25/08/2026
Can landlords help solve the crisis? One landlord thinks so.
While many rental properties still struggle to meet minimum standards, has taken a different approach – installing solar panels, planting fruit trees and creating productive gardens so his tenants can reduce both their power bills and grocery costs.
💸 And Harry says the numbers can work for landlords too.
He’s crunched the numbers on solar installations at his own rental properties and says that, with access to low-cost finance, the investment can effectively COST HIM NOTHING over time.
For example, Harry calculates that a $25,000, 10kWh solar system could pay for itself in around 11–15 years, assuming a 1% loan for the first three years and borrowing costs of 5% or less thereafter.
Of course, every property is different. Location, roof size and orientation, electricity use and finance costs all affect the equation. But in the right circumstances, solar can significantly reduce a tenant’s power bills while giving landlords a more attractive property and potentially longer, more stable tenancies.
It challenges the traditional landlord-tenant equation: if an investment can reduce a tenant’s ongoing living costs while still stacking up for the property owner, everybody wins.
Visit the Nelson Property Investors Association stand at the to meet Harry and talk through how solar and electrification could benefit both and .
⚡ electrifynelson.nz/expo | Sat 29 Aug | Free event ⚡
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