The main fear that people possess when thinking of purchasing an electric vehicle is the cost attached to it and the compromise of individual mobility – however, these fears are not realistic!
Firstly, EVs are cheaper to run than petrol or diesel vehicles. Charging an EV at your residence is equivalent to purchasing petrol or diesel at 30 cents a litre – whilst petrol sits at an average of 2 dollars! The only perceived downside are the relatively higher initial purchasing prices attached to EVs. However, These prices can be off-set by the low charging prices when approached with a long-term perspective.
Secondly, people in New Zealand commute to work an average of 29km per day (urban commuters 22km per day), this distance is easily viable for an EV – even without recharging.
Finally, New Zealand’s 230-volt electricity system means every residential or commercial establishment can potentially charge an EV. The recharging of EVs from your home or business, brings us to the next topic – Vehicle-to-Everything.
Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) and Vehicle-to-Building (V2B) are all part of V2X. Utilizing the V2X system, a bidirectional EV-charger is necessary. A bidirectional charger is the opposite of a unidirectional charger, and is capable of not only receiving energy from a power source but transferring power back to the source it is connected to. Through the use of bidirectional EV-chargers, energy management is put back in the hands of the people by turning their EVs into virtual power plants – but how does this work?
In the case of a home, or residence, the implementation and utilization of a bidirectional EV-charger can be of great benefit to its owner. The EV can be used during the day whilst going to work, and will be reconnected to its charging point upon return. Once connected to its charging point, the EV can function as battery storage for solar energy produced from panels on the roof. It can also be utilized during critical situations such as power outages, in which case the energy from the EV battery can be transferred to your home to support your energy demand. Furthermore, the energy stored in your EV can be shared or sold to people within your community through the use of Local Energy Markets.
In the case of a building, or business, the utilization of bidirectional charging can be a game-changer. If you have multiple vehicles connected to your business via bidirectional EV-chargers, you will never again have to worry about being affected by power outages – what a relief! The fleet of EVs that are connected to your business can support your demands by transferring power back to your business. Power that your business produces through its solar installation can charge- and/or be stored in the EVs connected. Furthermore, the power stored in the EV batteries can be used for self-consumption , sharing or selling within your community or transferring back to the main grid for peak lopping (when demand on the main grid is at its peak).
Power Technology is currently hard at work with their partner Our Energy in creating a fully integrated energy sharing platform called Lemonade, that allows energy from EV chargers, solar systems and battery storages to be used, shared or sold as required within communities. Power Technology supplies the hardware necessary for this partnership, in which they have over 30 years industry experience.
If you would like to know more, click here to contact Power Technology and speak directly to one of their industry experts – or check out the Lemonade platform and enable your own Local Energy Market today!
If you would like more information on Local Energy Markets, click here.
]]>(See above, Otonga School with arrays on several roof areas - credit to Genesis Energy)
According to the Sustainable Energy Association New Zealand (SEANZ) solar is now the largest form of new generation being installed around the world. Transpower supports that stating that 58% of all households and 25% of all businesses will have solar panels installed by 2050 – but what about schools? It is possible for schools to gain full control over their energy usage through the installation of a solar array on their premises. This will enable them to monitor their usage, cut down costs and even sell back to the grid or to other schools as well as key people in their community through the usage of a Local Energy Market. In addition to these pros, students will learn about renewable energy and its positive effects – carrying this knowledge and understanding with them throughout their lives.
The first school installs that Power Technology was responsible for were under the banner of the Genesis School-gen programme. Through this programme Power Technology supported schools across New Zealand, and built up the necessary experience concerning the installation of solar arrays on schools. Power Technology has installed solar on to more schools than any other solar company in New Zealand.
After Power Technology and the Genesis School-gen programme parted ways, Power Technology created the New Zealand Solar Schools programme. Power Technology has made sure that the New Zealand Solar Schools programme is made available to every school, anywhere in New Zealand – as every school should be able to install solar on to the roof of their school.
The New Zealand Solar Schools programme consists of 6 main components to ensure a tailored solution is created to meet the needs of every school:
If you are interested in reading more about the 6 main components of Power Technology’s New Zealand Solar Schools programme, please click here.
After the introduction of the New Zealand Solar Schools programme, it did not take long for the first school install to take place. The first school that enjoyed the educational facets of the programme and the high quality installation process was Avalon Intermediate School. The installation took place in 2017, Power Technology installed a 20kW system on their school.
