SEANZ welcomes Minister Simeon Brown's announcement to reduce barriers to installing rooftop solar and EV chargers

Yesterday's press release from Hon Simeon Browns office, promising an update to more than 400 references to international standard in regulations making it cheaper to install rooftop solar systems and EV chargers, is a boost for the industry. We are thrilled for our members who this will directly and positively effect. 

Read the full press release below. 

Hon Simeon Brown
Minister for Energy

31 October 2024

Reducing barriers to make installing rooftop solar and EV chargers easier and cheaper

The Government is making changes to outdated regulations to make it easier and cheaper to install rooftop solar systems and EV chargers, as well as launching consultation on the voltage range for electricity network connection to avoid costly network upgrades, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.

“Reducing regulatory barriers and cutting through red tape to deliver affordable and secure electricity is a key part of our plan to rebuild the economy and double New Zealand's supply of renewable electricity.”

Cabinet has agreed to update more than 400 references to international standard in regulations to make it cheaper to install rooftop solar systems and EV chargers.

“Electricity and gas safety regulations have long been neglected, leaving them out of date with international standards. It is unacceptable that businesses have been working with significantly outdated standards which have increased risks to safety, resulted in regulatory inconsistencies, and hampered businesses’ ability to implement the latest innovative technologies to reduce costs for New Zealanders.

“Improving the Energy Safety Standards to align it with Australia and other key trading partners will enable New Zealanders to have greater access to emerging technologies like EV chargers, reduce the cost of powering their homes using solar energy, and means that New Zealand won’t become a dumping ground for discontinued solar products.

“Delivering on an action in our Supercharging EV Infrastructure commitments, we are also bringing New Zealand’s wiring rules into alignment with the latest international standards to help reduce the cost of delivering EV chargers.”

The Government is consulting on a proposal to increase the regulated supply voltage range at which homes and businesses connect to electricity networks.

“The voltage range changes we are consulting on will enable more distributed energy generation, like rooftop solar installed in homes or businesses, to be put back into the network, without the need for upgrades that are significantly costly.

“Our Government has been clear that distributed energy resources will play a key role in New Zealand’s future energy system and support the transition to a low emissions economy.

“We want to enable New Zealanders to have choices and be supported to make the switch to different technologies, by making them more accessible and affordable.”

Media Contact: Reef Stewart – 021 891 385

Notes to Editors:

Standards

Most electricity and gas products sold in New Zealand are manufactured overseas to the latest international standards. However, importers and suppliers need to verify that the products they are buying meet New Zealand requirements in order to be sold here.

Suppliers are currently having to dedicate time and resource to ensuring they comply with both the modern, internationally used standards, and the outdated standards which are used only in New Zealand but must be complied with to sell in the New Zealand market.

In some cases, solar installers are also having to seek exemptions from WorkSafe, which adds additional time and cost.

Consultation on proposal to increase voltage range

Under current settings, lines companies may need to limit the amount of distributed energy being injected back into their networks, as uptake of new systems increases. Alternatively, they may need to make costly network upgrades to accommodate more distributed generation.

The proposed changes to the voltage range mean that electricity lines companies will have greater flexibility to manage the impact of distributed generation on their networks.

Modelling by ANSA suggests that at a national level raising the upper voltage limit from +6% to +10% could:

Triple hosting capacity for residential customers and double it for commercial customers, presuming 10% installed solar PV.

Increase PV generation output by about 24% for commercial connections with 20% uptake, and 3% for residential connections with 30% uptake. The combined increase is about 507GWh more generation rising to 825GWh if residential solar PV uptake rose to 50%.

Enable even more distributed power generation (1406 GWh at 40% residential PV penetration) if households and distribution networks responded by installing larger solar PV installations (5KW compared to current average of 4KW in capacity).

An increase of 507 GWh is equivalent to approximately 70,000 households which is the approximately equivalent to the number of households in Timaru and Tauranga. An increase of 825GWh is approximately 115,000 households which is approximately equivalent to Timaru, Tauranga and Dunedin.

Consultation is open until 29 November 2024, and the changes are expected to be in force by May 2025.