A couple of interesting energy articles: one on business solar - one on passive housing

A couple of articles have come to our attention this week related to energy.

The first article on Stuff is strongly recommended for those who are looking to build a new home. It looks at the experience of a Southland couple who have built a passive home, the upshot is that the temperature inside the house will be maintained at a constant 21c resulting in a monthly power bill of $65 rather than the national average of $200.

For all of those businesses out there who are primarily powering their operations while the sun should be shining, in this article on The Spinoff, Alex Brae talks to the owner of a Bay of Plenty timber process company about their decision to go solar and what that has meant for his business. What surprised me in the article, is that there are 500,000 non residential power connections in the country of which only 200 have solar.

As a footnote, Stuff's Northland reporter tells us that work the largest solar installation in NZ, at Pukenui on the Te Aupōuri Peninsula. Covering 12ha it will generate enough power for 2,750 homes. The economics would appear to be powered by the horrific power charges in the Far North.