As part of its ongoing commitment to supporting local renewable generation and giving customers more flexibility in how they generate, use and store energy at home, Top Energy will increase its solar export limit to 10 kW per installation from 1 April 2026.
Chief Executive Russell Shaw says that the Far North has some of the highest sunshine hours in Aotearoa and is home to one of the country’s largest solar farm in Kaitaia. There are also 2,225 households with rooftop solar connected to the electricity network.
“At 6.5% of all power consumers in the region, this is one of the highest uptakes in the country and is continuing to grow as more households invest in solar and battery technology.”
Mr Shaw says the change reflects both community demand and Top Energy’s forward planning to enable households to contribute more renewable energy back into the local grid.
“By increasing our export limit to 10 kW, we’re giving customers even greater opportunity to benefit from their solar investment while continuing to operate a safe, stable and reliable network for everyone,” he says.
Battery storage continues to be a major feature of solar systems in the region. They help households manage the export of electricity to the grid, store excess solar generation for later use, and improve individual households power resilience during outages.
Since 2020 around 60% of new solar connections on the Top Energy network have included batteries, a trend the company fully supports.
“Batteries play an important role in helping households get the most out of their solar investment. We support the installation of behind the meter batteries to help manage export and provide households resilience, this includes vehicle to grid installations.”
The increase aligns with changes being introduced across New Zealand as networks adapt to higher levels of distributed renewable generation following an increase to the allowable voltage limits by the Electricity Authority.
Top Energy will provide further guidance to installers and customers ahead of the 1 April 2026 implementation date.
Customers considering installing solar or battery systems can find more information about application requirements at topenergy.co.nz
ENDS
For more information:
Philippa White
021 2418740