Solar power in New Zealand


Solar power in New Zealand is on the rise, but operates in an entirely free market with no form of subsidies or intervention from the New Zealand Government. As of February 2020, New Zealand has 118 MW of grid-connected photovoltaic solar power installed, of which 25 MW were installed in the preceding 12 months.
Although there are no subsidies, the declining costs of photovoltaics has caused a large increase in demand over the last few years. In 2009, the average turnkey price for a standard PV system of three kilowatts was about NZ$40,000; by 2019 this had dropped to approx. NZ$8,500.

Adoption

As of February 2020, 26,709 solar power systems have been installed in New Zealand. For new installations, the average residential system size was 4.6 kW and the average commercial system was 13.2 kW.
The largest solar power system on a school in New Zealand was officially opened in a ceremony in February 2019 at Kaitaia College. Hon. Kelvin Davis, unveiled a plaque to acknowledge the installation of the 368 solar panel project which is spread across the rooftop of multiple buildings on the school campus.
By January 2014, solar photovoltaic systems had been installed in 50 schools through the Schoolgen program, a program developed by Genesis Energy to educate students about renewable energy, particularly solar energy. Each school has been given a 2 kW capacity PV system, with a total distributed installed capacity of 100 kilowatts-peak. Since February 2007, a total of 513 megawatt-hours of electrical energy have been recorded.
As of 2018, New Zealand's largest solar power plant is at Yealands Estate winery in Marlborough, with a total capacity of 412 kW.. This title is set to move to a 1.1 MW solar power plant which is under construction at a distribution centre in Auckland.

Cost-effectiveness

Buy-back rates for solar power exported to the grid range from 7 cents to 12 cents. Cost-effectiveness of a residential solar power occurs when system owners aim to use more of their solar power than what they export, by means of timed appliances, turning on appliances when the sun is out, energy management systems and battery storage. Commercial buildings that use power during the day can get a high return on their investment.
A 2015 study found that PV was more economical than grid supply if all the PV electricity was used on site and none was exported to the grid. For residential and commercial installations, improving energy efficiency is a lower cost option than PV.

Statistics

Network reporting regionInstallationsCapacity Uptake
Far North 9084,1612.78
Whangarei and Kaipara 1,0624,8151.78
Waitemata 2,63610,7651.12
Auckland 2,28212,7990.65
Counties 7953,3741.82
Waikato 1,1774,9201.27
Waipa 5802,0342.11
Thames Valley 8603,0561.19
Tauranga 1,5176,4531.72
Rotorua 2721,1040.86
Taupo 1525240.89
Eastern Bay of Plenty 2641,1381.07
Eastland 2951,1311.15
Hawke's Bay 9554,2631.49
Central Hawke's Bay 1104821.31
Southern Hawke's Bay 472080.70
King Country 704320.30
Taranaki 5612,3520.95
Whanganui 3591,4441.06
Manawatu 6052,4691.08
Wairarapa 5962,2522.33
Kapiti and Horowhenua 6212,4171.37
Wellington 1,2965,1260.74
North Island18,02077,7201.13
Tasman 1,0504,5672.59
Nelson 1585971.72
Marlborough 6003,0612.31
Buller 20860.43
West Coast 361670.26
North Canterbury 9084,0042.23
Central Canterbury 2,73312,2671.33
Ashburton 2411,0601.22
South Canterbury 4141,8021.25
Waitaki 944640.72
East Otago 1728251.13
Queenstown 2621,4381.63
Central Otago 6142,6432.83
Dunedin 3261,2350.58
Southland 3512,0010.96
Invercargill 1034650.59
South Island8,08236,6821.42
Total26,102114,4021.21



