Solar power systems for the home

[Twitchy15]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

For those of you who possibly missed out on the first go around of the grant, my company has learned that it sounds like there will be an announcement in late March/early April about a refunded grant program. Not confirmed, but what we are hearing is that it will be the same $5000, with an additional $600 meant to pay you back for the energy audits required, but instead of being paid out after the project will be paid out in advance to make it more accessible to lower income Canadians so they don't have to carry as many costs before installation and payout of the interest free loan proceeds. I'll update as I get more info!

That would be great unless you have a lot of cash sitting around funding the renovations and waiting for money to come back months latera can be stressful.

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by cKy

Has there been any update to this? I'm just about to get my feet wet.

We are expecting some sort of announcement on or before the budget announcement on April 16th. With the said, we've had almost no details come through, neither have many of our contemporaries, so I'm not sure if this is actual through the grapevine knowledge or a hopeful guess.

The government needs to act fast though, there are a ton of companies in Solar, HVAC, Energy Audits, etc... who are in the dark in terms of planning for what the rest of the year looks like since the grant has been such a huge driver of business.

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by Twitchy15

That would be great unless you have a lot of cash sitting around funding the renovations and waiting for money to come back months latera can be stressful.

There are some options there as well. RBC for example is offering a Green Bridge Loan which is often a much lower interest rate for a short term bridge than even you might see on a line of credit. They know the money is approved and coming, just waiting on the government, which is why they can offer really low interest rates.

[Twitchy15]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

There are some options there as well. RBC for example is offering a Green Bridge Loan which is often a much lower interest rate for a short term bridge than even you might see on a line of credit. They know the money is approved and coming, just waiting on the government, which is why they can offer really low interest rates.

That is good to know!

We did our pre audit installed furnace and heat pump and now installed windows and doors and completed the post audit so just waiting for approval for everything to get the grant and rest of the loan money.

[the-rasta-masta]

Well, the government teased several times that the grant was going to be refunded, but unfortunately it doesn't appear to be the case based on the budget announcement this week.

They are introducing a new "Greener Homes Affordability Program" which is tailored to low income homeowners only and won't launch until late 2024. Low income home owners in this country seems like an oxymoron in my estimation as you pretty much need a six figure income to even consider it.

With the grant running out of funds early, if any of you are considering energy retrofits to the home (solar in the case of this thread), it's probably wise to take advantage of the interest free loan which is currently still available as it's likely to run out of funds prior to its original intention too based on the popularity of the grant and loan programs. The avoidance of interest on a $15-20k project is worth approximately $5k, so still lots of benefit to that program while it lasts.

[bizaro86]

I'd be interested in what people are seeing for quotes lately. I recently got quoted $31,700 for a 9kW system, which is $3.50/watt all-in. Given how fast the price of panels has been dropping that must be pretty much all install/soft costs. Any thoughts in whether that's in the ballpark?

I'd like to put in a bigger system anyway, as that doesn't use all of my south facing roof. I might switch some of my heating to electrical space heaters this winter so I can put in a bigger array. If the govt doesn't renew any of the funding programs maybe demand/prices will drop...

[photon]

Mine is $38k for a 12kW system, scheduled later last year (doesn't include the cost of a panel upgrade that I have to do, a subpanel doesn't cut it I guess).

[Bill Bumface]

I've gotten quotes from SolarYYC, SkyFire and Zeno.

SolarYYC was by far the cheapest per panel, but they won't touch my steep sloped roof, resulting in less ideal panel placement. Not sure if they are substantially cheaper because their install would be so much more straightforward than the other two.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I'd be interested in what people are seeing for quotes lately. I recently got quoted $31,700 for a 9kW system, which is $3.50/watt all-in. Given how fast the price of panels has been dropping that must be pretty much all install/soft costs. Any thoughts in whether that's in the ballpark?

I'd like to put in a bigger system anyway, as that doesn't use all of my south facing roof. I might switch some of my heating to electrical space heaters this winter so I can put in a bigger array. If the govt doesn't renew any of the funding programs maybe demand/prices will drop...

I paid $21K for 7.7kw just under a year ago which is $2.73/watt.

