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A south Auckland entrepreneur says solar panels can create a new sort of koha from the sun for needy whānau.
Arama Cookson’s company Te Rā has installed 60 solar panels on the roof of Manurewa Marae, with the help of a Foundation North community innovation grant.
His bigger vision is that instead of koha being just money in an envelope, it could be excess power from solar installations being shared with needy neighbours.
"To gain inspiration and head space sometimes I will sit on top of one of the local maunga, Maungawhau or Ōwairaka, and look at all the rooves and I can see factories right now, I can see thousands of rooves, and to me that is a wasted resource. Entire communities can benefit from what I am looking at, from what I imagine and from a dream that is slowly coming through," Mr Cookson says.
Arama Cookson says the Manurewa Marae installation will serve as a case study for his plans.
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