Push for cross-party plan on solar energy
The Sustainable Energy Association is pushing for a cross-party government plan for solar energy that will last longer than an electoral cycle.
Solar energy has moved from the margins of mainstream political debate into a fully fledged election issue in 2026 – with Labour, National, the Greens and other parties making solar commitments.
The Sustainable Energy Association’s COO Gareth Williams hoped future governments could develop long-term solar plans that survived electoral cycles.
Williams told Morning Report, the association’s annual conference on Friday, was being attended by all the political parties this year.
“Our theme last year was ‘this is our time’, and we were right I think… we’re being aspirational but for good reason, I think, but it’s probably exceeded out expectations these last 12 months.”
Solar energy in homes had really taken off in February, Williams said, in large part due to the fuel and energy crisis caused by the Iran war.
A house with a new solar system. (File photo)
Supplied by Lightforce Solar
“We saw a jump around March and that momentum has just continued and it’s really taken off.”
In the past, Williams said there had been policies from parties about solar energy, but this year every party now had an interest in it.
“It’s painful out there for people and solar is by far the cheapest way of people having electricity into their homes.”
There had been a lot of work installing solar in some areas of the country, Williams said, especially around Wānaka, but the number of homes with solar in Auckland remained surprisingly low, with less than 2 percent of homes with solar installed.
“Auckland is near the bottom for some reason and about to be overtaken by the West Coast of the South Island, which is ironic, really.”
Williams feared too much government involvement in solar energy could be a hindrance and said it needed to be understood how significant solar energy would be to New Zealand’s infrastructure.
“The growth is coming, what’s really important is quality, we don’t want to see what happened in Australia where every man and his dog suddenly became a solar installer and there were all sorts of issues.”
Roughly 4 percent of homes in New Zealand have solar panels installed, whereas in Australia it was roughly 40 percent.
“The growth is coming and from our industry point of view is what’s important is quality, workforce development, maintaining the quality of the industry’s really important,” Williams said.