When Candice Davis and her husband Mike Horvath first heard about the benefits of installing solar panels on their roof, the local family jumped at the bright idea.
The family of five recently installed 32 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on their roof in a bid to cut down their energy costs and reduce their ecological footprint.
According to Davis, the panels will generate more than enough electricity to power their home, essentially eliminating their power bill all together and making them a net producer instead of a consumer.
鈥淚t just made sense,鈥澛� Davis said, following a presentation about solar power at the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion, Nov. 19.
According to Davis, her family spent less than $30,000 to install the solar panels, which she said they expect to pay off in eight years.
Randall Benson, owner of Gridworks Energy Group, which installed the family鈥檚 solar PV system and hosted the presentation, said the biggest thing holding people back from adopting solar energy is misinformation.
To debunk some of those myths he presented various facts and figures, all of which pointed to the same conclusion鈥搒olar power is not only the most abundant energy source in the world, it鈥檚 free and it鈥檚 economically viable.
鈥淲e could power all of Alberta鈥檚 needs hundreds of times over with just solar energy,鈥� said Benson.
鈥淎nd the best part is it鈥檚 free. It鈥檚 a one-time cost for your electricity. You put the solar PV system on your roof and that is it. You don鈥檛 have to pay for it unlike natural gas or coal fired electricity.鈥�
The majority of his presentation focused on the financial costs.
鈥淚f you install a solar PV system on your roof and you鈥檙e generating your own electricity, thus negating your power bill, there鈥檚 an immediate return on investment,鈥� explained Benson. 鈥淵ou can keep that money in your pocket.鈥�
He also dismissed myths about the life span and quality of solar panels.
鈥淐ompanies are offering up to 40-year warranties these days, even the inverters have 25-year warranties on them,鈥� said Benson. 鈥淗ow many of you have heard of 25- or 40-year warranties on anything?鈥�
According to Benson, the most common solar PV system is a grid-connected system that allows people to feed electricity back to the system.
鈥淲hen there鈥檚 a site shortage you鈥檙e buying from the grid, when there鈥檚 a site surplus you鈥檙e selling to the grid,鈥� explained Benson.
Locally, both Benson and Davis said Parks Canada and ATCO Electric were very easy to work with.
鈥淓verything went very, very smoothly. Dealing with ATCO has been super and dealing with Parks Canada has been fantastic because they are very for it,鈥� said Davis.
鈥淚 think everyone knows this is the direction we鈥檙e going and I think everyone wants it to go as smoothly as possible.鈥�
She said the solar panels haven鈥檛 increased her house insurance and could in fact increase its property value.
While installing a grid-connected PV system sounds enticing, Benson acknowledged the up-front costs can be a daunting, but stressed that the costs are falling between 10 and 15 per cent every year.
For example, a six-kilowatt grid-connected system would cost between $18,000 and $19,000. Seven years ago it would have cost $60,000, according to Benson.
鈥淭he costs of these systems have dropped about 70 to 80 per cent over the last 10 years.鈥�
He also emphasized the economic and environmental benefits of going solar.
鈥淭he return on the environment is immediate. Once we turn that system on for you there鈥檚 much less coal being burned, much less natural gas being burned for that electricity,鈥� said Benson.
In September the provincial government announced 30 per cent of electricity used in Alberta will come from renewable sources such as wind, hydro and solar by 2030.
鈥淭hat means all coal-fired generation in Alberta is going to be shut down by 2030 and a large portion of it is going to be by 2019 and solar and wind is going to take over,鈥� said Benson.
Paul Clarke
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