I’m interested in running my home on sustainable, environmentally friendly, power. What do I need to

New Zealand’s national electricity grid is actually very ‘green’ by international standards, with more than 75% of our power coming from renewable sources. This means that connecting to the national grid is often the most environmentally friendly way to power a rural home.
In very remote areas, however, the costs of connecting to the national grid can be as much as $25,000 per km. This can make generating your own renewable energy
on-site particularly appealing. The main options for on-site power systems in New Zealand are solar panels, small wind turbines and micro-hydro systems (for rural land with streams or running water).
If no connection to the national grid is available, these systems will need to be accompanied with a battery for energy storage. They will also need a back-up power generator (typically diesel), for cloudy periods, drought days with low wind etc.