New Zealand has recommended legalising plug-in solar, potentially opening rooftop-style savings to renters, apartment dwellers and others previously locked out of renewables.

The New Zealand government has recommended legalising plug-in solar in Aotearoa, moving a crucial step closer to tapping into a huge new, and game-changing market for distributed PV – and potentially beating Australia to the punch.

Plug-in solar – sometimes called ‘balcony solar’ in reference to one of its most common applications – has been a runaway success in parts of Europe, like Germany, where it has extended the bill-slashing benefits of PV to apartment dwellers, renters and others previously locked out of the market.

In Australia, however, it is not yet legal. As Smart Energy Lab general manager Glenn Morris explained it to Renew Economy here, Australia and New Zealand have slightly different electrical standards from the rest of the world, in terms of the configuration of our networks and safety requirements.

And while various state governments around Australia seem keen on addressing the legal, technical and regulatory barriers to........

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