Solar Group collapse: Kiwibank owed almost $2m, IR almost $1m

Tuesday, 15 July 2025

Installers putting a SolarZero system in place on a home before it was put into liquidation in November.

Kiwibank is owed just over $1.8 million after the collapse of the Solar Group, while the Inland Revenue is owed around $933,675.

The company, which installed solar in homes in Wellington and Auckland, ran into trouble in December last year, and Kiwibank asked for Grant Thornton to work with management to nut out a turnaround plan.

By February that engagement was extended to include a review of Solar Group’s forecast performance and cash flow.

Kiwibank then appointed Grant Thornton as liquidator on July 7, the first liquidators’ report into Solar Group says.

Despite the sun shining strongly at the end of 2024, it was a bleak period for the solar industry with New Zealand’s largest residential solar provider Solar Zero being tipped into liquidation by its owner BlackRock.

Stephen Keen and David Ruscoe of Grant Thornton said the company’s director, Roeland Driessen, told them the business failed due to cash flow constraints as a result of declining sales performance and challenges in the industry relating to pricing pressure, low adoption of solar and reliance on financial incentives or subsidies.

The TFN host visits Brainy Kiwi Mike Casey's Otago cherry orchard where 21 machines run on solar power.

Rather than selling the business as a going concern, the liquidators ceased trading the company’s business and terminated employees’ employment due to insufficient cash to continue operations.

The liquidator’s report says there are nine potential employee claims, although to date they have received four employee claims totalling $102,336.

In all, Solar Group owed around $3.3m to creditors, and the company’s assets were worth around $2.5m, however just under $1.3m of those assets are listed as “intangible”.

Secured creditors with a fixed charge over specific assets are paid first, followed by liquidators’ fees, and then preferential creditors, including employees, and the Inland Revenue.

Solar Group hit trouble late last year, calling in consultants to try to nut out a turnaround plan.

Kiwibank’s lending to Solar Group was secured over “All Present and After Acquired Personal Property”, the liquidator’s report said.

Other secured creditors include UDC Finance, and several trade suppliers.

However, the report showed Solar Group owed $334,658 to unsecured trade creditors.

Simon Watts at the Future Proofing New Zealand forum, hosted by The Post and Infrastructure NZ, in Wellington.

Ruscoe and Keen said they did not know yet how much money would be available to pay to Solar Group’s creditors.

The Government appears to have become concerned about the low uptake of residential solar, which lags that of other equally sunny countries.

In June, Energy Minister Simon Watts made changes to regulation aimed at increasing the number of residential solar arrays being installed on house rooftops.

The changes included “clarifying” that a building consent was not needed to install rooftop solar panels on existing buildings.

Councils would also be required to process building consents for new homes with solar panels within 10 working days.

“New Zealand’s residential uptake of rooftop solar is lower than many other countries,” Watts said at the time.

“This Government wants to change that so more Kiwis can generate, store, and send their own electricity back to the market. This will allow them to save on their power bills and contribute to a more secure electricity system,” he said.

“Rooftop solar will play a crucial role in supporting energy security and reducing emissions,” he said.