When it comes to solar, money is the first question for most. While costs have been coming down significantly over the years, it’s still a fair concern. Bank loans seem like a good place to turn, since most of our major banks offer loans and subsidies to promote renewable energy but it’s hard to get a good idea of what each bank offers for solar loans without tying yourself into a contract. We’ve collected all the different offerings from our top banks, ANZ, BNZ, Westpac and Kiwibank, to give you all the info you need to make the best choice for solar.
Bank of New Zealand
Let’s start with BNZ. They offer a generous sustainability loan of up to $80,000 at an interest rate of 1% per annum for a 3-year term. Solar isn’t all the loan subsidises, letting you use it for upgrading your heating and insulation, installing water tanks, or even buying an EV or a plug-in hybrid. If the loan isn’t paid back over those first 3 years BNZ’s floating home loan rate applies, which as far as I could find was 8.69% Overall, it’s a decent deal with minimal fine print, and information that’s readily available on their website. The interest rate is the main concern, with 8.69% being comparably steep especially when the loan only provides 3 years of 1% interest. Here’s the link to the loan information:
Link: BNZ Bank Loan
Westpac New Zealand
Westpac, on the other hand, offers much less on the surface with a maximum loan of $50,000, but the 0% interest for a 5-year term is a worthy trade. Just like BNZ, their Greater Choices Home Loan covers solar, heatpumps (including hot water heat pumps) and electric vehicles, while also including eligible wood burners if you want a cozy fireplace. To qualify for the loan, you need to provide the bank with a quote from an eligible installer of whatever you’ll be using the quote for. After those 5 years interest free are up, the rate goes up to 5% per annum. Westpac’s website gives a detailed list of everything else the loan covers:
Link: Westpac Bank Loan
ANZ Bank New Zealand
Maybe it’s because their names are so similar, but ANZ’s Good Energy Home Loan is nigh identical to BNZ’s offering. They both offer a maximum of $80,000 and a 1% interest rate for 3 years, as well as all the same offers on what the loan can be used for and the need for a quote from an eligible installer before receiving the loan. The only key difference is that the interest rate is a little harder to pin down. In the fine print, ANZ specifies that after those 3 years of 1% interest you can move it to either a special or standard rate, or take a chance on a floating rate. No matter which option you choose, these options aren’t locked in when you sign up for the loan, which does give you flexibility
but it also raises doubt in what that rate is going to be like at the end of your 3 years. If you want to dig into those rate options for yourself, check out their website:
Link: ANZ Bank Loan
Kiwibank
Kiwibank does things a little differently, providing no maximum on the loan. You can borrow as much or as little as you need. If you borrow over $5,000, Kiwibank will contribute up to $2,000 over 4 years. You get $800 at the end of the first year, then $400 a year for three years afterwards. The loan is specifically for sustainable power, being limited to solar, small-scale hydro, wind or geothermal. In general, Kiwibank’s offering seems to be designed for borrowing comparatively small amounts of money to invest in renewable energy, not to upgrade your whole lifestyle like what the other loans on this list offer. The $2000 contribution from Kiwibank is a great draw, but the interest rate is the biggest turn off, being based on a variable rate of 8.5% per annum. That’s another reason to use this loan for smaller amounts of money, I guess.
Link: Kiwi Bank Loan
With every major bank in Aotearoa offering loans to help make your home more sustainable, it makes the investment into solar easier to make than ever before. But I’d encourage you to be very careful when it comes to choosing one of these options. Home loans are incredibly difficult to recommend on a large scale, since your home, priorities and income will all dictate which one of these loans will be right for you. The similarities between them can make the decision seem easy, but it only makes the differences between them stand out even more. If you need an expert to help you choose the best option for you, get in touch with these banks and try to get a broader understanding than what 1 blog post or video could provide. And once you’ve made your choice, you’ll be happy to hear that Sunshine Solar is SEANZ approved, making us an eligible supplier and installer for your solar future no matter what loan you settle on.
If you’ve got anymore questions about these home loans, get in touch with us at https://www.sunshinesolar.co.nz/contact/
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