bigleo48
Active member
My fellow Ontarians.
I was at a solar presentation by a not-for-profit agency last week and this is what I discovered for Ontario properties.
It seems that the Ontario government wants people/businesses to install solar panels on their roofs. If they get enough of them, it will decentralize the power supply and hopefully prevent the need to use the coal fired gen stations during peak daytime demand.
Here's the deal:
You install and pay for a 10KW system (best bang for the buck at about $90K). You feed all of it back to the grid. Guaranteed approval and hookup with 20 yr contract with government agency. Price paid per kilowatt is about 82 cents (about 10 x what you pay for it from Hydro).
Other nice tidbits, can write-off system in 3 years and it will not raise your assessed property value (won't raise your taxes). If you sell your property, contract can be transfered to the buyer with no penalty. As the panels are very visible, you can advertise your "Greener than your competitor"!
Based on the average sun in my area with a south facing roof, it should make about $10K/yr or a payback of 9 years...or 11% ROI (not including write-off). With write offs about 7yrs. Banks offering special rates for this application.
10KW system is about 50 4'x2' panels, some inverters (or one big one) and a meter. Very simple and no maintenance. System life expectancy is about 25 yrs with good panels, .5% degradation/yr.
If you don't have the cash to do it, you could rent your rooftop to someone who does.
I will have a local company do an audit of my roof and location to determine what I can expect.
Big
I was at a solar presentation by a not-for-profit agency last week and this is what I discovered for Ontario properties.
It seems that the Ontario government wants people/businesses to install solar panels on their roofs. If they get enough of them, it will decentralize the power supply and hopefully prevent the need to use the coal fired gen stations during peak daytime demand.
Here's the deal:
You install and pay for a 10KW system (best bang for the buck at about $90K). You feed all of it back to the grid. Guaranteed approval and hookup with 20 yr contract with government agency. Price paid per kilowatt is about 82 cents (about 10 x what you pay for it from Hydro).
Other nice tidbits, can write-off system in 3 years and it will not raise your assessed property value (won't raise your taxes). If you sell your property, contract can be transfered to the buyer with no penalty. As the panels are very visible, you can advertise your "Greener than your competitor"!
Based on the average sun in my area with a south facing roof, it should make about $10K/yr or a payback of 9 years...or 11% ROI (not including write-off). With write offs about 7yrs. Banks offering special rates for this application.
10KW system is about 50 4'x2' panels, some inverters (or one big one) and a meter. Very simple and no maintenance. System life expectancy is about 25 yrs with good panels, .5% degradation/yr.
If you don't have the cash to do it, you could rent your rooftop to someone who does.
I will have a local company do an audit of my roof and location to determine what I can expect.
Big
Mine is metal, so I'm good. It would be a very easy install. A zoom boom for a couple of days to get the panels up and a day to get all the wiring in.
