The Ministry of Regulation launched a review aimed at slashing the red tape, as the cost of installing solar in New Zealand was double that of Australia.
"One way or another we’re going to have the simplest rules for doing solar in the world," Mr Seymour said.
New Zealand had made difficult for people to install solar, he said.
In Victoria, home-owners could get solar installed in a single visit — something he said New Zealand should be aiming for.
Here, the process involves multiple inspectors, repeated truck visits and inconsistent rules that vary between councils and electricity distributors, adding cost and time at every turn, he said.
"You’ve got a number of inspectors, by the time everyone has gone back and forth.
"By the time you actually get through it, you’ve just faced far too much cost."
Installing solar should be no more complicated than getting someone to install a dishwasher, he said.
The sector review, which Mr Seymour said would take a couple of months before recommendations go through Cabinet, would aim to standardise rules for solar nationally, reduce the number of steps in the process and ideally allow one person to carry out an installation.
When questioned on subsidies, Mr Seymour said the focus was on cutting costs through efficiency.
"We can subsidise things in the meantime but that comes at the expense of taxpayers using their money for something else," he said.
When asked about uptake targets, Mr Seymour said he would not set specific goals.
"My job is not to play the game but create the conditions.
"If I can say we have the most simple, straightforward system in the world, how much people take advantage of that is up to them."
On whether the review would help renters and apartment owners, Mr Seymour said the challenge was installing panels on someone else’s roof could leave landlords bearing costs.
However, the benefits of the review could be a strong incentive for landlords, he said.
"It’s a pretty good incentive if you were a landlord to consider making money off your roof."
On safety, Mr Seymour was clear the review would not cut corners, "you’ve gotta be safety first".
Mr Casey said he had spent years lobbying Wellington departments over solar inefficiencies and welcomed the review as a genuine breakthrough.
"This is the first time I’ve seen Wellington people move fast for something that’s actually going to benefit the people of New Zealand," Mr Casey said.
He acknowledged the process had been unnecessarily difficult when he first started.
"It should never have been that hard for me — that’s why we want to make it easier for everyone else," he said.
The proof was on display at Electric Cherries, where operations manager Euan White said the orchard saved $57,000 on diesel every year through electrification, with machinery — including cherry pickers and tractors — all running on electricity.
"This is undeniable proof it can work," Mr White said.
Plug-in solar — which could help renters and apartment dwellers access cheaper energy — is also on the agenda as part of upcoming projects to extend solar’s benefits beyond homeowners.
