Solar power systems for the home

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

For the solar rates (Enmax or Solar Club) wouldn't that only be advantageous when the production is higher than consumption? For me that is only about 3 months per year (I think - I got mine in June so hard to tell right now)

Traditionally my overproduction months are April through to mid-October. So I get a lot of bang for my buck.

[gasman]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

For the solar rates (Enmax or Solar Club) wouldn't that only be advantageous when the production is higher than consumption? For me that is only about 3 months per year (I think - I got mine in June so hard to tell right now)

It will depend on system size and usage for sure.

I have a 10.1Kw system, I use about 800kWh/month average. I export from around March 15 through October 15th.

During that time I generate enough credit to cover the entire electricity bills for the whole year plus another $500ish cash.

I have 2 years of runtime on my system.

[ericschand]

Originally Posted by gasman

It will depend on system size and usage for sure.

I have a 10.1Kw system, I use about 800kWh/month average. I export from around March 15 through October 15th.

During that time I generate enough credit to cover the entire electricity bills for the whole year plus another $500ish cash.

I have 2 years of runtime on my system.

Thanks for the info! Can you tell the rates you switch to [I'm guessing it's the 8c winter, 30c summer]? My system and usage is very close to yours so it seems to fit what "the internet" is saying.

Also, are you using that site above solaroffset.ca to sell your credits?

Thanks again!
ers

[bootsnixon]

Originally Posted by photon

For carbon credits they gave me this link: https://www.solaroffset.ca/calculator

But not sure how that works.

I'm curious, has anyone here actually got paid for their carbon credits? And does anyone know of a competitor to this solaroffset website? Not that I don't trust them, just thought I should do some due diligence and google searches don't bring up much. I asked my accountant about it and he said he had not applied for carbon credits on anyone's behalf and had no experience with them.

[TheIronMaiden]

I need a solar panel for a specific application. The solar panel needs to be 400watts, female plug ( no battery rig) and come with a mounting bracket.

[gasman]

Originally Posted by ericschand

Thanks for the info! Can you tell the rates you switch to [I'm guessing it's the 8c winter, 30c summer]? My system and usage is very close to yours so it seems to fit what "the internet" is saying.

Also, are you using that site above solaroffset.ca to sell your credits?

Thanks again!
ers

My First year was 8.3/28.5

Now I am 8.3/30 and they bumped it up in August when the RRO went above 30.

I am signed up with solaroffset, I am just finishing my first year, So expecting to get payment early in the new year on my first year of production.

I track every bill, I developed a calculator to calculate what my bill would have been, had I not had solar (based on import and self consumption) and then calculate savings every month. There is a notes section that details when I switched.

Google Sheet Solar

[Julio]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I need a solar panel for a specific application. The solar panel needs to be 400watts, female plug ( no battery rig) and come with a mounting bracket.

Maybe check with Canadian Tire?

[gasman]

Originally Posted by bootsnixon

I'm curious, has anyone here actually got paid for their carbon credits? And does anyone know of a competitor to this solaroffset website? Not that I don't trust them, just thought I should do some due diligence and google searches don't bring up much. I asked my accountant about it and he said he had not applied for carbon credits on anyone's behalf and had no experience with them.

I am expecting payment on my first year in a few months. But one thing to notice is the rate they are paying you. The first company I looked at was Radical, but when I got their contract it was a fixed price model for 10 years. which meant if carbon price goes up, the price they pay didn't and that wasn't ok.

Solaroffset is tied to market price. but you need to sign up before the end of the year, because the Government of Alberta changed the rules and anyone who signs up after Jan 1 will get quite a bit less for carbon credits.

Also worth to note, the reason you need to go with a company is they do the certification and amalgamation. No one is going to buy the 10 credits you produce individually, they only have value when they are bundled.

[bootsnixon]

Originally Posted by gasman

My First year was 8.3/28.5

Now I am 8.3/30 and they bumped it up in August when the RRO went above 30.

I am signed up with solaroffset, I am just finishing my first year, So expecting to get payment early in the new year on my first year of production.

I track every bill, I developed a calculator to calculate what my bill would have been, had I not had solar (based on import and self consumption) and then calculate savings every month. There is a notes section that details when I switched.

Google Sheet Solar

We have a nearly identical system Gasman, although I have 16 390w panels facing west and 8 facing east. I'm very jealous of all your south facing panels. By chance, have you tracked the difference in production of a south vs. east facing panel? I just got my bidirectional meter in September so I'm curious what next summer will bring. For reference, my system of e/w panels has produced 380kwh in the month of October.

