Ara Ake Innovation Award

This category recognises innovative outside-the-box thinking, based on a solution or solutions that challenge traditional models & ways of doing things. Submission may be a technology solution, a process to achieve better outcomes for PV and/or BESS, a new PV-based business model, and/or a different approach to a common problem around PV installation. It should challenge existing processes or technology with the ability to be scaled & made available to the wider industry.

Winner:

Solar Network Foundation for their global energy management platform.
SolarNetwork is a core developer-centric energy data platform that serves as a catalyst for innovators building new apps and services relevant to the global energy transition. Aiming to be the “AWS of the Energy Industry”, SolarNetwork is the go-to platform for global companies with a vision of the future of energy, with a thirst to rapidly deploy scalable, secure and advanced energy management applications.

Runner-up:

Tū Mai Rā and Co for Trust Tairāwhiti School Pool Energy Sharing Project.
Trust Tairāwhiti, driven by a desire to extend the months four school pools are open to the Tairāwhiti community, funded a project combining pool electrification with renewable energy solutions. Tū Mai Rā Energy, working alongside ICE Solutions (pool heat pumps), Black Current (smart controls), Our Energy (retail platform and energy sharing), and Seven Rivers (project management and social procurement), integrated renewable generation, energy storage, advanced controls, and community power sharing, creating warmer pools, reducing energy costs, and building resilience for kura and their surrounding communities.