Changes made by the government to the Building Act, which came into effect last month, mean a building consent is no longer required to install many rooftop solar panels on existing homes and commercial buildings.
The exemptions apply to roof-mounted installations under 40sq m in total area per roof, unless in very high-wind zones (more than 158kmh).
For arrays more than 40sq m or in very high-wind zones, a chartered professional engineer must provide or review the design of the structural fixings for the exemption to apply.
Dunedin Solar managing director James Kettle said the changes were “a good move” for the solar industry.
A lot more companies were going solar and there was still scope for “huge amounts of growth”.
“I believe that removing some of the barriers is certainly going to increase the speed that that happens.”
Most manufacturers of solar panel mounting rails had engineering consent and as long as people were designing within that framework, he could not see why it would be a bad thing, Mr Kettle said.
“It’s definitely not going to dissuade people from coming to solar.
“If anything, it’s that little bit more of an incentive.”
However, he was concerned some homeowners might scale back their plans so they did not exceed the 40sq m threshold.
“It will potentially wind people back a little bit, where they might want to be keeping it under that 40sq m so that they don’t have to go through that consenting process.”
The structure of commercial builds often involved wide-span roofs, so solar installations needed to be done in the right place, Mr Kettle said.
Most commercial installations were more than 40sq m and on a much bigger scale.
Dunedin City Council zero carbon manager Jinty MacTavish said the changes were a step in the right direction and made both generating and using renewable energy more accessible for ordinary New Zealanders.
“For most Dunedin homes, this means solar can now be installed faster, with fewer barriers and at lower cost, helping more residents generate renewable power and reduce household expenses in the long term.”
Over the past five years, there had been a 281% increase in the total installed solar capacity in Dunedin, Ms MacTavish said.
This was a clear sign more households and businesses were choosing to generate their own clean energy, she said.
“Rooftop solar lets people take control of their energy use.
“It’s a simple, practical way to cut costs and cut emissions at the same time — great for individual households and businesses, neighbourhood air quality and global efforts to mitigate climate change.”
