Quantcast
Solar Power generation in Alberta - Truly competitive now, or soon? - Page 3 - Beyond.ca - Car Forums
Page 3 of 15 FirstFirst ... 2 3 4 13 ... LastLast
Results 41 to 60 of 297

Thread: Solar Power generation in Alberta - Truly competitive now, or soon?

  1. #41
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Calgary, AB
    My Ride
    Ford F150
    Posts
    472
    Rep Power
    17

    Default

    Pfft solar. Let's just go nuclear and be done with it.
    I can eat more hot wings than you.

  2. #42
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Calgary, Ab
    My Ride
    2021 Zonda CRV
    Posts
    1,008
    Rep Power
    18

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JustinL View Post
    I have a grid connected solar system on my house paid for by me and the carbon tax while the NDP was still in power. I don't have a battery storage, so the extra juice I generate just gets sold back into the grid. I did the calculations based on the estimates before installing it and I think the payback was 14 years. That of course assumes my consumption stays roughly flat and price doesn't increase. If price goes up, then the time obviously shrinks. Since flipping the switch on in late April, I've generated 4100kwh, which is a bit better than my estimate.

    The most interesting things I've noticed are the decreased efficiency on hot days and how little is generated when not in direct sunshine i.e., a cloud comes over and the production drops. I'm really interested to see how it does over the winter months. My panels are all south facing.
    Quote Originally Posted by davidI View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Very interesting. Can you detail the system / costs / capacity / etc.?
    +2.

    I would be interested to see the numbers too.

    I was reading online and from what I can gather its about $10-16K installed and payback period of 9 years.
    Source: https://kubyenergy.ca/blog/the-cost-of-solar-panels

  3. #43
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Beaumont
    My Ride
    Touareg, Cayenne, 944s
    Posts
    717
    Rep Power
    29

    Default

    It's a 20 panel Canadian solar system. Each panel can do 315 watts. So peak generation is about 6300w. I only hit that on a cool sunny day. On a normal day I think I average about 35 kwh most ever was 50kwh. The cost was around $15k I think, I'll have to find the receipt for the exactly number and the grant. The power that I burn from the panels never goes to the meter. The consumption side gets slowed or stopped. If I make excess, then the outflow side if the meter starts increasing. The outflow price is just the price of electricity, but the inflow has all the variable charges etc. So reducing inflow is more valuable than creating outflow. We try to run the appliances during the day and the central air usually runs during the day, but we still buy quite a bit from the grid at night. Without the 30% grant I don't think I would have done it. I'll rerun the numbers with my new info and see what the return is going to look like once I see a whole year of data.

    The panels are warrantied for 20 years and I think there is some resale value added to the home now. I think the expected life of the panels is quite a bit longer than the 20 years.

  4. #44
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Calgary
    My Ride
    ute
    Posts
    4,937
    Rep Power
    100

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by CompletelyNumb View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Pfft solar. Let's just go nuclear and be done with it.
    This is the answer.

  5. #45
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Only 15min from Aspen!
    My Ride
    Nothing interesting anymore
    Posts
    8,403
    Rep Power
    100

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by CompletelyNumb View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Pfft solar. Let's just go nuclear and be done with it.
    1000x yes, if someone actually built it without jacking up our electricity rates for the construction of it, and without the use of tax dollars.

  6. #46
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Cowtown
    My Ride
    10' 4Runner SR5
    Posts
    6,345
    Rep Power
    58

    Default

    Nuclear doesn't make sense in Alberta when we have vast and cheap natural gas.
    Ultracrepidarian

  7. #47
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    calgary ab
    My Ride
    4x4
    Posts
    2,396
    Rep Power
    24

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by msommers View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Storage is definitely a big hurdle right now. Northern communities have an interesting situation: full sun then full darkness. How can you harness full sun while storing the excess for full darkness instead of relying on diesel fuel?

    Various northern grants have helped these communities build solar power walls but personally I don't agree with it. Their impact is so small and they already have power generation capabilities. So not only is this money given to not have a long last effect (ie: wasting money), their carbon footprint is actually higher given per capital because of the environmental cost to produce and transport said panels.

