These long sunny days are not only good for outdoor family time, they can provide us with abundant and cheap energy. The conversion of sunlight to electricity has long been possible, but reduced costs and improved efficiencies of solar arrays are now making it cheaper to harness the power of the sun. Solar power can displace the burning of coal and gas, contributing to a lowering of greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
Power can be generated in centralised solar power stations, but the most exciting development is rooftop solar. Householders are now installing solar arrays on their rooftops, generating electricity to displace their purchases from utilities and selling power back to the grid. This lowers transmission costs because electricity can be used locally rather than being sent from far away (most power comes from the South Island). Potentially lower electricity bills, reduced reliance on a distribution grid and lower emissions means that it’s a win-win-win.
As a result, most governments support solar power and accelerate its introduction. As an example, Germany which is not noted for high sunshine hours, recently produced more than half of its electricity through solar power, mainly from rooftops. Increasingly India and other developing countries are embracing the opportunities to generate their electricity from solar power. Their companies are at the forefront of the growing solar industries.
But the New Zealand government has not supported the introduction of solar. Instead, the government continues to give subsidies to oil and gas and to the coal company, Solid Energy, supporting the pollution economy rather than clean technology. The government has also allowed the utilities to reduce the prices they pay from surplus electricity from household solar, discouraging households from installing solar.
The Green Party has policies to encourage the use of solar, including requiring the Electricity Authority to set a fair price for utilities for surplus electricity, and helping schools and households to invest in solar arrays. With government encouragement, we can become the first country to generate all our electricity from renewable sources. New Zealand can lead the world in the transition away from fossil fuels, benefiting our economy, encouraging self-reliance and reducing our climate change emissions. This is an exciting vision.
Barry Coates was a Green Party candidate for Mt Roskill. He was formerly Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand and has more than 20 years’ experience of international negotiations on climate change. He has a Masters degree in management from Yale University.