"Power Technology installed two solar arrays generating a total of 20 kW peak of electricity on the roof of our school. This has enabled our school to be generating electricity from a renewable source where all of the students can see it. We are very proud to be the first school in the new 'New Zealand Solar Schools programme'! We enjoyed the experience and support provided, as well as the innovative new initiatives we have been involved with in their new school programme." – Ian Hastie, Principal Avalon Intermediate School
(See above, Avalon Intermediate School students posing in front of their new solar array)
Power Technology has the largest portfolio of large arrays installed on schools throughout New Zealand. We have added a list of 6 large arrays installed by Power Technology:
"At Henderson Primary School our tamariki investigated how we can create a more sustainable learning environment. With assistance from Maggie at Power Technology Henderson Primary School students came up with a proposal that Solar be installed at our kura. Their presentation to our Board of Trustees was very persuasive and we decided to accept the proposal. The team at Power Technology were efficient and professional and the installation process was hassle free for us. We look forward to many years of continuing to enhance tamariki learning by providing a sustainable living environment." – Tony Biddick, Principal Henderson Primary.
(See above, Henderson Primary students and teachers waving for a drone photo)
New Zealand Solar Schools programme manager
Power Technology’s New Zealand Solar Schools programme manager is Maggie Twaddle. Maggie is an ex-Principal, teacher and an educational leader in New Zealand. She has been at the cutting edge of new programmes and possesses a large amount of experience in both the state and independent school sector. In the last twelve years, Maggie has used her experience to develop education programmes about solar energy and energy efficiency. She had a major role in developing the Genesis School-gen programme, and has been a key influence in the development of the New Zealand Solar Schools programme at Power Technology.
"Maggie held regular workshops with our lead students and the resources she developed to support the programme were excellent. Each aspect was levelled according to the New Zealand curriculum, including authentic learning tasks. She inspired the children to become aware of the positive effect they could have on the planet, by using renewable energy sources." – Beth Noakes, Principal May Road School
With the New Zealand Solar Schools programme, Maggie supports schools enabling them to have large solar arrays on their premises’. In addition to this, she supports and enables teachers to educate students about renewable energy – preparing them for their future. The educational journey she offers is completely in-line with the required curriculum outcomes in New Zealand schools. Supporting schools with this personal interaction with teachers and students is unique – there is nothing else like it in New Zealand!
A Local Energy Market (LEM) is, in short, an energy sharing platform for communities to share their power with one another. This enables consumers in communities who have a surplus of energy from their own renewable energy sources to sell or gift it within their LEM, and in turn for consumers with a deficit of energy to purchase it. This creates a local marketplace for communities to take control of their own energy consumption, limiting the necessity of a large energy retailer.
If you would like to know more about Local Energy Markets, please click here to read about it in our dedicated blogpost.
The main goal of the New Zealand Solar Schools programme is to support every school in New Zealand to enable them to enjoy the benefits of having a solar array on the roof of their school. Furthermore, we strive to teach children how solar energy and energy efficiency works in a fun and exciting way that will foster the imagination of our future leaders and decision makers.
We hope that in the years to come, ‘A solar array installed on a school by the New Zealand Solar Schools programme’ will become a collocation – meaning that these words are commonly used together in a sentence.
If you are interested in registering your school for the New Zealand Solar Schools programme, click here.
If you would like more information concerning the New Zealand Solar Schools programme, click here.
SEANZ. (2019). Sustainable Energy for a Sustainable Future. Unknown: SEANZ.
Transpower. (2019). The sun rises on a solar energy future. Unknown: Transpower.
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Generally speaking, the purchase of energy happens off the national grid from established energy retailers. The established energy retailers often don’t have personal relationships with consumers and mainly come in contact on a transactional basis. In this energy structure the consumer is highly reliant on the course of action implemented by the energy retailers.
A Local Energy Market (LEM) is, in short, an energy sharing platform for communities to share their power with one another. This enables consumers in communities who have a surplus of energy from their own renewable energy sources to sell or gift it within their LEM, and in turn for consumers with a deficit of energy to purchase it. This creates a local marketplace for communities to take control of their own energy consumption, limiting the necessity of a large energy retailer.
The main reason that LEM’s are beneficial is because of their ability to limit the reliance of consumers on established energy retailers. An LEM gives the power to people, and grants them the ability to create their own communal marketplace on which they can share power. This offers the consumer a large amount of flexibility, efficient power usage and in the long run a strengthened communal feeling.
The implementation of the Local Energy Market initiative requires software and hardware based solutions. The software side of the initiative will be fulfilled by Our Energy, a registered energy retailer, who will provide their peer-to-peer based energy trading software named lemonade. Power Technology will provide the hardware side of this initiative, which consists of the solar modelling and installation.
The focus has initially been put on the New Zealand Solar Schools program that has been founded by Power Technology in 2017. Together they will strive to implement LEM’s into schools across New Zealand, educating children further on the usage and payment of energy. Power Technology has already been educating children in the past through said program.
Want to learn more about this joint venture? Read Craig Greaves’ dedicated article here.
]]>Even with the silly season on horizon, Aussies were keen to get solar panels on their rooftop. 18% of them wanted to get solar installation for their home immediately and rest of them wanted to get it within next 3 months.
SolarQuotes welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors each month, and out of them thousands of visitors request a solar quote. All of these activities give a clear insight into the Australian mindset about renewable energy.