Month endICP countICP uptake rate Total capacity installed Avg. capacity installed ICP count - new installationsAvg. capacity - new installations
31/08/1314030.06975.5353.9452444.19
30/09/1316510.082046.3373.8381263.269
31/10/1318300.090946.8723.7551693.206
30/11/1320650.102537.7343.7452363.624
31/12/1322360.110928.3263.7241743.475
31/01/1424070.119319.0233.7491693.646
28/02/1426790.132779.9913.7292743.551
31/03/1429250.1448511.1633.8162464.697
30/04/1431240.1545712.0013.8422004.145
31/05/1433760.1668812.9143.8252493.91
30/06/1436640.1809513.9913.8182873.741
31/07/1439760.1962215.1443.8093153.653
31/08/1442080.2074416.2363.8582294.393
30/09/1444780.220517.2753.8582693.84
31/10/1447870.2354918.7433.9153064.777
30/11/1451230.2517820.4563.9933375.134
31/12/1454230.2661621.6343.9892983.856
31/01/1556740.278322.6433.9912494.004
28/02/1558980.2890723.5583.9942283.918
31/03/1561700.3021624.6163.992733.699
30/04/1564380.3149625.5673.9712673.547
31/05/1566990.3274126.523.9592623.685
30/06/1570570.3446227.8843.9513553.736
31/07/1574760.3647729.3883.9314183.548
31/08/1578050.3804731.3674.0193265.992
30/09/1582240.4004832.9244.0034034.295
31/10/1585760.4171534.0253.9683493.682
30/11/1589530.4351135.4313.9573783.742
31/12/1593770.4551237.1263.9594253.986
31/01/1696220.4668138.0443.9542623.49
29/02/1699910.4842939.6883.9723734.524
31/03/16103260.500440.8513.9563423.469
30/04/16106760.5167942.0793.9413513.49
31/05/16110430.5340143.3383.9243723.404
30/06/16114350.5526344.763.9143913.471
31/07/16117930.5693145.9673.8983693.382
31/08/16121890.5878947.383.8873993.5
30/09/16125740.605748.7173.8743983.448
31/10/16129220.6218250.2783.8913494.443
30/11/16133050.6395851.6353.8813823.498
31/12/16136540.6552852.9723.883463.755
31/01/17139090.6673253.8673.8732613.561
28/02/17142130.6810454.9263.8653093.551
31/03/17145730.6975956.2963.8633363.767
30/04/17148970.7125757.3953.8533353.393
31/05/17152310.7278658.5373.8433413.349
30/06/17156610.7476460.4373.8594374.356
31/07/17160400.7649962.0963.8713844.145
31/08/17165310.7876663.8393.8624993.494
30/09/17169350.8058865.3253.8574053.565
31/10/2017172670.8206866.9423.8773444.865
30/11/2017177090.8405168.7833.8844444.055
31/12/2017180490.8553770.1853.8893494.096
31/01/2018183290.8685171.4583.8992904.424
28/02/2018186870.8845372.8723.93633.91
31/03/2018191090.9034674.4493.8964083.696
30/04/2018194270.917675.6753.8953203.814
31/05/2018197750.9328877.2163.9053514.402
30/06/2018200500.9448178.633.9222734.934
31/07/2018203680.9586480.2263.9393324.896
31/08/2018207520.9755881.6823.9363914.92
30/09/2018211800.9947983.9073.9624195.261
31/10/2018215891.0131186.34944145.868
30/11/2018220161.0317988.5444.0224434.936
31/12/2018223551.0462690.164.0333524.879
31/01/2019226431.0594991.4644.0392994.487
28/02/2019229571.0731293.1184.0563314.877
31/03/2019232861.0869895.1434.0864005.149
30/04/2019235821.0997396.8064.1053225.122
31/05/2019239601.1161499.3594.1474046.225
30/06/2019242201.127100.9494.1682885.322
31/07/2019245121.13938102.8684.1973216.089
31/08/2019248181.15214104.6024.2153515.369
30/09/2019251091.16429106.2534.2323015.871
31/10/2019254481.17886110.3174.33537511.029
30/11/2019257491.19101111.9474.3483165.292