Solar Panels In Canada/Alberta
 

In theory solar panels might be a worthwhile addition to the house. It would be interesting to hear about any experiences with this technology and particular issues or problems to look out for.

Re: Solar Panels In Canada/Alberta
 

We have them but they are ground mounted, as we are on an acreage, so alignment was not an issue nor was shading from trees/other buildings. Solar Club in Alberta gives very good rates and, in essence, we can use excess that we import to the grid to reduce our gas expense too.

Lots of shady operators though and the regulator is a real pain. We wished to install multiples of our usage so as to reduce our gas costs to zero but that is not allowed. Maximum installed amount permitted is 110% of your previous years usage so, if you want a tip, use as much as you can in that year so as to ensure that, after you install, you can reduce your usage. Of course, you need to weigh the cost benefit for doing so.

It's definitely worthwhile but, as with most new technology, I anticipate that costs will continue to fall so, in a few years from now, the install may be half the cost it is now. The panels themselves don't cost that much so, when we come to replace decades from now, we intend to do so ourselves.

Re: Solar Panels In Canada/Alberta
 

The company that did the first quote mentioned the solar club, so it seems the electricity rate can be switched seasonally from low in winter to high in summer to take advantage of exporting at the same import rate when there is a surplus. Seems to make sense. If you switch to Solar Club do all the charges for distribution/transmission/balancing pool/riders/access stay the same. I haven't yet checked whether these are fixed or vary with electricity used. For me the existing electricity bill is approx 40% the direct cost of electricity at approx 12kWh and 60% all the additional charges.

The panel costs have definately fallen a lot but probably in future the cost to customers here will be significantly influenced by subsidies in China and tarrifs in Canada. I may ask for a breakdown of the quote which they will probably refuse to do, I suspect that out of a total cost of $15k the 10 panels would each be about $400 each. There are inverters, wiring and a new panel also, but the labour portion of the cost is probably unlikely to fall in the future.

I tend think adding solar panels to a house (if alignment/shading etc is ok) probably does make sense. As you mention, shady operators is a concern though.

Re: Solar Panels In Canada/Alberta
 

I have had companies come to my door to try to sell me panels as there are interest-free loans available from the federal government, so they are trying to drum up business because there is zero upfront cost. With one company we liked the idea and went through to do the design and everything, but then I discovered the price they wanted to charge was about double or triple the cost of other places. So even though it's a cheap loan you can spend a lot more in the long run if you don't shop around. We decided to just not go for it in the end, because we didn't want another monthly payment.

Re: Solar Panels In Canada/Alberta
 

We got a 13.02 kW system installed for just under $30,000. 24 panels, inverters, 100 metres of trenching from our field to our meter, all permits and all electrical too. Ground mount adds a fair amount to the cost and we also added infrastructure so that we would add more panels relatively easily.

We also have bi-facial panels too, so, hopefully, the snow stays around as this massively increases the generation. Bizarrely, they work on roof-top installs too.

Solar club sounds too good to be true. The hi-rate is 0.3 per kWh and the lo-rate is 0.095 per kWh. The theory is that you use hi-rate during the months when you export and lo-rate when you are importing. Over the summer, we tend to produce more than double what we need. Any credits gained can be kept to offset gas, kept to offset electricity during the winter, or paid out. We just leave ours there and, for most of the year, we are in credit for both electricity and gas.

I switched earlier this week but my power provider will automatically switch back and forth to ensure I get the best deal!

Distribution is not as straightforward as it seems. You pay when importing and don't get a credit when exporting. That being the case, if you can or are so inclined, you should run your high powered when it can all be covered by your array. Clearly, lights need to run when it is dark but, if you import 10kWh a day and export 50 kWh a day, after using 30 kWh yourself, these figures can change significantly if you run your high powered when your array can completely cover them. Ideally, you don't want to have to import at all as, every time you import, you pay distribution fees. Our distribution fees are pennies because my wife remains at home and can elect when to turn dryers, dishwashers etc. on.

Re: Solar Panels In Canada/Alberta
 

The Greener Homes Loan has now stopped. Those that have been approved can still continue to completion, but they are not accepting any more applications now. We took recommendations from those that had already installed and then got around 10 full quotes. As you say, the mark up with some was bullshit but we were very happy with how ours turned out. Our ROI should be in around 7 years and we could likely halve that if my wife would turn our horse waterer heaters off!

Re: Solar Panels In Canada/Alberta
 

We have them mounted on our roof - we are in Ontario and got into a program called MicroFit where we sell our electricity back to the grid for a lot more than we pay for it. We have had them for 7 years now and not had any problems.

A couple of things to be aware of:
1. It is expensive to have them removed if your shingles need replacing.
2. It’s a technology that is very misunderstood by real estate agents with a very high percentage steering their clients away from houses with panels. There are a few reasons for this - some believe that it makes getting insurance difficult or it’s expensive - it doesn’t and it’s not. There are a lot of companies that rent the roof space to put their own solar panels on - these contracts are usually terrible for the homeowner and can be difficult to transfer with ownership of the house. Many agents don’t differentiate between owned panels making an income and third party rental panels. If Alberta agents take the same view as Ontario ones you may find that you spend $20k plus on the panels only to negatively impact the value of your home.