As Seen On
A swap to solar was a no-brainer for Troy Hillard.
Over the past six months as the managing director for the Rite Group franchise, he decided it was time to take the lawn mowing business ‘off grid’.
The Waikato-based group has since switched to battery-powered mowing equipment.
And, with skyrocketing fuel prices in recent months, Hillard said it’s paying off economically.
“We realised that technology has reached the point now where the battery-powered commercial grade equipment is evenly priced with petrol-powered equipment,” he said.
the electricity to keep charging the battery...our trailers are now totally separate from the grid.”
The Rite group has 187 locations across Aotearoa housing the WashRite, CleanRite and LawnRite brands.
Hillard said they had always planned on going solar as they believed it would inevitably replace standard petrol-run equipment down the line.
“The equipment is no more expensive...for us it’s a no-brainer to go down that route.
“Literally, the money they save on fuel is around $30-$40 per day and that money over 10 weeks is covering the cost of the total solar set-up.
“They’re basically putting $200-$250 into their pocket extra per week,” he said.
But reducing their carbon footprint as a business was also a priority.
“It is quieter, and it’s a lot less of a carbon footprint, our highest-emitting equipment we have are our lawn mowers.
“For an average lawn mowing business, the lawn mower puts out eight times more emissions in an eight-hour day than it takes to tow the trailer around,” he said.