to be healthy debate over pricing, including what is a natural monopoly and pricing of evolving technologies.
The Electricity Authority is currently reviewing distribution pricing methodologies with the gen-tailers keen to see standardisation across the 29 lines companies, and the market regulator also recently launched a review into whether consumers are able to make the most of innovations in the electricity market.
