Solar options for home in 2022

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1237 posts

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#3449610 4-Jan-2026 14:42

Extremely interesting interview with one of the rock stars of the home solar industry Saul Griffith. (Had to screenshot the URL info as it contains a combination of letters that trips GZ's blocker. The missing bit is: "whats-the-real-story-with-australian"

The way Saul tells it it sounds like NZ falls somewhere between the AU and US situations. Our installers are being swamped by prospective solar customers and our lines companies are throttling installation connections as they are trying to juggle solar inputs across an inadequate infrastructure. NZ and AU grids differ due to hydro based vs coal based so it will be interesting to see where our solar industry goes in the next decade or so as presently we are essentially ~15 years behind AU by the sounds of it.

[Mod edit (MF): Added the link, blocked before for the WTF in the URL]

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

fastbike

458 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#3449983 5-Jan-2026 14:38

HarmLessSolutions:

The way Saul tells it it sounds like NZ falls somewhere between the AU and US situations. Our installers are being swamped by prospective solar customers and our lines companies are throttling installation connections as they are trying to juggle solar inputs across an inadequate infrastructure. NZ and AU grids differ due to hydro based vs coal based so it will be interesting to see where our solar industry goes in the next decade or so as presently we are essentially ~15 years behind AU by the sounds of it.

The article states "It’s 60 to 90 days or more in the US to get the same permit." Crikey, Orion turned mine around within 48 hours and I only setup the online account when I lodged the application. NZ does not have a problem with red tape.

Otautahi Christchurch

cshwone

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#3449997 5-Jan-2026 15:16

Good afternoon Geekzone,

I have gone through large portions of this thread and while it has been educational, to me it looks like solar installs are now mainstream and I am wary of getting down too many rabbit holes in search of solving issues that don't really exist for me by trying to customise.

So I want to take an everyman consumer approach to installing solar to our property. Our use case is quite simple, just the two of us, I have just retired and will now be at home during the day so dishwasher, washing machine etc can all be used during the day. So I am looking at a tied to the grid system, using when I can and exporting the rest; no battery storage needed or desired. Primary motivation is long term not being tied to ever increasing retail electricity prices.

So my question for you knowledgeable people who have solar of differing scales and complexities, is who would you recommend for the job? In Masterton so Wairarapa, Wellington and the Manawatu are likey sources of installers. Looking at a one stop installer to do everything from recommending the system and location, actual installation and sorting out the proper metering and connection back to the grid etc.

Many thanks

Jase2985

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#3449999 5-Jan-2026 15:23

2025 Stats:

System Size (kW): 10.08
Inverter Size (kW): 8

Total Consumption (kW/h): 18163.33
Energy From Grid (kW/h): 10667.36

Total Production (kW/h): 12102.08
Energy to Grid (kW/h): 4606.11

Consumed Directly (kW/h): 7496.07
Own Consumption %: 63.89
Self Sufficiency %: 40.89

Would love to see others, in the same format, if possible.

michelangelonz

125 posts

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+1 received by user: 40

#3450002 5-Jan-2026 15:28

cshwone:

Good afternoon Geekzone,

I have gone through large portions of this thread and while it has been educational, to me it looks like solar installs are now mainstream and I am wary of getting down too many rabbit holes in search of solving issues that don't really exist for me by trying to customise.

So I want to take an everyman consumer approach to installing solar to our property. Our use case is quite simple, just the two of us, I have just retired and will now be at home during the day so dishwasher, washing machine etc can all be used during the day. So I am looking at a tied to the grid system, using when I can and exporting the rest; no battery storage needed or desired. Primary motivation is long term not being tied to ever increasing retail electricity prices.

So my question for you knowledgeable people who have solar of differing scales and complexities, is who would you recommend for the job? In Masterton so Wairarapa, Wellington and the Manawatu are likey sources of installers. Looking at a one stop installer to do everything from recommending the system and location, actual installation and sorting out the proper metering and connection back to the grid etc.

Many thanks

Hoskins Energy Systems. We used them for system in the Wairarapa. Greg was great to deal with.

HarmLessSolutions

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#3450007 5-Jan-2026 15:33

Jase2985:

2025 Stats:

System Size (kW): 10.08
Inverter Size (kW): 8

Total Consumption (kW/h): 18163.33
Energy From Grid (kW/h): 10667.36

Total Production (kW/h): 12102.08
Energy to Grid (kW/h): 4606.11

Consumed Directly (kW/h): 7496.07
Own Consumption %: 63.89
Self Sufficiency %: 40.89

Would love to see others, in the same format, if possible.

