Solar questions, answered for Taranaki.

North-facing is ideal in New Zealand because it captures the most sunlight, but east and west-facing roofs also work well — typically producing 80–90% of the yield of a north-facing array. We model your specific roof orientation and shading before quoting.

Taranaki averages around 2,180 sunshine hours a year — very productive for solar. Coastal areas like New Plymouth, Bell Block and Ōakura benefit from clear, unshaded skies most of the year, and even on overcast days modern panels produce meaningful power.

Most residential roofs in Taranaki are suitable, including corrugated iron, long-run steel and concrete tile. We assess pitch, orientation, shading, roof age and structural integrity during our free site assessment. Very old or damaged roofs may need replacement first.

In most cases residential solar installations in New Plymouth District do not require resource or building consent because they qualify as permitted activity under the district plan. Some heritage or coastal-overlay properties may need consent — we check this for you before starting.

Request a free quote via our website form or email admin@centralsolar.co.nz. We'll ask a few questions about your power usage and roof, then arrange a free on-site assessment. From there you'll receive a full system design and transparent quote.

Every home and business is different — roof, orientation, power usage, panel and inverter choice, and whether you add a battery all shift the price. Rather than quote a generic figure, we build every quote from scratch after a free on-site assessment. Get in touch and we'll give you honest, tailored numbers for your place.

Most New Plymouth homes save 40–70% off their power bill with solar alone, and 70–95% once a battery is added. Actual savings depend on your usage pattern, system size, and how much power you use during daylight hours.

Typical payback is 5–8 years for a solar-only system and 7–10 years with a battery, based on current NZ electricity prices. After payback everything the system produces is essentially free power for the remaining 15–20+ year system life.

As of 2026 there are no direct government subsidies for residential solar in New Zealand. However, some banks offer preferential green home loans at reduced interest rates, and Warmer Kiwi Homes (EECA) subsidies apply to insulation and heat pumps — often installed alongside solar.

Yes. Options include green home loans from ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank and Westpac at reduced interest rates, adding to your mortgage, or third-party solar finance providers. We can point you in the right direction based on your situation.

Typical installation time is within 1 week from start to switch-on. The physical rooftop work is usually completed in 1–2 days; the remaining time covers commissioning, meter changes and Powerco grid approval.

Not usually. We need access to the roof, meter box and the inside of your home briefly for the inverter install. Most clients are at work while we install — we simply need arrangements for site access and someone available to answer any quick questions.

No. We use certified Clenergy mounting systems designed for corrugated iron and long-run roofing, with proper flashings and sealants. Every mounting point is weathertight and installed to New Zealand standards. Our workmanship is guaranteed for 10 years.

Yes. Every system we install includes real-time production and consumption monitoring via a smartphone app, so you can see exactly how much solar you're generating, using, exporting and (if you have batteries) storing.

Not necessarily. Solar without a battery still delivers strong savings if you use most of your power during the day (dishwasher, laundry, hot water on timer, EV charging). Batteries make sense if you use more power at night, want backup during outages, or want to maximise self-consumption.

We install Tesla Powerwall, Sungrow, BYD, Sig Energy and Fronius Reserva. Each has strengths — we recommend based on your usage pattern, backup needs and budget, not based on which brand we're pushing.

Modern lithium batteries are warranted for 10 years with 70%+ retained capacity, and real-world life is typically 12–15 years. Batteries do gradually lose capacity over time — similar to a laptop or phone battery, but much slower.

It depends on battery size and how it's wired. A Tesla Powerwall 3 will run essential loads (fridge, lights, Wi-Fi, comms) for 12–24 hours easily, and can be configured for whole-home backup. Smaller batteries typically back up only essential circuits.

Powerco is the lines company for New Plymouth, Waitara, Bell Block, Inglewood, Ōakura, Stratford, Hāwera and most of Taranaki. We handle the entire Powerco distributed-generation approval process on your behalf.

Yes. Any grid-connected solar system must be approved by Powerco before it's energised. This is called a Distributed Generation (DG) application. We prepare and submit the paperwork, and approval typically takes 2–6 weeks.

Yes. Most NZ retailers offer a buy-back rate for exported solar power — typically 8–17c per kWh depending on the retailer and plan. Rates change often, so we help you compare current plans before switch-on and again once you've been running for a few months.

Yes, but it's usually cheaper and more resilient to stay grid-tied unless your property is remote. For rural properties without power lines nearby, a purpose-designed off-grid system with solar + batteries + backup generator is often more economical than paying for a new grid connection.

In Taranaki, rain generally does an excellent job of keeping panels clean. We recommend a visual check once a year and occasional cleaning if you're near a farm, unsealed road, or under trees. We offer optional annual maintenance visits.

Warranty periods vary by manufacturer and model. Typically you'll get 25 years performance warranty on panels, 10–15 years on inverters (often extendable), and 10 years on batteries — plus our own 10-year workmanship guarantee on the physical installation. We confirm the exact warranty periods for your chosen products in your quote, and hand over all paperwork at commissioning.

Give us a call — we're on call and ready to help fix the issue.