Sustainable Energy Loan

Why a sustainable energy loan?

Imagine if you had a free source of power that never ran out and didn’t produce any CO2 emissions. You’d be buffered against rising power prices, and keeping New Zealand clean and green at the same time.

• You can add a NZHL Sustainable Energy Loan to a NZHL home loan to pay for an approved renewable energy system.
• We’ll contribute up to $2,000 (over four years) towards the cost of the system.
• If you’re already a NZHL client, we’ll also waive the fee to top-up your home loan.

How it works

Install a system that produces renewable energy (like solar panels to heat your hot water), and we’ll kick in some cash to help you pay it off faster.

At the end of the first year, we’ll pay $800 off your sustainable energy loan, and we’ll contribute $400 at the end of each year for the three years after that – up to $2,000 in total.

• If you already have your home loan with us, we’ll waive the usual fee to top-up your home loan.
• If you’re refinancing your mortgage with us, we’ll agree a portion of your home loan to classify as the Sustainable Energy Loan, and add our contributions to that.
• If you’re building a new house that has a sustainable energy system included in the cost of the property, we’ll agree a portion of your home loan to classify as the Sustainable Energy Loan, and add our contributions to that.
• To qualify for the contributions towards your sustainable energy loan, you’ll need to borrow at least $5,000 of the cost of the system.
• Please note specific criteria applies and may not be available to all clients.

What counts as a sustainable energy system?

Any type of energy system that’s professionally installed and creates energy from renewable resources could qualify. This includes:

• solar power
• wind energy
• small-scale hydro
• geothermal resources.

Finding a system

To qualify for the loan, systems must be supplied and installed by a company that’s a member of either:

• Sustainable Energy Association of New Zealand (SEANZ)
• Solar Association of New Zealand (SANZ)

Their websites have directories of all their suppliers. Look for a system that provides a warranty of around 10 years on manufacture and install, and 25 years on system output. Please make sure you’re comfortable that the system you choose is exactly what you need.

How much will it cost?

Your supplier should be able to give you specific costs and information on return, but an average solar hot water system starts at around $7,000 – and a full power system can cost tens of thousands, depending on things like the size of the house and the amount of power you use.

You may not want – or be able to afford – a system that produces all of your power, but even a solar hot water system could save you over $650 a year in power costs. That’s around $18,000 over its lifetime – as well as potentially adding value to your home when the time comes to sell.