SEANZ member solarcity nominated for top green award
The NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards, which have been running for 16 years, are the pre-eminent and longest-standing sustainability awards in New Zealand. solarcity have been nominated for the "Revolutionising Energy" award for their solarZero service.
solarcity's solarZero won the SEANZ 2017 Award for "Most Innovative New Service" - nominations are currently open for SEANZ 2018 awards.
In partnership with Panasonic, solarcity has been selected as a finalist in the 2018 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards for helping Kiwis shift to clean, affordable and secure energy.
The solarZero energy service was launched a little over three years ago by solarcity. The energy service has removed the product and installation costs of switching Kiwi homes to solar power and battery technology.
solarcity CEO Andrew Booth says the company’s vision is to help make a big difference in the fight against climate change while also helping families to save money on power.
“By making it easy and affordable for families to switch to cleaner, cheaper and more reliable power we’re helping to reduce the need to burn climate-polluting fossil fuels for electricity generation,” he says.
Every solarZero household will stop about 15 tonnes of CO2 entering the atmosphere over the next 20 years. solarcity also estimates households could save an average of $17,000 over that time.
solarZero customers generate clean solar power using panel, battery and monitoring technology that is owned and managed by solarcity.
“Instead of paying up to $24,000 to buy a system, customers simply pay a monthly fee that fixes up to two-thirds of their power at the same low price for 20 years. And, when solar needs topping up, they get access to exclusive wholesale spot prices for grid power."
When first launched, solarZero only delivered power during daylight hours when the panels were generating. Booth says full battery integration was originally targeted for 2020.
“We’ve been able to reach that target two years early thanks to the engineering teams from solarcity and Panasonic working closely together in New Zealand, China and Singapore."
The winners of the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards will be announced at a black tie ceremony in Auckland on November 22.