Finally, some good news most of us can agree on – plug-in solar panels will soon be legal in New Zealand, writes Henry Oliver in today’s excerpt from The Bulletin.

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The Ministry for Regulation has recommended legalising plug-in solar and letting accredited installers sign off on installations without requiring an in-person inspection, as reported by RNZ’s Giles Dexter yesterday. The ministry’s review found the barriers could be safely removed with the right safety standards in place, and regulation minister David Seymour argued that if plug-in systems are safe enough for Germany and the UK, they should be fine for us too.

It’s one of 15 recommendations from a review Seymour ordered in May, aimed at cutting the sign-offs and site visits currently required before a small-scale solar system can be switched on – in some cases as many as six approvals from four different entities.

So what is plug-in solar? And why is it illegal?

Plug-in systems are compact kits (typically one or two panels with a built-in microinverter) that plug straight into a wall socket rather than needing a licensed electrician, making them significantly cheaper than fully installed rooftop solar panels, though they typically provide a lot less energy. In Europe, they’re widely known as “balcony solar” and are popular with renters and apartment dwellers who can’t install rooftop solar. 

This short explainer by The Spinoff’s Now You Know covers the basics of why plug-in solar is illegal in New Zealand. In short: the inverters (which changes the direct current (DC) electricity from the panels into alternating current (AC) electricity for safe use) in these systems were banned in New Zealand due to safety concerns. This was primarily due to the prevalence on the market of cheaply produced plug-in panels that posed a greater risk but have now been replaced by new, safer versions.

NZ Herald’s coverage of the ministry’s report confirmed the current settings ban plug-in solar specifically because of the inverter risk, and noted the ministry’s finding that this could be safely resolved through product certification and output limits, as is done in countries where plug-in systems already operate legally.

Faster, cheaper approvals across the board

Beyond plug-in solar, the review’s recommendations extend to the wider approval process. Seymour said implementing them would cut typical residential solar approval from around $640 and three months down to $200 and six days, as reported by Stuff’s Glenn McConnell, who noted that under the changes, plug-in solar systems could realistically be on sale in New Zealand before the end of the year.

For small to medium-scale solar, like installations on farm buildings, approval costs could fall from as much as $11,000 and six months to about $1300 and one month. The ministry expects all 15 recommendations could be implemented within 18 months, with some (including legalising plug-in solar) done through secondary legislation, while others would require amending the Electricity Industry Participation Code.

Cost remains the real barrier

Energy minister Simeon Brown welcomed the proposals as a way to make solar cheaper and faster to install. But several commentators have pointed out that regulatory friction isn’t the only obstacle – the upfront cost of solar and access to finance remain the biggest barriers for many households.

That’s reflected in the major parties’ competing, yet similar, election pitches. As The Spinoff’s Lyric Waiwiri-Smith laid out earlier this month, National and Labour are both campaigning on low-interest loans for solar installation, Labour is proposing kickstart subsidies for renters and lower-income households, and the Greens have promised zero-interest loans as part of a wider plan to put solar on more than half of all public homes within four years.

How did solar gain so much support across the political spectrum? By changing from a climate issue to an economic one as the cost of living remains at the top of the election issue charts. “The future of New Zealand is solar,” Waiwiri-Smith writes. “Yesterday’s climate policy is today’s cost of living intervention. It’s funny how quickly the political forecast can change when the power bill arrives.”