    Strangely, lithium mining companies all seem to have had their stock prices drop off.
    Actually the Dutch sorted this out hundreds of years ago... It's called hydraulics in the modern age.

    Use excess power generated in summer via wind / solar to pump uphill to fill a raised reservoir. Then when peak needs arrise you release reservoir through water turbines.

    How you keep that upper reservoir from freezing however in the Arctic circle...

  8. #48
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    calgary
    My Ride
    CLK 55 / 2g Eclipse / EP3
    Posts
    4,422
    Rep Power
    22

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by msommers View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Nuclear doesn't make sense in Alberta when we have vast and cheap natural gas.
    we also had coal, but the 'social license' expired on that, thanks to the NDP (modern coal is very clean).

    Nat gas will no doubt suffer a similar fate leaving nuclear fission as the only viable, primary option. Just need to figure out what to do with the waste - although the latest designs pretty much migitate this (but not eliminate).

  9. #49
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Only 15min from Aspen!
    My Ride
    Nothing interesting anymore
    Posts
    8,403
    Rep Power
    100

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by AndyL View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    How you keep that upper reservoir from freezing however in the Arctic circle...
    Use the excess power to heat the reservoir, lol. (large matrix of heating nets on top)

  10. #50
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Cowtown
    My Ride
    10' 4Runner SR5
    Posts
    6,345
    Rep Power
    58

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by revelations View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    we also had coal, but the 'social license' expired on that, thanks to the NDP (modern coal is very clean).

    Nat gas will no doubt suffer a similar fate leaving nuclear fission as the only viable, primary option. Just need to figure out what to do with the waste - although the latest designs pretty much migitate this (but not eliminate).
    Coal and clean don't ever belong in the same sentence. Let's not kid ourselves.
    Ultracrepidarian

  11. #51
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Calgary
    Posts
    2,093
    Rep Power
    43

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by revelations View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    (modern coal is very clean).
    “Very clean” compared to what? Old/legacy coal plants?

    How about compared to nat gas? Got any good reading around “clean coal”? I keep hearing this term so I’m genuinely curious about it

  12. #52
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    calgary
    My Ride
    CLK 55 / 2g Eclipse / EP3
    Posts
    4,422
    Rep Power
    22

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by sabad66 View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    “Very clean” compared to what? Old/legacy coal plants?

    How about compared to nat gas? Got any good reading around “clean coal”? I keep hearing this term so I’m genuinely curious about it
    That I dont know (compared to Nat Gas) but the newer coal scrubbers are light years away from the black soot and heavy metal pollution associated with old plants.

    Having said that, the local environment impact from coal MINING is enormous though.

  13. #53
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Upstairs
    My Ride
    Natural Gas.
    Posts
    13,330
    Rep Power
    100

    Default

    I don't have data to back this up in front of me, but I did look once. Old coal power was aful, new clean coal power is pretty good, and natural gas generation is even cleaner than the cleanest clean coal.

    I'd argue natural gas extraction is cleaner than coal mining too, but not everyone agrees with that. I'm heavily biased towards natural gas though.
    Quote Originally Posted by killramos View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    You realize you are talking to the guy who made his own furniture out of salad bowls right?

  14. #54
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    The Big Char.
    My Ride
    *The First*
    Posts
    4,134
    Rep Power
    100

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by sabad66 View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    “Very clean” compared to what? Old/legacy coal plants?

    How about compared to nat gas? Got any good reading around “clean coal”? I keep hearing this term so I’m genuinely curious about it
    The modern plants run "super critical" and are extremely efficient compared to old coal burning plants. Most or all in Alberta are efficient while Saskatchewan is more like a controlled Tire Fire...

  15. #55
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Pallet Town
    Posts
    809
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    My plan to take over the world includes going to Hawaii, using a 200 foot tungsten rod plunged into an active magma volcano chamber, and melting the beach sand at the other end. Essentially making silicon ingots for free. Think big or go home.
    0.5 gram microsd delivered by 12,000 pound combustion vehicle and driver.