Great idea Jase and good format. Thanks for sharing. I'll post up mine once our full capacity has been up for a full year which will be mid 2026.

In the meantime I'll post up our last 6 months' worth when Ecotricity get around to sending through their December invoice, in the next week or so.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

HarmLessSolutions

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#3450072 5-Jan-2026 16:15

fastbike:

HarmLessSolutions:

The way Saul tells it it sounds like NZ falls somewhere between the AU and US situations. Our installers are being swamped by prospective solar customers and our lines companies are throttling installation connections as they are trying to juggle solar inputs across an inadequate infrastructure. NZ and AU grids differ due to hydro based vs coal based so it will be interesting to see where our solar industry goes in the next decade or so as presently we are essentially ~15 years behind AU by the sounds of it.

The article states "It’s 60 to 90 days or more in the US to get the same permit." Crikey, Orion turned mine around within 48 hours and I only setup the online account when I lodged the application. NZ does not have a problem with red tape.

The installation and application process appears to be quite variable across NZ. Some of the members that are posting on the r/nzsolar subreddit are experiencing lengthy delays.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

Jase2985

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#3450083 5-Jan-2026 16:29

cshwone:

Good afternoon Geekzone,

I have gone through large portions of this thread and while it has been educational, to me it looks like solar installs are now mainstream and I am wary of getting down too many rabbit holes in search of solving issues that don't really exist for me by trying to customise.

So I want to take an everyman consumer approach to installing solar to our property. Our use case is quite simple, just the two of us, I have just retired and will now be at home during the day so dishwasher, washing machine etc can all be used during the day. So I am looking at a tied to the grid system, using when I can and exporting the rest; no battery storage needed or desired. Primary motivation is long term not being tied to ever increasing retail electricity prices.

So my question for you knowledgeable people who have solar of differing scales and complexities, is who would you recommend for the job? In Masterton so Wairarapa, Wellington and the Manawatu are likey sources of installers. Looking at a one stop installer to do everything from recommending the system and location, actual installation and sorting out the proper metering and connection back to the grid etc.

Many thanks

@harmlesssolutions might have a recommend for you

HarmLessSolutions

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+1 received by user: 829

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#3450088 5-Jan-2026 16:34

Jase2985:

cshwone:

Good afternoon Geekzone,

I have gone through large portions of this thread and while it has been educational, to me it looks like solar installs are now mainstream and I am wary of getting down too many rabbit holes in search of solving issues that don't really exist for me by trying to customise.

So I want to take an everyman consumer approach to installing solar to our property. Our use case is quite simple, just the two of us, I have just retired and will now be at home during the day so dishwasher, washing machine etc can all be used during the day. So I am looking at a tied to the grid system, using when I can and exporting the rest; no battery storage needed or desired. Primary motivation is long term not being tied to ever increasing retail electricity prices.

So my question for you knowledgeable people who have solar of differing scales and complexities, is who would you recommend for the job? In Masterton so Wairarapa, Wellington and the Manawatu are likey sources of installers. Looking at a one stop installer to do everything from recommending the system and location, actual installation and sorting out the proper metering and connection back to the grid etc.

Many thanks

@harmlesssolutions might have a recommend for you

I'm in the Naki and can highly recommend our own local installer but further afield check out https://www.seanz.org.nz/directory along with first hand recommendations from others on GZ.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

dantheperson

226 posts

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#3450102 5-Jan-2026 17:14

Jase2985:

Would love to see others, in the same format, if possible.

Well as a fellow fronius user, all rather trivial to put together

2025 Stats:

System Size (kW): 5.4
Inverter Size (kW): 5

Total Consumption (kW/h): 5720
Energy From Grid (kW/h): 3240

Total Production (kW/h): 7890
Energy to Grid (kW/h): 5410

Consumed Directly (kW/h): 2480
Own Consumption %: 31%
Self Sufficiency %: 43

one day i'll get around to disconnecting the gas and consuming a bit more of my own power as planned...

fastbike

458 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 336

#3450113 5-Jan-2026 17:34

Jase2985:

2025 Stats:

System Size (kW): 10.08
Inverter Size (kW): 8

Total Consumption (kW/h): 18163.33
Energy From Grid (kW/h): 10667.36

Total Production (kW/h): 12102.08
Energy to Grid (kW/h): 4606.11

Consumed Directly (kW/h): 7496.07
Own Consumption %: 63.89
Self Sufficiency %: 40.89

Would love to see others, in the same format, if possible.

