NZ's biggest solar farm to be built

[Wainuiguy]

Solar is something that needs to be looked at but solar on this scale is not great.  For one rather amount of usable land this will take is massive and I didn't see any mention of storage in there?  While wind power is not pleasing to the eye at least the land below can still be used for farming or industrial.  The noise is an issue though not greatly so.  I sat having my lunch one day directly under a wind turbine opposite the famous sculpure "Donde se cruza el camino del viento con el de las estrellas"- while there was some noise it wasn't terrible.

We just looked at solar for our house - $20k outlay for a$10k savings over 20 years.  Just wasn't worth it.

Wind we have plenty of.  We need to build more dams(we wont), more geothermal, ,look at tidal power.  Solar in N Z isn't good enough.  Too much of the year we have reduced capacity.

A few points you've made are invalid and need correction.

Large scale solar installations can be done in conjunction with crops so that land is far from unusable. More information on Agrivoltaics here:



Another option is to site PV over non-productive land or other areas such as over water such as canals or wastewater ponds. The shading resulting from doing so provides benefits in reducing evaporation from potable water sources.

In regards to battery storage here in New Zealand we already have enormous storage potential by way of our hydro lakes. Daytime PV generation offsets hydro generation during that time which is in effect a storage method. And of course the pumped hydro scheme being proposed for Lake Onslow is a more ambitious approach for offsetting generation scheduling. Lower winter sunshine levels are thereby also offset by rainfall capture during that period. The real issue in New Zealand however is the split generation/transmission model instigated by the Bradford reforms which works against smaller competing generators penetrating the existing market due to advantages enjoyed by the encumants. That's why we're seeing the likes of Todd and NZ Refining being those with the economic clout to take on the big power co's.

While wind turbines' noise output is relatively low in volume the low frequencies are problematic in terms of psychological effects on nearby properties so isolated locations are required. Smaller horizontal axis (propeller style) such as those for individual properties can generate significant volumes (think Cessna on take off) so council consents are an issue. Also wind turbines, big or small, like wave or tidal generating systems have plenty of moving parts and operate in challenging environments so maintenance of them is a major consideration. Fixed PV panels are very low maintenance in comparison.

Domestic sized PV installations require good design to be economically viable as their economic viability is far more precarious than for utility scale installations. We have recently completed a 5kW PV installation on our property that cost us $14K with a ~10 year payback period. That installation uses our hot water cylinder as storage via a Paladin 'power diverter' for excess generation, rather than exporting to the grid, and provides most charging for our Nissan Leaf EV, and a planned second EV which will further improve the PV's investment value and ROI. Also owning an EV or two made the economies of including battery storage non-viable as our vehicles are essentially batteries on wheels.

We had a similar sized PV installation at our previous property so had plenty of prior experience going into this one and were disappointed with much of the poor advice we received from potential installers so I'm well aware that there will be plenty of poor PV choices being made and it would be advisable to shop wisely if you're considering investing in home solar. Keep an eye out for a coming blog on our website detailing our solar venture for more information in that regard.

Well that looks great - is that what they plan for here?