GO SOLAR

All the energy we use is solar in origin. Wind and hydro, food, firewood, and fossil fuels (coal being old trees; oil and gas being old oceanic plants and animals) can all be traced back to the sun. One canny commentator coined the phrase “sunlit acreage” and referred to fossil fuels as “down acreage”. The sunlight landing on our own acreages, properly harnessed, can displace the need to buy-in external ‘acreage’. The choices for private capture of solar energy are gardening, passive solar housing, and the two we investigate here: water heating and electricity generation.

A doubling is coming

Although we all dream of not having a power bill, the practical reality is that most New Zealanders are grid tied and are better staying that way. Our grid is 80 per cent renewably generated and a hydro lake is a relatively benign battery. But change is afoot; there are clear indications that we will attempt to displace fossil fuels (60 per cent of our total energy mix) faster than their physical depletion would force us to abandon them anyway. While biofuels will be a minor contributor, estimations by the Productivity Commission, the University of Canterbury, and others, tell us that we will need to double our renewable electricity generation within 30 years.