Solar will rapidly become the backbone of our electricity system and by using AI to allow customers to better understand the technology, we hope to help Kiwis make a smart decision about how to power their homesAndrew Booth, solarcity solarcity is rolling out an artificial intelligence chatbot online service that will make it easier for Kiwis to switch to solar power. “Sizing up the possible pros and cons of solar can be a hassle, but solarcity’s Sunny chatbot removes the need for a site evaluation or complex calculator to tell you if your home is suitable,” says Andrew Booth, CEO of the solar energy services company. “Solar will rapidly become the backbone of our electricity system and by using AI to allow customers to better understand the technology, we hope to help Kiwis make a smart decision about how to power their homes their way,” says Booth, in a statement. Trade Me will be the first to offer its members the ability to use ‘Sunny’ to help them calculate the savings and benefits of going solar. “At Trade Me we believe solar energy is the way of the future for New Zealand. So, when we realised Sunny’s ability to help Kiwis work out the savings and benefits of switching to solar, we jumped on board,” says Trade Me’s Sustainability lead Josh Borthwick. The AI-backed chatbot provides a digital service so homeowners no longer have to take time off work to see if their home is suitable for solar and spend hours on the phone to see how much the solar roof could save them. Sunny combines the eye-in-the-sky images behind Google Earth, GIS data from across city councils with NIWA data on local weather patterns, along with local energy prices and proprietary algorithms to arrive at the savings consumers can make from day one. As with other AI technology, Sunny developed in collaboration withPanasonic, will learn as it interacts with people, based on the conversations it has with them. “The world’s best digital companies foster a culture of customer-led design and collaboration. For solarcity to meet its digital ambitions to help customers to make the simple switch to solar, we must embed this culture of thinking, acting and doing as leading digital companies do,” says Stewart Fowler, CEO of Panasonic. Sunny will fully integrate with the solarZero app, which solarcity recently launched with Vodafone.The app allows customers to turn their home into a smart home and control appliances from anywhere in the world. Sunny’s launch follows that of Air New Zealand, whose first foray into AI was with chatbot Bravo Oscar Tango, Oscar for short.Oscar assists customers with commonly asked queries, saving them time and offering a more personalised experience than searching a traditional Frequently Asked Questions section online. No caption Send news tips and comments to divina_paredes@idg.co.nz Follow Divina Paredes on Twitter:@divinap Follow CIO New Zealand on Twitter:@cio_nz Join us on Facebook. Related content brandpost Sponsored by SAP When natural disasters strike Japan, Ōita University’s EDiSON is ready to act With the technology and assistance of SAP and Zynas Corporation, Ōita University built an emergency-response collaboration tool named EDiSON that helps the Japanese island of Kyushu detect and mitigate natural disasters. By Michael Kure, SAP Contributor Dec 07, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by BMC BMC on BMC: How the company enables IT observability with BMC Helix and AIOps The goals: transform an ocean of data and ultimately provide a stellar user experience and maximum value. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership brandpost Sponsored by BMC The data deluge: The need for IT Operations observability and strategies for achieving it BMC Helix brings thousands of data points together to create a holistic view of the health of a service. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 4 mins IT Leadership how-to How to create an effective business continuity plan A business continuity plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood, or cyberattack. Here’s how to create a plan that gives your business the best chance of surviving such an By Mary K. Pratt, Ed Tittel, Kim Lindros Dec 07, 2023 11 mins Small and Medium Business IT Skills Backup and Recovery Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe