3 ms·

How much does power and grid delivery cost in Canada to make this economical? You're into this for $15,000 what is your payback period? Are there other amelio

How much does power and grid delivery cost in Canada to make this economical? You're into this for $15,000 what is your payback period? Are there other ameliorating criteria for success?

testing22321 6mo ago
I got $7.6kw installed in BC , Canada. Fully installed for $13k. Minus $5k grant, and the $8 is on a 10 year interest free loan. Power is 13c kWh, guranteed to go up min of 5% a year. So now instead of paying $1000 a year in power, I put that on the loan which will be gone in 7 years. The 20 years of $1000 a year free money. I’ve had the system almost two years, they’re noticeably cheaper now. System makes 7.2Mwh per calendar year in a tight valley where it snows a ton.
- engineer_22 6mo ago
  Do you have to curtail your demand or purchase grid power during dark snowy winter months?
  - testing22321 6mo ago
    It’s a grid tie system, and we get one for one credit. So during the summer we rack up credits and have a negative bill (power company owes us money) then use it all up and a little more during winter.
    - engineer_22 6mo ago
      Wow that's great, you're getting treated like royalty!
      - testing22321 6mo ago
        Not at all. Basically everywhere had a one for one feed in tariff when residential solar was new in their area. Friends in Australia are still grandfathered into that (they got a 1.3kw system in like 1990) In Germany for a long time the law was three to one for green energy you generated and gave to the grid. Ie you put in 1kwh they credit you 3. Even today basically every location can grid tie and get a feed in tariff, the ratio just depends on how many people in your area got residential solar before you.
horsawlarway 6mo ago
I'm actually in GA (Canadian Solar is the panel manufacturer - CSI). Power is cheap in my region, and I was in ~$30k after all costs including the battery storage (LFP). It covers 95+% of the my usage, and I use a fair chunk of power. My payback period will be almost exactly 120 months (10 years) if my power costs remained the same as they did at estimation time. But they won't. We're already seeing relatively large rate increases (GA power has "locked" rates but conveniently has a floating "fuel charge" which is currently more than the base rate per watt...). I expect it to take 6 to 8 years to entirely recoup costs. It helps that I did the install myself, so I avoided contractor markup. Quotes from contractors for a similar install were running ~60k+ which felt (and was) insane, although STILL profitable over the lifespan of the install. Panels should then last another 20+ years after repayment with only minor maintenance. It's shocking how easily they pay for themselves right now, assuming you get decent sun on your property.
- engineer_22 6mo ago
  That sounds like a reasonable investment I appreciate you walking me through it, thanks. I'm in New York state, power here is still relatively cheap, $0.2/kwh delivered, low solar insolation angle and snow cover during highest demand months should strongly disincentize solar here. Some homeowners took the plunge when rebates and incentives were at their peak but those are starting to phase out. We're still seeing a high rate of industrial solar being placed in ag zones. New York has some of the most fertile soil in the country, and supplies significant ag resources to the northeast. cSi cells are liable to leach lead into ag soil and watersheds, and solid waste disposal are looming problems without regulatory structure in New York. I'm afraid that in my home state we're going to see a net negative impact from solar. The state is now pushing local municipalities to site grid scale BESS systems. This works because storage doesn't need to be close to demand, so they're being pushed into poor rural communities. The problem is local fire departments are undertrained and under equipped to deal with emergencies at BESS sites. It's inevitable we'll see an uncontained fire in upstate New York and the consequences will be difficult to manage. This all may sound like gripe. But I'm genuinely curious about the economics of solar because at the end of the day it's the determining factor in the cost benefit analysis.

How much does power and grid delivery cost in Canada to make this economical? You're into this for $15,000 what is your payback period? Are there other ameliorating criteria for success?

testing22321 6mo ago

I got $7.6kw installed in BC , Canada. Fully installed for $13k. Minus $5k grant, and the $8 is on a 10 year interest free loan. Power is 13c kWh, guranteed to go up min of 5% a year. So now instead of paying $1000 a year in power, I put that on the loan which will be gone in 7 years. The 20 years of $1000 a year free money. I’ve had the system almost two years, they’re noticeably cheaper now. System makes 7.2Mwh per calendar year in a tight valley where it snows a ton.

engineer_22 6mo ago
Do you have to curtail your demand or purchase grid power during dark snowy winter months?
- testing22321 6mo ago
  It’s a grid tie system, and we get one for one credit. So during the summer we rack up credits and have a negative bill (power company owes us money) then use it all up and a little more during winter.
  - engineer_22 6mo ago
    Wow that's great, you're getting treated like royalty!
    - testing22321 6mo ago
      Not at all. Basically everywhere had a one for one feed in tariff when residential solar was new in their area. Friends in Australia are still grandfathered into that (they got a 1.3kw system in like 1990) In Germany for a long time the law was three to one for green energy you generated and gave to the grid. Ie you put in 1kwh they credit you 3. Even today basically every location can grid tie and get a feed in tariff, the ratio just depends on how many people in your area got residential solar before you.

horsawlarway 6mo ago

I'm actually in GA (Canadian Solar is the panel manufacturer - CSI). Power is cheap in my region, and I was in ~$30k after all costs including the battery storage (LFP). It covers 95+% of the my usage, and I use a fair chunk of power. My payback period will be almost exactly 120 months (10 years) if my power costs remained the same as they did at estimation time. But they won't. We're already seeing relatively large rate increases (GA power has "locked" rates but conveniently has a floating "fuel charge" which is currently more than the base rate per watt...). I expect it to take 6 to 8 years to entirely recoup costs. It helps that I did the install myself, so I avoided contractor markup. Quotes from contractors for a similar install were running ~60k+ which felt (and was) insane, although STILL profitable over the lifespan of the install. Panels should then last another 20+ years after repayment with only minor maintenance. It's shocking how easily they pay for themselves right now, assuming you get decent sun on your property.

engineer_22 6mo ago
That sounds like a reasonable investment I appreciate you walking me through it, thanks. I'm in New York state, power here is still relatively cheap, $0.2/kwh delivered, low solar insolation angle and snow cover during highest demand months should strongly disincentize solar here. Some homeowners took the plunge when rebates and incentives were at their peak but those are starting to phase out. We're still seeing a high rate of industrial solar being placed in ag zones. New York has some of the most fertile soil in the country, and supplies significant ag resources to the northeast. cSi cells are liable to leach lead into ag soil and watersheds, and solid waste disposal are looming problems without regulatory structure in New York. I'm afraid that in my home state we're going to see a net negative impact from solar. The state is now pushing local municipalities to site grid scale BESS systems. This works because storage doesn't need to be close to demand, so they're being pushed into poor rural communities. The problem is local fire departments are undertrained and under equipped to deal with emergencies at BESS sites. It's inevitable we'll see an uncontained fire in upstate New York and the consequences will be difficult to manage. This all may sound like gripe. But I'm genuinely curious about the economics of solar because at the end of the day it's the determining factor in the cost benefit analysis.