The desire to cut power bills in the face of rising prices is driving more New Zealand households to consider switching to solar, according to Westpac NZ research.
The nationwide survey of 564 people, carried out by research agency FiftyFive5, shows nearly half of New Zealanders have installed or are considering installing solar panels, with cutting their power bill the main motivator.
It found 9% of people already have solar panels at home and 13% are planning to get them within the next 12 months. A further 25% plan to, but not in the next 12 months.
79% of respondents cited reducing their electricity costs as a reason for getting solar, with 60% saying it's the main reason. Electricity prices have been rising faster than inflation in 2025 with many consumers facing price rises greater than 10%.
70% of respondents cited high levels of concern about rising electricity prices, with 58% of this group saying further price rises would make them more likely to consider solar.
Reducing climate impact (41%) and having a separate power source from the grid in emergencies (34%) were other common reasons driving consideration.
Among those considering or already making use of solar panels, 68% said they have or are likely to install batteries - which would increase their reliability of supply but add to up-front costs.
"Solar is a great option for many households and spring is a good time to think about it, as the days get longer and high winter power bills are fresh in people's minds. Getting set up now could help lead to lower bills once winter rolls around again," says Westpac NZ Managing Director of Product, Sustainability and Marketing, Sarah Hearn.
"Solar is environmentally-friendly, widely available, can add value to a property, is getting cheaper to install and can lead to significant cost savings on energy bills over time.
"It also has benefits for our economy and communities. Last month Westpac published a report into the state of the solar industry, which showed increased solar generation would help New Zealand meet its growing electricity demand as well as increase resilience.
"However, installing solar panels can be a significant up-front cost. Nearly half of those surveyed who weren't planning to get solar cited cost as a reason. And a quarter of respondents who do plan to get solar are putting it off for at least a year, which speaks to the cost pressures many are still facing.
"That's where banks can step up - for instance, our Greater Choices home loan top up offers customers up to $50,000 of interest-free lending for up to five years for a range of home and vehicle improvements including solar panels and batteries.
"We've lent more than $270m through Greater Choices since 2020, and we encourage customers to talk to us about what we can do to help reduce their energy costs, whether through solar panels, double glazing, insulation or a range of other options."
Solar currently only contributes about 2% to New Zealand's electricity generation, but MBIE projects this could rise ten-fold by 2050. For that to happen, solar generation at both residential and grid-scale would need to significantly increase. Westpac's solar report found a range of barriers to scaling up solar that need to be overcome for this to occur.
"Households have a part to play in increasing New Zealand's overall generation. Banks are already encouraging this with no-or-low interest lending, but there's more than can be done. For example, when asked what measures would encourage uptake, 31% of respondents cited better government incentives and 29% cited fair prices for selling electricity back to the grid," Ms Hearn says.
"Nearly 80,000 household already have solar panels installed, and we were pleased to see recent changes announced by the Electricity Authority that will make it cheaper and easier for households and businesses to connect to the grid.
"We see a bright future for solar and will continue our leading role as a lender to help ramp up generation across all levels, from household to commercial and grid-scale."