[gasman]

Originally Posted by bootsnixon

We have a nearly identical system Gasman, although I have 16 390w panels facing west and 8 facing east. I'm very jealous of all your south facing panels. By chance, have you tracked the difference in production of a south vs. east facing panel? I just got my bidirectional meter in September so I'm curious what next summer will bring. For reference, my system of e/w panels has produced 380kwh in the month of October.

I haven't tracked it that way, I'm not quite sure how to easily get that data from the AP Systems database. But you can play with the PV Watts Calculator. I've baselined it on my system and it's pretty closer overall

For the South Panels it predicts

1135kWh/kW installed

For the east it predicts

1019kWh/kW installed

so about an 11% difference over the course of the year.



For my system PVWatts predicts 11867kWh generated for the year, the past 2 years I have done 11,387kWh and 11392kWh respectively.... Good enough for government as they say.

[gasman]

Originally Posted by bootsnixon

We have a nearly identical system Gasman, although I have 16 390w panels facing west and 8 facing east. I'm very jealous of all your south facing panels. By chance, have you tracked the difference in production of a south vs. east facing panel? I just got my bidirectional meter in September so I'm curious what next summer will bring. For reference, my system of e/w panels has produced 380kwh in the month of October.

October is a tough month, as of yesterday I am producing nothing, because of snow and ice.

But for reference the system has produced 548.26kWh from October 1-25

I assume you are getting your production numbers from an app and not from the meter. The meter only reads in and out, but doesn't measure production (the difference being what you self consume)

[GP_Matt]

I am in Edmonton so the math is a bit different but I have $0.30 and $0.10 or so on the solar club and am net positive from at least April to October. Over that time I had no bills and received a cheque for $700.
My monthly production swings from 1200kWh in May to 9 kWh in December on an 8.1 kW system.
May-Aug are the highest months but it depends on weather and, this year, smoke.

[edslunch]

I'm not familiar with solar clubs but am surprised by the large delta between rates. It sure looks like a no-brainer to invest in solar.

Are rates in the high $0.20s+ sustainable over time? Do they depend on regulations and the overall state of the energy market? What scenarios would cause them to reduce significantly and how big a factor would that be in your solar investment?

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by edslunch

I'm not familiar with solar clubs but am surprised by the large delta between rates. It sure looks like a no-brainer to invest in solar.

Are rates in the high $0.20s+ sustainable over time? Do they depend on regulations and the overall state of the energy market? What scenarios would cause them to reduce significantly and how big a factor would that be in your solar investment?

As long as the AESO keeps the rules the same they're sustainable. But one day they'll change them and then the deal is over. Right now everyone else is paying for the above market solar prices through the AESO.

[Bigtime]

While not solar we have started looking into the heat pump option for our home, but have also wondered about the geothermal option. Anyone have any experience with either?

This would be our final energy efficiency retrofit, after completing the exterior renovation this year (adding 6" exterior insulation plus new windows).

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

While not solar we have started looking into the heat pump option for our home, but have also wondered about the geothermal option. Anyone have any experience with either?

This would be our final energy efficiency retrofit, after completing the exterior renovation this year (adding 6" exterior insulation plus new windows).

Geothermal is a heat pump - it's just ground source heat pump instead of air source heat pump, the idea is the same. The difference is you have the cost of installing a giant heat exchanger in the ground added to your bill. But it does eliminate very cold temperatures from being an issue, which can be a problem with air source heat pumps.

[DoubleK]

@Bigtime

Would you be replacing your furnace with the heat pump, or keeping it as back up?

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

@Bigtime

Would you be replacing your furnace with the heat pump, or keeping it as back up?

We would ditch the furnace with both applications, or keep it for the fan only and fully disconnect gas.

Doing some digging (PUN FULLY INTENDED) geothermal may not be an option for us, may not have enough space in the backyard for the spacing required between the bore holes.

[DoubleK]

So electric heat backup for the very cold days?

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

So electric heat backup for the very cold days?

In talking with our renovator that would be the plan with the heat pump, I believe the model he is looking at it good to about -27. Then the electric heat for those super cold days.

Of course once this is all done we'd have a case to add more solar panels to our array. Even now with the reno we added an electric hot water tank and ERV, so my monthly usage is up considerably from when we first installed the solar.