Farms are in a unique position to provide mid-scale renewable electricity solutions that can bolster the country's energy security. They have greater buying power than individual households; they have the land and space to install much larger systems than households; they are usually owner-operators who can make their own decisions; and they often have access to finance and are generally well-placed to take on long term investments, especially those that will save money.

If each of the approximately 50,000 farms in New Zealand installed mid-scale solar systems they could generate an additional 60% of the country’s current total electricity consumption.

Solar can play an important role when it comes to irrigation, which increases electricity use during summer, and could help keep our hydro lakes full for winter.

Every farm is different, but the agriculture sector spends around $700 million on diesel each year. Shifting away from diesel machines is a huge economic opportunity for farms because electric machines, while more expensive upfront, are so much cheaper to run. When powered by solar and batteries, farms can dramatically reduce their energy bills and improve their resilience.

A significant amount of on-farm emissions come from fuel use. Farmers can make a difference right now - while also reducing the country’s dependence on increasingly expensive carbon offsetting - by electrifying their fossil fuel machines.

With the right conditions, farmers can also create an additional revenue stream by producing and storing solar power and timing export perfectly for when it is most valuable.

Forest Lodge Orchard in Central Otago has electrified all of its on-farm machinery, including two electric frost fighting fans, electric golf carts and New Zealand’s first electric tractor. Rooftop and groundmount solar and a battery bank provides about 80% of the farm’s electricity needs, so although electricity use has increased by about 900% compared to the status quo, the peak drawdown from the grid has remained low. No more local distribution infrastructure has been required and no new poles and lines needed to be built.

After electrification, the farm saves almost $40,000 a year across the farm and home from avoided costs of diesel, avoided electricity network lines charges and by exporting excess power back to the grid when prices are high. For example, diesel frost fans burn large amounts of fuel and can cost over $10,000 a year to run, whereas Forest Lodge Orchard’s two 30kW electric frost fans are more efficient at 20% the operational cost. Similarly, the 40hp electric tractor does the job of a 80hp diesel equivalent thanks to the benefits of electric power, and costs a fraction of the price to run.

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Modern farming is heavily dependent on diesel machines like tractors, motorbikes, pumps and harvesters. An electric farm swaps some or all of those fossil fuel machines for electric equivalents and powers them with a combination of solar panels, battery banks and New Zealand’s highly renewable grid. If enough generation capacity is built, electric farms can also play a role in the energy system and create a new revenue stream for farmers by selling renewable electricity to the grid during times of peak demand.

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