New Zealand: Kaitaia College Sets Solar Power Record
March 6th, 2019I tried to crack this nut several years ago. The math on system viability was simple. The news here is that they got the thing financed somehow.
In the Far North, it’s not a question of the system saving money. That’s easy. In almost all situations, the customer is going to save money. A lot of money.
The problem up here is that practically nobody is able to afford the systems.
Is it a coincidence that the poorest area in the country has the highest power prices?
No.
All industry excuses as to why the prices are so high up here are lies.
The real reason is that people can’t afford to fight back with solar due to the upfront system costs. When I was selling systems up here, I wasn’t able to get a single system done on finance, even when people owned their homes and had no debt.
I’m not allowed to give details, but there is a large government building up here that pays an astonishing amount of public money each month for electricity. Economic viability for solar was a no brainer.
It’s UNBELIEVABLE that a large portion of the loads in that building are not running on solar during business hours…
Anyway, they didn’t do it. Couldn’t afford it. They just keep paying tons of public money to ******* (electricity retailer name redacted).
It just does your f*ckin head in, man, the stupidity of it all.
Anyway, I’m glad that Kaitaia College finally figured it out.
Via: New Zealand Herald:
A solar PV system, the biggest at any school in New Zealand, was officially unveiled at Kaitaia College last week.
Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis unveiled a plaque at a function also attended by guests including Dwayne Crocker, from the Sustainable Electricity Association.
The project, a partnership between the college and SuperPower Technologies, was billed as offering significant financial benefits for the school and serving as a springboard for students and the community towards building understanding and solving local energy problems.
The system is 101kWp, comprising some 367 panels, which will produce around 60 per cent of the school’s electricity requirements during the school day in summer. The system was purchased on finance, to be paid off over 10 years, but the school was expecting a nett saving on its power bill from day one.
After 10 years it will own the system outright.