  16. #56
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Calgary
    My Ride
    A slow bike & an even slower car.
    Posts
    6,336
    Rep Power
    31

    Default

    Coal is a dead technology. There are vastly superior alternatives, including natural gas (if you insist on burning fuels to create energy). Between the increasing ability of renewable power, modern thorium/molten salt nuclear reactors, and natural gas... there's no reason whatsoever to use coal. For anything. Let the dead technology stay dead.

  17. #57
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    calgary ab
    My Ride
    4x4
    Posts
    2,396
    Rep Power
    24

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by A790 View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Coal is a dead technology. There are vastly superior alternatives, including natural gas (if you insist on burning fuels to create energy). Between the increasing ability of renewable power, modern thorium/molten salt nuclear reactors, and natural gas... there's no reason whatsoever to use coal. For anything. Let the dead technology stay dead.
    Not quite... 3rd world has lots of coal available to them inexpensively and in a local source.

    Whereas destroying a facility and building a replacement is extremely carbon intensive...

    Clean coal rivals natural gas on emissions production. Ever been to sheerness when it's operating? Nobody seems to mind being there, rec site being heavily used proves it. Nobody comes away claiming blacklung...

    Keeping power affordable and improving the emissions in these developing economies makes plenty of sense in a lot of ways. Shipping natural gas across the world, at increased cost, and demolishing and building new facilities makes little sense and has a negative environmental impact...

  18. #58
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Calgary, Alberta
    My Ride
    Bicycle
    Posts
    9,269
    Rep Power
    49

    Default



    TLDR

    The panel and battery cost is $33K. US Gov pays $9K of that. Grid is set up to sell excess into the grid, in bright sunny Cali.

    ROI is still 11.5 years.


    So if we get 30% less sun, and with 0 government subsidization, ROI will be closer or over 20 years which is exactly what these panels and batteries life cycles are rated for. So it's pretty much pointless at this point.

  19. #59
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Pallet Town
    Posts
    809
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    China will fix it all. They will produce panels for 1/10th price eventually.

    As for large scale generation:

    https://www.pv-magazine.com/2018/05/...wer-and-lower/

    There was a tiny blip last year where generators were concerned about the 25% USA tariff on China, but it has already resumed its downward march to 25 cents / watt.
    0.5 gram microsd delivered by 12,000 pound combustion vehicle and driver.

  20. #60
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    calgary
    My Ride
    CLK 55 / 2g Eclipse / EP3
    Posts
    4,422
    Rep Power
    22

    Default

    So in 2019 AB, solar power is in no way practical for the average home owner living in the city.

    However, that does not mean INDUSTRY (or governments) cant start incentivizing/ building large scale setups here.

    America for eg. needs a 100 mile by 100 mile array of solar panels to pretty much power the entire country right now.

    “If you wanted to power the entire U.S. with solar panels, it would take a fairly small corner of Nevada or Texas or Utah; you only need about 100 miles by 100 miles of solar panels to power the entire United States. The batteries you need to store the energy, to make sure you have 24/7 power, is 1 mile by 1 mile. One square-mile. That’s it.” — Elon Musk
    Obviously the transmission/disrtibution losses would negate a lot of this (eg. powering the state of NY with a system from Arizona) , but even then, if you were to say, power the States nearby to such a facility, would mean enormous cost savings (and profits for others).

Page 3 of 15 FirstFirst ... 2 3 4 13 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Micro-generation - (Solar Tie In) (permits and stuff)

    By thetransporter in forum Real Estate / Finance
    Replies: 1
    Latest Threads: 09-25-2013, 02:18 PM
  2. New Titan is now truly a Titan!

    By spikerS in forum Automotive News
    Replies: 2
    Latest Threads: 08-20-2013, 04:21 PM
  3. Looking for competitive volleyball players?

    By bksze in forum Sports, Health & Fitness
    Replies: 7
    Latest Threads: 08-09-2009, 01:54 PM
  4. Any Competitive/Serious Soccer Players?

    By Skyline_Addict in forum Health and Fitness
    Replies: 0
    Latest Threads: 12-06-2007, 02:46 AM
  5. Alternative Power Sources (Solar Power)

    By Gorilla in forum General
    Replies: 3
    Latest Threads: 11-13-2007, 12:07 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •