Solar Panels Newtown

Batteries store daytime solar for the evening, when most homes use the most power. They add cost, but in the Wellington Electricity area they also help with flexible export limits, because using or storing more of your own power means less is pushed onto a congested network. We explain whether a battery is worth it for you, or design a battery-ready system so one can be added later.

Newtown solar: flat streets, narrow lots and a character area

Newtown sits on comparatively flat land, which is unusual for inner Wellington and good news for solar. Without a hill rising directly behind most houses, roofs tend to see more of the low winter sun, and scaffold goes up on level ground. The catch is the lot shape. Houses from the 1890s tram boom stand on narrow rectangular sections, so a neighbour's two-storey addition can shade a single-storey cottage roof for part of the day. Low winter sun is when that matters most, so we look at the houses on either side as closely as the roof itself.

The District Plan treats Newtown as one of the city's pre-1930 character areas, so check whether a character precinct applies before panels go on a roof that faces the street. Many villas have rear roof planes and lean-to additions that face north or west, which can often carry the array instead.

Plenty of Newtown houses are rentals, and a landlord weighing solar should know where the value goes: power used on site is worth more than exported power, so the tenants' daytime use drives the return. Owner-occupiers working from home or running a heat pump during the day usually do better. Older boards with few RCDs may need upgrading before the inverter connects, and a sleepout in a deep rear yard can sometimes carry extra panels if its roof faces the right way.

Local tip: If your house has a lean-to or rear addition with its own roof, photograph it too, as these often face a better direction than the street-facing gable.

Solar Panels in Newtown: Local Conditions

Central Wellington villas and cottages often have corrugated iron roofs that take panels well, but tight hillside sections in Thorndon, Mt Victoria and Brooklyn can be shaded by the hill or the house next door. We map shading through the day before deciding where panels go.

Villa and bungalow roofs are usually corrugated iron, which suits panel mounting, though older roofs need checking first.

Homes in Newtown

Newtown's houses are mostly detached villas and cottages with painted weatherboard or corrugated iron walls under corrugated iron roofs. Site coverage is around 30 to 45 percent, with minimal side yards and bigger rear yards. Many still have older wiring in parts of the house, including rubber-insulated cable that should be replaced rather than extended, and small boards with few or no RCDs. Because so many houses are rented, owners often combine a rewire or board upgrade with long-life photoelectric smoke alarms that meet tenancy rules.

Wellington Hospital moved from Thorndon to Newtown in 1878 and grew into a large regional complex.

From Newtown Park and Wellington Zoo to the quieter streets, we work right across Newtown. For everything else, see electricians in Newtown.

How We Handle Solar Panels in Newtown

You get a written design showing the panel layout, inverter and any battery, with a fixed, itemised price. We prepare the grid connection application to your lines company.

Pricing: a free quote and a fixed price agreed before we start. You get a written, itemised quote, and small jobs can be quoted from photos.

Solar Panels Jobs We Do in Newtown

Solar on a concrete tile roof
Health check on underperforming panels
Solar designed into a new build
Solar on a lifestyle block shed
Switchboard work for a solar connection