[Calgary14]

Maybe a silly question but can you add panels to an existing system assuming you have the roof space? I have the smallest possible system that was eligible for the grant (5kw) and wondering if one day I could make it bigger if it made sense to do so. Unlike bigger systems I really have a limited time period where production exceeds usage and it would be nice to stretch that out over a longer timeframe every summer

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I paid $21K for 7.7kw just under a year ago which is $2.73/watt.

Any data as to how many kwh per month that system has been generating? The per watt price seems pretty good. I'm thinking I'd need something closer to Pho's 12kw system for my needs.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

Maybe a silly question but can you add panels to an existing system assuming you have the roof space? I have the smallest possible system that was eligible for the grant (5kw) and wondering if one day I could make it bigger if it made sense to do so. Unlike bigger systems I really have a limited time period where production exceeds usage and it would be nice to stretch that out over a longer timeframe every summer

If you bought additional identical panels it should work so long as your inverter is rated for the additional output.

Different panels is a whole different story and is likely cost prohibitive.

You need to talk to an engineer.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Any data as to how many kwh per month that system has been generating? The per watt price seems pretty good. I'm thinking I'd need something closer to Pho's 12kw system for my needs.

I have a Power BI report where I track generation, export, cost etc but I haven't updated it yet this year with winter numbers. But I can tell you that since May 12, 2023 when my system was installed it has made 6,957 kwh and averaged 21.2kwh per day.

[Benched]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

Well, the government teased several times that the grant was going to be refunded, but unfortunately it doesn't appear to be the case based on the budget announcement this week.

They are introducing a new "Greener Homes Affordability Program" which is tailored to low income homeowners only and won't launch until late 2024. Low income home owners in this country seems like an oxymoron in my estimation as you pretty much need a six figure income to even consider it.

With the grant running out of funds early, if any of you are considering energy retrofits to the home (solar in the case of this thread), it's probably wise to take advantage of the interest free loan which is currently still available as it's likely to run out of funds prior to its original intention too based on the popularity of the grant and loan programs. The avoidance of interest on a $15-20k project is worth approximately $5k, so still lots of benefit to that program while it lasts.

Damn that's too bad.

Still waiting on our $5k rebate to hit our account from the original grant. Been about a month so far and our status is still 'in progress'. Pretty confident that we'll get that cash eventually as we were 'in the system' last year in the fall, were installed February, and completed our post inspection and paperwork in March.


But I think it's a shame that they aren't renewing the program as it was definitely picking up steam - more and more people I know were looking into, or actively getting, solar - which I think is a good thing. Without that extra $5k rebate, I can see some people being turned off or the rate of installation dropping off.

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I'd be interested in what people are seeing for quotes lately. I recently got quoted $31,700 for a 9kW system, which is $3.50/watt all-in. Given how fast the price of panels has been dropping that must be pretty much all install/soft costs. Any thoughts in whether that's in the ballpark?

I'd like to put in a bigger system anyway, as that doesn't use all of my south facing roof. I might switch some of my heating to electrical space heaters this winter so I can put in a bigger array. If the govt doesn't renew any of the funding programs maybe demand/prices will drop...

That’s high. Probably one of the door knocking companies?

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

That’s high. Probably one of the door knocking companies?

I'm curious, have you found that the companies that sell rooftop solar systems door-to-door are less reputable? Or more expensive?

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by D as in David

I'm curious, have you found that the companies that sell rooftop solar systems door-to-door are less reputable? Or more expensive?

More often than not, they are significantly more expensive. They typically are building in extra margins to pay the commission for the original door knocker, as well as the closing sales person. A lot of them will also sub contract out the work and sell the contract to the highest bidding contractor meaning additional margins. It's common for me to have meetings with potential customers and have a similarly designed system that is coming in $5-10k less expensive.

In terms of reputation, they have different a different business model than us for sure, and I encourage reading of reviews about some of these companies, as it seems they try to get signature to a contract and then communication goes dormant. I just don't think the follow up or desire to service the system if there's any issues after install is top of mind for some of them.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

That’s high. Probably one of the door knocking companies?

Yes, it was Firefly Solar.

[Yanda]

Skyfire, Zeno and Kuby are definitely the guys to call right now

[photon]

Kuby are the guys doing ours.