Summer time is flying by (I know a song with that line in it), the garden finally got planted (and weeded!), the cows are settled in, as has the forest fire smoke, and it has been a while since we posted a blog.
First off, we will be at the Lakes District Fall Fair September 6-8, look for the Burns Lake Solar booth and come say hello and enter your name in a draw for a great prize!
Next up before the main part of this blog, here is a picture of the watermelon I successfully opened with the screwdriver in the picture, and we ate with the plastic fork, also in the picture! It was tasty.
Long story, involving an Edmonton splash park, a hot day, and a forgotten purse...
Now for grid-tie solar.
We have done a few quotes for people who are interested in putting in a grid-tie solar system at their residence. Great idea, right? Supplement the expensive hydro bill with sun-power? Yes, it is a great idea, with one major hitch. Financial feasability.
The short version of the conversation usually sounds about like this...
"We would like to talk to you about putting a grid-tie solar system on our house."
"Excellent! It's going to cost you thousands of dollars and the Return of Investment will be about 20-25 years. Plus you might need to upgrade your electrical service and replace your roof first."
"Oh. Well, maybe that won't work for us after all."
Not to discourage you if you are considering grid-tie solar, but the unfortunate reality is that in BC it doesn't make very good financial sense for most right now. BC has relatively cheap power, and solar equipment isn't cheap. Yes, BC Hydro just came out with their rebate on solar panels and batteries, but I found an interesting clause on their website.
Here it is: "As of June 2024, a new rate structure for self-generation has been proposed to the B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC). By applying for and accepting these rebates, you’re accepting this potential future rate."   See Website
Now, I don't know about you, but I would be inclined to see what this new rate might be before I went and spent a bunch of money on solar! But then I'm a bit of a cynic, perhaps it will be a rate increase, who knows!
Anyhow, after that ray of sunshine, I am going to copy and paste a few things about grid-tie and grid-tie hybrid solar from previous articles that may be informative. You can also check out our Basics and Where Do I Start? pages on our website.
Grid-tie solar is simply having a solar power system when you also have BC Hydro.
You can have a straight grid-tie system, or a grid-tied hybrid system. They are the
same but different, ha.
Straight grid-tie is a system that feeds the grid but does not have any battery storage.
So the power from your panels first goes towards powering your home, and any extra
feeds back to the grid. At night you use power from the grid, since the sun doesn’t
shine at night. :) If the grid power goes out, your power goes out, and you are not
feeding the grid, regardless of whether or not the sun is shining.
A hybrid system does the same, but it also charges batteries. So first, runs your
home, then charges your batteries, then any extra goes back into the grid. At night or
when the power goes out, you run off of your batteries, provided they have received enough of a charge. You can also integrate a generator into this type of system.
So how does this affect your power bill?
Basically if you have a grid-tied/hybrid solar system, the power you feed back to the grid offsets your
power usage. For example, if you use 3,000 kWh of power in a billing cycle, and fed back 500 kWh, you would be billed for 2,500 kWh. If you put in more power than you use, that difference is credited towards the next month’s bill. This is called Net Metering.
Once a year, any excess power that you have put into the grid is converted to dollars and paid back to you as a credit on your bill. You won’t see cash. Plus your Hydro usage itself will be lower as your solar panels will be also helping to power your home.
So what is the cost of a grid tie or hybrid system?
A 7500 watt (7.5 kW) solar grid tied system costs about $14,000, plus
installation and permit costs. It will put out about 5,625 watts per hour in direct
sun. If you have, for example, 6 hours of good sun in a day, you have made
33.6 kWh.
If you want a grid-tied hybrid system things get a lot more complicated and
costs get considerably steeper.
As most grid-tied homes aren’t set up to be run off solar (they have things like
electric stoves and electric hot water tanks), you will need to most likely set up
what is called an essential loads panel. This means you are splitting your loads
into two. You will have two breaker boxes. They will both be active when you
are on-grid, but if the power goes out, you will switch to the essential loads
panel, which will be run off your batteries.
The equipment that does this fancy switching is pricey, plus a battery bank. So
rough and dirty for a hybrid grid-tie, prices would start at about $30,000.
Hydro is relatively cheap in BC and there are few good financial incentives for home owners to go with alternative energy. (There are more available for commercial operations.). If you do the math, going grid-tied solar will offset your bill some, but it will take years to cover the cost of your system. This is why not very many people have solar when they are already on grid. The reality.
A couple of other things to consider regarding cost are your roof and your electrical service.
Regarding the roof, is is it south-facing and shadow-free with room for panels, or will there be additional cost to put up a separate array in a different location?
Also related to roof and cost, how old is your roof and what condition is it in? No point in putting up a fancy roof-mount system just to take it down if your roof needs to be replaced.
Finally, the amount of solar you can feed into the grid is dependent on what kind of electrical service you have in your home. You will be able to put much less solar up (and thus less payback) if you have a 100A service vs a 200A. So in order to make enough power to make it worthwhile, you may need to upgrade your electrical service.
Anyhow, there are a few things to think about regarding residential grid-tie solar. If you are not totally discouraged by now feel free to contact us to discuss further and arrange for a free site visit and quote on a system!
On a completely unrelated note, my daughter and I were travelling through Dawson Creek a week or so ago and discovered the Walter Wright Pioneer Village. If a person is interested in history, what a neat place to spend a few hours! Admission by donation. Apparently there is a splash park nearby, but it was cool and rainy when we were there, so we didn't find that.
Well, this turned into a bit of a long ramble, hope some of it is helpful and the rest of your summer rolls along without too much fire and smoke!
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