The new solar panels grids could reduce monthly power bills by up to $70. Photo / NZME
The new solar panels grids could reduce monthly power bills by up to $70. Photo / NZME
People behind the first Whanganui project to receive funding from the Government's Māori Housing Renewable Energy Fund want to encourage others to apply for upcoming rounds.
Te Rangiao Trust has been approved for $127,018 of government funding for their project "Kāinga o te Rā" to install solar panels and batteries on five low-income rental properties.
"We're just a little trust, so when we applied for it we thought we probably weren't going to get it," trustee Leanne Hiroti said.
"But it's really exciting and we're absolutely stoked."
"If you're successful it can make such a difference to your power bills."
The estimated annual savings per household of between $700–$850, which could shave off up to $70 per power bill for one household, energy and resources and housing minister Megan Woods said.
This is one of 16 government-funded energy projects to produce clean, affordable and locally generated power to 150 households.
Hiroti said the trust applied for the first two rounds of funding unsuccessfully but after more research, it applied successfully for this third round.
"We applied because we want whānau in their homes to not be afraid to turn a heater on because of a cost.
"Hopefully it will free up some of their money for other living costs."
Leanne Hiroti said it was definitely worth applying for the funding. Photo / Supplied
The Whanganui trust owns several residential homes across Whanganui city, providing low-cost rentals to families and trust beneficiaries for over 10 years.
Hiroti said within the next year each of the five rental properties would have a five-kilowatt on-grid system, consisting of an array of solar panels and a battery for each home.
"The systems we're installing have a battery backup to make sure there is an emergency power supply for each of the homes, then any excess power not used in the home will be diverted to the battery, and once the battery is full the excess power is fed back into the national grid."
She said there were different options for how the energy going back into the grid was shared, so they would next be working with the tenants on what that would look like.
Associate Minister of Housing (Māori Housing) Peeni Henare said projects from earlier funding rounds were reporting up to a 50 per cent drop in power bills by installing equipment like solar panels and household batteries.
"It's important to fund projects like this that test new ways to share and store off-grid renewable energy to see at a micro-level what works well in order to transition to a net-zero carbon future."
The fund is one-half of the $28 million Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund.
More information on future funding rounds will be available in the upcoming months.
To be eligible for funding, projects had to focus on installing renewable energy technology, and benefit people in Māori housing such as residents of housing on Whenua Māori; Papakāinga residents; tenants of Māori Community Housing Providers; Māori households or partners working with the Crown through initiatives such as Te Puni Kōkiri Māori Housing investment and the MAIHI programme; households benefiting from housing or energy programmes predominantly led by, or for, Māori-affiliated or Māori-run organisations; and any other housing interests or initiatives that predominantly benefit iwi, hapū or whānau.
