Largest solar install in Central Hawke's Bay at Kintail Honey

Kintail Honey's solar install.

The largest solar install in Central Hawke's Bay will save a business about $17,000 a year.

This week, Kintail Honey will have their new solar system up and running at their main office in Takapau.

The 160 panel install will save the company about $17,000 a year, a spokesperson for Hawke's Bay-based solar company Ecoefficient Solutions NZ Limited said.

The significant reduction in their power bill is because the company predominantly operates during the day, when solar "will hugely benefit them".

The saving means the company will have paid off their entire solar system in six years.

A Kintail Honey spokesperson said the company has always tried to be sustainable with their packaging from the pottles to outers being recyclable.

"Solar was the next step for us to take."

The spokesperson said they met with Laura Kerr from Ecoefficient and discussed the benefits of solar at Kintail Honey and how they could recoup their costs.

"Everything Laura talked about reinforced our sustainability goals and how we are conscious of the imprint we are leaving behind for future generations.

"The solar installation helps us along with our progressive farm planting of manuka and also the Trees for Bees Project planting we have been undertaking, towards becoming totally carbon neutral."

The system was designed by Ecoefficient Solutions with the help of Centralines and installed by DMAK Electrical.

The array is made up of 160 frameless Trina panels alongside a 50kW 3 phase SMA inverter.

The system itself takes about two to three weeks to install and then the final commissioning happens one to two weeks post installation.

The panel cells are made using robotic machinery in China, a country leading in solar technology the spokesperson said.

The tier 1 Trina panels come from a sustainable factory.