A burgeoning Queenstown solar business has just netted an Australasian gong for its work on an Arthurs Point home — while earlier this year, the company’s commercial arm was recognised for ‘performance excellence’.

Launched a week before the first 2020 Covid lockdown, Queenstown Solar has won the Tesla ‘customer service excellence award’ for its solar PV and Tesla Powerwall battery installation on Compound’s high-performance build, the Moonlight Tui House, recognising excellence by a Tesla-certified installer in New Zealand and Australia.

Tesla’s Carl Jibson says the feedback from Compound, a Queenstown building company with certified passive tradespeople, and the results from the solar and Tesla Powerwall system are testament to Queenstown Solar’s commitment to delivering ‘‘a consistently exceptional service’’.

The company also won the Tesla performance excellence award for ‘Think Solar’ earlier this year.

Queenstown Solar director Paul Hollingsworth says over the past two-and-a-half years, the business has set up offshoots in Dunedin and Christchurch, with Nelson coming next.

Each one is a separate locally-owned limited company, focused on residential projects.

‘‘We get quite good purchasing from our suppliers, so Think Solar’s a brand that’s not in the market yet, but it connects us all together.’’

Tesla products are purchased through that brand, then the stock’s pushed out to local branches.

‘‘It sits in the back end at the moment,’’ Hollingsworth says.

‘‘Next year it will be taken to market and it will be our commercial arm, so if we’re dealing with large-scale solar projects … we would be doing that under Think Solar … and that will be national.’’

‘Extremely proud’: Queenstown Solar director Paul Hollingsworth

Hollingsworth says, in a way, the pandemic’s been helpful, because rather than spending money on overseas holidays, people have reinvested in their properties and, increasingly, tried to reduce their bills.

The business has also been aided by banks — ANZ, BNZ and Westpac are ‘‘finally coming on board’’, releasing 0% or 1% finance for solar.

‘‘We’ve still got the same challenges like other businesses with staff, it’s really hard to recruit at the moment, and supply has been difficult, but that seems to be improving,’’ he says.

‘‘We’re extremely proud to represent Tesla and their products in Central Otago, and to be recognised as one of their top certified installers for the second time.’’

Meantime, Queenstown Solar and Compound will be at the Moonlight Tui House, 6 Moon light Track, from 3pm till 6.30pm on Thursday to give residents a chance to see the inner workings.

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