solarcity's innovative solar and battery service up for top green award
Auckland, 30 August 2018 - An energy service that has removed the product and installation costs of switching Kiwi homes
to solar power and battery technology is in the running for a major sustainability award.
The solarZero energy service was launched a little over three years ago by solarcity, New Zealand’s leading solar
provider. In partnership with Panasonic, solarcity has been selected as a finalist in the 2018 NZI Sustainable Business
Network Awards, announced earlier today, for helping Kiwis shift to clean, affordable and secure energy.
solarcity CEO Andrew Booth says the company’s vision is to help make a big difference in the fight against climate
change while also helping families to save money on power.
“By making it easy and affordable for families to switch to cleaner, cheaper and more reliable power we’re helping to
reduce the need to burn climate-polluting fossil fuels for electricity generation,” he says.
Every solarZero household will stop about 15 tonnes of CO2 entering the atmosphere over the next 20 years. solarcity
also estimates households could save an average of $17,000 over that time.
solarZero customers generate clean solar power using panel, battery and monitoring technology that is owned and managed
by solarcity.
“Instead of paying up to $24,000 to buy a system, customers simply pay a monthly fee that fixes up to two-thirds of
their power at the same low price for 20 years. And, when solar needs topping up, they get access to exclusive wholesale
spot prices for 100% carboNZero certified renewable electricity from our friends at Ecotricity.”
When first launched, solarZero only delivered power during daylight hours when the panels were generating. Booth says
full battery integration was originally targeted for 2020.
“We’ve been able to reach that target two years early thanks to the engineering teams from solarcity and Panasonic
working closely together in New Zealand, China and Singapore.
The winners of the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards will be announced at a black tie ceremony in Auckland on
November 22.
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