The country's best sun on a refrigeration-led load
Design, financing and installation management for Central Otago wineries. Refrigeration and frost protection run with the sun; we size solar to them and prove the numbers on your bills before you spend anything.
The short answer
Central Otago wineries suit solar better than almost anywhere: the country's best sunshine, a modelled 1,260 kWh per kW a year, on a refrigeration-led load that peaks with it. A 60 kW system costs roughly $90,000 to $120,000 installed in 2026, and the high yield shortens the payback relative to cooler regions, before the Investment Boost deduction.
Central Otago pairs the best sunshine in the country with a wine industry built on refrigeration and frost protection. Tank cooling, cold stabilisation and barrel-hall climate control draw power through exactly the bright months when the region generates most, and the winery building offers a large, clean roof. For wine, this is the strongest alignment of load, season and sun we model anywhere.
We are not an installer. Involve Energy models the system against your own load, arranges the financing stack and project-manages SEANZ-certified local crews through to commissioning, so you own the asset with an independent model behind it and one point of accountability.
Who has already done it
The clearest published winery numbers are from Marlborough, where The Coterie's 60 kW array met 18 percent of energy use against a 10 percent expectation (ANZ, June 2026), and Central Otago producers such as Felton Road have run solar for years as part of their operations. Central Otago's stronger sunshine means a comparable system does more here. These are cited industry references, not our projects; the full segment picture is in our guide to solar for wineries and vineyards.
Frost, irrigation and the wider estate
Central Otago vineyard operations electrify well beyond the winery. Electric frost fans run for around a dollar an hour of electricity against a published $150-plus an hour for diesel, as Forest Lodge Orchard at Cromwell has shown, and daytime irrigation pumping is a natural solar match. A system sized across the estate turns frost protection and pumping from fuel bills into partly self-generated loads.
How it works
- 1
Feasibility
Send twelve months of power bills, ideally half-hourly data. We model system size, generation against your actual load, self-consumption, cost, savings and payback on your numbers, not industry averages.
- 2
Financing
We apply the Investment Boost deduction and match the remainder to the best available green or interest-free business lending, sized so the repayment sits at or below your current bill wherever the numbers support it.
- 3
Installation
Certified local crews install and commission the system. We manage the lines company approval, the electrical certification and the programme around vintage, so the work does not land in your busiest weeks.
- 4
Monitoring
Once live, we watch performance, flag anything underperforming and report your actual savings against the model, year after year.
What the numbers look like
| System size | Indicative installed cost | Indicative annual saving | Indicative payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 kW | $54,000 to $78,000 | $8,000 to $10,000 | 5.5 to 9 years |
| 60 kW | $98,000 to $135,000 | $16,000 to $19,000 | 5 to 8 years |
| 100 kW | $140,000 to $180,000 | $27,000 to $32,000 | 4 to 6 years |
| 250 kW | $275,000 to $375,000 | $68,000 to $81,000 | 3 to 5 years |
Proof it works here
The Coterie
The Coterie in Marlborough installed a 60 kW rooftop array on its winery building and reported it met 18 percent of the winery's energy use against a 10 percent expectation, with refrigeration the dominant daytime load. Figures as reported by ANZ, June 2026; a cited industry reference, not an Involve Energy project.
- System
- 60 kW
Source: ANZ newsroom, June 2026
Run your own numbers
Conservative assumptions, fully disclosed, no contact details needed.
Your indicative numbers
Conservative, ex GST, modelled not promised
System size
69 kW
Sized to your daytime load
Installed cost
$108,823 to $148,646
Confirmed with certified installers
Investment Boost, year one
about $7,209
A 20% immediate tax deduction, worth this in cash at the 28% company rate. Not a discount.
Estimated annual saving
$18,779 to $22,257
80% of generation used on site
Indicative payback
4.5 to 7.5 years
Net of the Investment Boost benefit
Asset life
25+ years
Panels keep producing long after payback
Bank green business loans: 1.0% for 3 years
Your current bill
$4,000/month
Loan repayment
$2,257/month
Estimated saving
$1,710/month
The loan caps at $80,000, so the repayment shown covers that portion; the remainder is financed separately. The full financing stack is part of the feasibility study.
On these numbers the monthly repayment of $2,257 sits at or below your current bill of $4,000 while the loan runs, and the power keeps getting cheaper after it ends.
How this is modelled (assumptions v2026-06-v3)
- Power valued at $0.25 to $0.30/kWh ex GST (savings are never valued at the top of the commercial tariff range).
- Export credited at $0.08/kWh, the conservative end of current buy-back rates.
- Installed cost interpolated from 30 kW ($1,800 to $2,600/kW) down to 500 kW ($1,100 to $1,500/kW), 2025/26 working ranges.
- Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes yield modelled at 1260 kWh per kW per year.
- Self-consumption capped by your daytime usage profile and held below typical vendor claims; sizing targets 90 percent of daytime load.
- Investment Boost stated as the year-one cash value of the 20 percent immediate deduction at the 28 percent company rate. It is a tax timing benefit, not a discount.
- No power price escalation and no panel degradation in simple payback; omitting escalation outweighs degradation, so the net effect is conservative.
Indicative only; not financial or tax advice. The feasibility study models your site from twelve months of actual bills.
Get these numbers checked properly
The real model is built from twelve months of your bills. Send your details and we will do it for you; we reply within one working day, no obligation.
Straight answers
Why does Central Otago suit winery solar?
Central Otago has the best sunshine in the country, a modelled 1,260 kWh per kW a year, and its wineries run refrigeration-led loads that peak with it. Add frost protection and irrigation across the vineyards and a clean winery roof, and the alignment of load, season and sun is the strongest we model for wine.
How much of a winery's power can solar cover?
More than most expect. In Marlborough, The Coterie's 60 kW array met 18 percent of winery energy against a 10 percent expectation (ANZ, June 2026). Central Otago's stronger sunshine lifts that further for a comparable system: refrigeration-heavy sites with daytime processing typically see solar cover a fifth to a third of annual use, and much more of the summer daytime load.
Can solar help with frost protection?
Indirectly, and powerfully. Central Otago frost fighting is moving from diesel to electric: Forest Lodge Orchard at Cromwell runs electric frost fans for around a dollar an hour of electricity against a published $150-plus an hour for diesel. Solar and battery behind an electrified vineyard turn a dreaded fuel bill into a modest, partly self-generated line item.
What about vintage power peaks?
Vintage compresses crushing, pressing and fermentation cooling into weeks around March and April, partly at night. Solar shaves the daytime share of that peak but does not remove night demand charges. What it carries is the long refrigeration tail from spring through autumn, which on most sites is the larger annual cost. We model vintage month by month.
What does a Central Otago winery system cost?
A 60 kW system sits around $90,000 to $120,000 installed at 2026 pricing; 100 kW runs $140,000 to $180,000. Central Otago's high yield shortens the payback relative to cooler regions. The Investment Boost deduction returns about 5.6 percent of cost in year-one tax cash for company taxpayers, and green lending can carry the capital.
See your winery's numbers before vintage
Send a recent power bill and we will model system size, cost, savings and payback against your actual load, vintage peaks and refrigeration tail included. Independent, no obligation, yours to keep.