Green Party initiative on solar power brings NZ in step with rest of the world

Andrew Booth, CEO of New Zealand’s leading solar power company SolarCity NZ, welcomes the Green Party’s new solar initiative, saying it finally brings New Zealand in step with leading global economies.

The Green Party today announced a new key policy to provide a more predictable and sustainable scheme for Kiwis who want solar power in New Zealand. The new initiative, which will give consumers access to a financing mechanism and a price guarantee for what they will be paid for the solar power they generate, is an important step forward to providing Kiwis with a fair deal on solar.

The price of solar technology has declined by over 300% since 2008, whilst the price of power has increased by over 85%, and yet this government has done nothing to help everyday New Zealanders to sustainably battle these power increases.

“For years, in many other nations goverents have recognised the important role that consumers can play in the electricity market, both as generators and as a source of clean power, helping to take carbon out of the electricity supply,” Booth says.

“New Zealand is currently out-of-step with many of the world’s leading economies after the government withdrew all support for solar over the past two years, while power prices continued to increase,” says Booth. “A loan scheme for solar and a fair feed-in tariff as proposed by the Green Party, will provide a natural cap on electricity prices by levelling the playing field with other forms of generation and increasing competition in the market. “In Germany, the Government helped kick start solar uptake, and now homeowners generate 51% of Germany’s renewable energy, and more than 250,000 new clean tech jobs have been created. This is a remarkable achievement,” he says. “I believe the Green Party’s scheme will undoubtedly result in more New Zealand households install solar, so they can make the most of the sun’s free energy, while helping create new jobs in one of the fastest growing sectors in the world.”

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