Late last year, Refining NZ’s previous CEO Mike Fuge announced it was going ahead with a project to build the country’s largest solar electricity plant on its site. The aim was to produce 10 percent of the refinery’s electricity from the 31-hectare farm and shave around $3 million-$4 million from the company’s electricity bill, Fuge said.
Making the most of the sunshine hours is the key to solar power success. Most solar energy is generated in the late morning and afternoon and more strongly in the summer months.
The point being that for commercial operations the numbers for solar stack up as it is very easy to use the power that is being generated. Recently Catherine Harris wrote an extensive article in stuff talk about Solar.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/home-property/121613534/solar-power-an-idea-whose-time-has-come
”A lot of people go, oh it takes X number of years to get your money back but for me, I had that mindset that I’d saved up the money and everything going forward was a saving.”
Solar has always been a technology where people look for a return, Different from any appliance that we purchase for the house where this utility because you get free electricity to use during the day, charging a car, heating hotwater etc
Really Solar the “idea” has been around for ages and just like anything that was paid off a long time ago the people with solar stop thinking about the individual return and just enjoy the free power that the sun creates. It becomes less about the return and more about the benefits.
When calculating returns we, along with many others, just factored in the power not paid for plus the credit for the excess power generated. In the article, based on a sample set of houses using a 3KW solar power system, Homes.co.nz found that the properties made 4.4 per cent or $35,000 more than other comparable properties nearby. That pays for the system on top of power generated.
Essentially a solar system generates cheaper greener electricity while increasing the value of your home. You feel better, your power is cheaper and your home increased in value, that surely should be idea whose time has come. With interests rates sub 3% installing solar returning 8% makes sense for both commercial and residential roofs.
Unlock the potential in your roof.