Source: Feedspot - A fast, free, modern RSS Reader, (2017).
]]>In today’s blog article, we would like to give you an understanding of what you can do to make your batteries last longer.
In consumer electronics as well as in UPS systems and solar power storage systems, Lithium Ion Batteries are predominantly used because the material allows a very high charge capacity relative to the battery’s weight and size. Apart from that, another advantage is that Li-Ion Batteries don’t suffer from the memory effect. The memory effect means that a battery would memorize if it is not discharged completely before recharging and would therefore reduce the amount of time after which you need to charge it again. If phone batteries had this effect, we would have to replace them quite often.
You can charge your phone or laptop at every state of charge and it won’t affect its capacity. Nevertheless, each complete charge/discharge cycle will reduce the battery’s capacity to a slight extent. This means, you were right thinking that your phone battery discharges faster after you have used it for a while.
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Your address is more important than you might think. It makes a big difference if you live close to the equator in Indonesia or far away from it in New Zealand. The reason is that the total radiation from the sun is decreasing towards the poles. Areas with more sunshine hours are always a better condition for harvesting solar power.
Nevertheless, depending on other criteria, it can still be a good decision to switch to solar energy even if you’re not living at the equator.
For instance, the geographic direction and the angle of your rooftop determine if your home qualifies for going solar. A rooftop which faces north is preferable to make sure that the solar panels can convert as much of the solar energy as possible. The angle or so called tilt can be adjusted by the mounting systems.
Furthermore, the surroundings of your house are important. If your rooftop is in the shade of hills or trees, it will be less suitable for solar panels. Trees on your property can be cut down or moved in order to increase the amount sunlight that can be absorbed by the panels.
Additionally, your electricity usage needs to be considered. If you’re using most of your electricity during the day, solar modules could pay off for you. This factor is less important if you are installing a storage system.
It is always better to let an expert make an evaluation instead of jumping to conclusions. Power Technology offers a free assessment of your home.
Book your appointment today! Click here.
]]>The chance to get involved in establishing New Zealand’s first 8/10 Home Star rated house allowed our residential solar power experts to show off their capability.
Located in Beachlands, Auckland, the ‘Ideal House’ was developed with the aim of achieving an 8 star Home Star rating, and a Positive energy rating.
To meet the brief, Power Technology designed a large domestic 8kW solar panel system utilising the more efficient mono-crystalline photovoltaic modules.
This super-efficient solar power system produces enough power per day to run two average size houses. It will ensure the home’s energy requirements are completely fulfilled, with the extra energy fed into the grid to provide a positive return.
Power Technology’s solar power system encompasses 32 x 250W CSUN Mono-crystalline panels, mounted on 15-30 degree roof mount brackets and angled at 26 degrees. The chosen angle ensured maximum solar power generation all year round, with slightly more emphasis on summer generation when the sun is at its highest radiation level.
Two German made 4kW KACO inverters convert the solar panel’s energy to usable 240V domestic power and a Piccolog inverter module combines the inverter outputs into a format that can be displayed on a tablet device.
Over the next two years, the Ideal House will act as a working exhibition of the latest in renewable energy technology and positive energy projects.
Facilities on the island that directly draw electricity from the island grid include a DoC Field Centre, 11 houses, the Motutapu Outdoor Education Centre (which has 45,000 children stay per year), telecommunications towers by Vodafone and Telecom, and Motutapu Farms Limited. In addition, potable water is pumped to all of the facilities (apart from the telecommunications towers). The total power usage recorded was close to 133,000 kWh.
The solar power system installed by Power Technology is an AC coupled system, which involves the connection of photovoltaic (PV) panels to an AC network. It includes:
With the objective of offsetting diesel consumption, maintenance and servicing costs, the target solar contribution for this solar power system was 65,000kWh. This was achieved, ensuring a much more sustainable energy approach.
For this "Mission critical" application Power Technology implemented a 10kWp, ground mounted solar array, 18kW of battery inverters, 25kWhr lithium battery and twin Cummins diesel generators.
This super high reliability solar power and lithium battery system produces and stores enough power per day to run more than two average size houses ad is set to run an operating military installation.
With parallel redundant generators (back up diesel generators) It will ensure the sites’s energy requirements are completely fulfilled, with the extra energy available during any "event" that may put added personnel pressure on the site.
Power Technology’s solar power system encompasses 32 x 250W CSUN Mono-crystalline panels, mounted on 15-30 degree roof mount brackets and angled at 26 degrees. The chosen angle ensured maximum solar power generation all year round, with slightly more emphasis on summer generation when the sun is at its highest radiation level.
Two German made 4kW KACO inverters convert the solar panel’s energy to usable 240V domestic power and a Piccolog inverter module combines the inverter outputs into a format that can be displayed on a tablet device.
This site will act as a working exhibition of the latest in renewable energy technology and positive energy projects that are achievable by not only NZDF, but also many other Government departments (many of whom we already service now!).