Infinite Energy owner Regan Heal remembers the "long hair and sandals" days well.
"It was very much alternative.
"The economics didn't stack up nearly as well as they do now.
"It was often much more about [the environment], or sustainability, or people with aspirations to be more self-sufficient."
The former Otago Boys’ High School student began taking the potential of solar energy seriously while working in Wellington for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.
Then, in 2013, without any practical electrical knowledge, he headed for sunny Cromwell to set up a company selling and installing photovoltaic panels.
It began with just him, assisted by some Golden Bay contractors who did the installation work and trained a local workforce.
Now, the company employs 19 fulltime staff, does business across much of the South Island and has won three New Zealand Sustainable Energy Industry Awards, including one last month for an off-grid system installed at Dingleburn Station, Lake Hawea.
The system was designed to improve the reliability of the station’s existing hydro system during droughts and high rainfall or when there was a freeze.
"But the big driver is that more of that water resource is now required for arable farming.
"It does allow them now, in the summer months, to divert some of that water resource away from the hydro turbine and into irrigation."
"And the cost of energy was much lower, and so the payback was often quite a lot longer."
But that had changed, as panels had become better and cheaper.
"When you look at the life cost of the system and the amount of energy that it's going to generate ... against the initial investment cost, that's significantly better than the cost of grid power."
As a pointer to Central Otago’s enthusiasm for solar, Mr Heal offers an "installation control point" (ICP) figure.
Every electricity consumer has an ICP.
In Central Otago, the numbers showed 6.5% had solar input compared with less than 2.5% for New Zealand, he said.
He believes there is huge potential for solar systems to be incorporated into commercial developments, where company cars are used as the company’s battery.
"As bi-directional chargers become more and more common in the future, we'll actually be able to see a fleet of vehicles plugged in and discharging back to the building."
Such chargers were being tested locally but were expensive and not "mass market yet".
"They are certainly a huge part of the future."
As Mr Heal sees it, New Zealand needs to change its game.
"Globally, we need to electrify pretty rapidly in order to reduce CO2 emissions and keep the planet at an agreeable temperature."
While about 90% of New Zealand’s electricity came from renewable sources now, that percentage could change as demand grew.
"There simply is not enough renewable energy consented that can supply that," he said.
If New Zealand was to meet it’s climate targets, it potentially faced the reality of "needing 200% of the generation" that it had now to be coming from renewable.
The beauty of solar was that it could be built where the demand existed.
Asked about innovations to come, Mr Heal said the use in big commercial buildings of windows incorporating solar cells was an exciting opportunity.
