Aspiring Campervan Park owner Richard Hutchison was on hand to prevent the red ribbon from blowing away while a crowd of about 12 friends and family, tradesmen and employees assembled below.
Mr Hutchison was awarded a $27,000 grant by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority last year to install two banks of solar water heating panels and a 3000-litre hot-water cylinder at his holiday park on Studholme Rd.
The work has just been completed.
The $50,000-plus project is expected to save about $7000 a year, based on current diesel prices, and should heat 100% of the water used by summer guests.
During winter, the system should heat at least 60% of the hot water used.
The difference was partly due to the longer showers people took in winter and a reduction in sunlight due to the shorter days and the inversion clouds.
Mr Hutchison said he would not have gone ahead with the project without the support of the council, which had given him the confidence to invest in his tourism business during tight times.
It was the largest campervan park solar-heating project in the South Island, he said.
"I would not have missed it for quids," Mr Geddes replied of the ceremony.
Tourists were increasingly "ticking the boxes" for holiday destinations that could show they were dealing with fossil fuels, recycling and disposing of waste water according to best international practice.
They also wanted destinations that could explain where they got their water and show they were efficient energy users, Mr Geddes said.
Tony Ryan of Alpha Solar NZ Ltd, which supplied the system, said even on cooler days the system had performed well, increasing the temperature of the water from 18degC to 21degC.
Mr Hutchison will monitor the system over the next year and provide data to EECA. Spokesman Nathan Ross said in a media release the organisation was particularly interested in the performance of solar water heating systems in colder climates and looking forward to seeing the results of the project.