2025 Stats:

System 1 Size (kW): 11.88
Inverter Size (kW): 10

Total Consumption (kWh): 10,705
Energy From Grid (kWh): 4,204

Total Production (kWh): 16,555
Energy to Grid (kWh): 10,004

Consumed Directly (kWh): 6,550
Own Consumption %: 40
Self Sufficiency %: 61

We also have a second system which uses micro inverters

System 2 Size (kW): 6.16
Inverter Size (kW): 14 x 380W

Total Consumption (kWh): 0
Energy From Grid (kWh): 0

Total Production (kWh): 6,500
Energy to Grid (kWh): 6,500

Consumed Directly (kWh): 0
Own Consumption %: 0
Self Sufficiency %: 100

Edit: we installed a battery in mid March so were able to arbitrage power usage through the winter, charging the battery after midnight and using that power during the day. We have just doubled the battery capacity and now have a gross capacity of 68kWh, although we scale it between 15 and 80% so we have 48kWh of usable capacity. Running the battery this way means it will last for decades.

Otautahi Christchurch

richrdh18

232 posts

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+1 received by user: 102

#3450119 5-Jan-2026 18:23

cshwone:

Good afternoon Geekzone,

I have gone through large portions of this thread and while it has been educational, to me it looks like solar installs are now mainstream and I am wary of getting down too many rabbit holes in search of solving issues that don't really exist for me by trying to customise.

So I want to take an everyman consumer approach to installing solar to our property. Our use case is quite simple, just the two of us, I have just retired and will now be at home during the day so dishwasher, washing machine etc can all be used during the day. So I am looking at a tied to the grid system, using when I can and exporting the rest; no battery storage needed or desired. Primary motivation is long term not being tied to ever increasing retail electricity prices.

So my question for you knowledgeable people who have solar of differing scales and complexities, is who would you recommend for the job? In Masterton so Wairarapa, Wellington and the Manawatu are likey sources of installers. Looking at a one stop installer to do everything from recommending the system and location, actual installation and sorting out the proper metering and connection back to the grid etc.

Many thanks

I'm in the Manawatu, Sunshine Solar (Chch) organised mine from start to finish and Star Delta out of Kapiti did the install. No problems. Mine was installed early May '24 and now just shy of $500 in credits from our exports. So now its all about not paying the man (power companies)

mrdrifter

589 posts

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#3450157 5-Jan-2026 21:05

2025 Stats:

System Size (kW): 9.2
Inverter Size (kW): 2x5

Total Consumption (kWh): 14,350
Energy From Grid (kWh): 8,302

Total Production (kWh): 11,303
Energy to Grid (kWh): 5,255

Consumed Directly (kWh): 6,048
Own Consumption %: 53.5
Self Sufficiency %: 42.14

I need to work out the price to get rid of gas water heating and cooking

dantheperson

226 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 63

#3450166 5-Jan-2026 21:13

fastbike:

Edit: we installed a battery in mid March so were able to arbitrage power usage through the winter, charging the battery after midnight and using that power during the day. We have just doubled the battery capacity and now have a gross capacity of 68kWh, although we scale it between 15 and 80% so we have 48kWh of usable capacity. Running the battery this way means it will last for decades.

Is there a post/thread with details of your battery install? I looked at the Dali emulator to connect up to the fronius hybrid interter, and the number of components you needed to source and wire just seemed a bit much for my electrical skills, then there was the question of how to get it signed off so it's not a risk to house contents should something go wrong. So now i'm leaning towards 48V with it's own inverter. Slightly less efficient but easy to mix and match and install... though i appreciate your argument that HV batteries give placement flexibility, though i could place 48V batteries with a standalone inverter in an outside shed and just run AC to the house. I just don't know why HV batteries are so expensive when it's just a different configuration of cells parallel vs serial. Anyway first project is to replace the gas boiler with a heatpump before i get into batteries.

traderstu

334 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 113

#3450315 6-Jan-2026 11:02

2025 Stats:

System 1 Size (kW): 12.45
Inverter Size (kW): 2 x 8

Total Consumption (kWh): 11,044
Energy From Grid (kWh): 7,616

Total Production (kWh): 16,666
Energy to Grid (kWh): 13,237

Consumed Directly (kWh): 3428
Own Consumption %: 20
Self Sufficiency %: 31

This doesn't look too stellar in terms of own consumption/self sufficiency because I am heavily invested in load shifting our energy use to our hour of free power (45% of energy from the grid was free). During our HOP we charge the car, heat the water, wash the clothes, do the dishes, charge the vacuum cleaner and run 3 heat pumps (during the winter). Bottom line, total payment to EK was $300 for the year.

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