Plug-in solar, and why you cannot buy it here yet
We do not sell plug-in solar and we would not benefit if it were legalised tomorrow. That is worth saying, because most of what has been written about this in New Zealand comes from people with something to sell in one direction or the other.
If you rent, or you live in an apartment, or you simply do not want a roof install, this is the option you have probably read about and cannot have.
What it is
A plug-in system, sometimes called balcony solar, is one or two panels with a small inverter that plugs into an ordinary wall socket. It feeds power into your home's circuits and offsets whatever the house is drawing at the time.
It is small, it costs a fraction of a rooftop system, and it moves with you when you move. In Germany and elsewhere in Europe they have been installed in very large numbers, mostly by renters and apartment dwellers.
The safety argument behind the position is about what happens on the other side of the socket. Household circuits are designed to carry power in one direction, and a plug-in generator reverses that on a circuit that may already be carrying load from other appliances. There are also questions about how such a device behaves during an outage.
Whether those concerns justify a prohibition rather than a standard is exactly what is being argued about. European regulators concluded a standard was sufficient. New Zealand has not reached that point.
The Electricity Authority
Has flagged rules to enable plug-in or balcony solar as part of its future work programme, alongside residential application processes and connection fees. Flagged is not decided. Nothing has changed yet.
The current government
The energy minister has asked officials to explore legalising plug-in kits.
Labour
The SolarSaver policy extends its proposed kickstart subsidy to plug-in solar for renters, and acknowledges that the existing ban could delay that part of the rollout.
Both major parties are therefore pointing the same direction, from opposite ends. That is usually a reasonable predictor of eventual change, but it is not a timeline, and neither position is law.
Sources: Electricity Authority.
What a renter can actually do today
| Available now | Not available | |
|---|---|---|
| The option | Talk to your landlord — a rooftop system on a rental is a landlord decision and some are receptive, particularly given a system generally adds value to the property | A legal plug-in system you can install yourself and take with you |
| What we would not do | — | Buy an imported plug-in kit online. Beyond the compliance position, an inverter that does not meet New Zealand standards is an electrical safety risk in your home and an insurance problem if anything goes wrong |
Renting? Your landlord is the conversation worth having
A rooftop system on a rental is a landlord decision, and a system generally adds value to the property.
Common questions
General information about current regulatory settings and announced policy, as at the date shown. Not legal, electrical or political advice. This page describes publicly announced policy for information and is not political endorsement or a prediction that any change will occur. Regulatory settings change. Check current requirements before installing any electrical equipment.
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