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

[kJUMP]

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We were quoted $44,000 for a 11.5 KW system.
Would take 10 years for it to pay itself off.

We didn’t think it was worth it.

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That seems high, our 10.0KW system was quoted at $27,000 ($22,000 with the grant).

Yes, that is a high price. We had a 15 kW system (17kW DC) that was packaged into our build, ~$40k from Skyfire (SolarEdge inverters and I think LG panels) which included the 15% management fee. Unfortunately, we were not eligible for any of the government incentives. Our house is fully electric so we needed the largest possible configuration that could fit. The system generated 2.31 mWh during the month of April. Will be curious to see the summer production.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

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The number I keep hearing from people who have gone down this path is roughly $2.40/watt, is that ringing true for the guys who have gotten quotes?

I'm not sure everything scales the same as our system is on the small side and there were differences in warranty add-ons and such, but our base quotes ranged from $2.65/W to $2.96/W without the grant, including GST. $2.53/W-$2.82/W without GST.

All the quotes were for Longi panels and APSystems DS3 micro-inverters.

[A2VR6]

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We had quotes from 4-5 outfits, SolarYYC quoted us the largest system at the lowest per-watt price and with the longest included warranty, so they'll be installing in August. The panels and inverters seemed to be pretty standardized across the various companies.

This. Went with them as well last year and got the panels installed in November. Pretty happy with their install and pricing vs the others.

[phreezee]

Also a SolarYYC customer.

One thing to note, I just switched home insurance and I had to include the panels in the policy because it was connected to the grid. Cost me $180/year.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Update that may come as a surprise to anyone looking at solar systems:

In the past, when you sized a solar system, the installer would use modeling software to take into account the direction and angle the panels are situated, and shading, etc. to produce an actual generation capacity that was used when comparing to the 105% limit that Enmax placed on home generation.

As of this month, Enmax has now decided that these models can no longer be used to determine capacity, and any system installed is now assumed to be 100% perfectly South-facing at optimal angle with no shading of any kind. So where we were looking at installing a 10kW system before (limited by roof space, not generation%), Enmax will now only permit us an 8.8kW system that realistically only generates ~80% of our annual usage. And since they have a monopoly on the grid connection we have no recourse on the permit application.

[phreezee]

That's terrible news.
Delay and up your usage 12%.

[rage2]

Can you scope a bigger system if you do a battery storage setup? I have no interest in feeding back to the grid, I want full home UPS.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

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Can you scope a bigger system if you do a battery storage setup? I have no interest in feeding back to the grid, I want full home UPS.

If your system isn't grid-tied, Enmax doesn't get a say in anything and you can go balls-out, as far as I know.

[killramos]

Fuck the grid. Fuck the whales.

[ExtraSlow]

Nuke the grid.

[Misterman]

They only just started allowing battery storage inside your house. And it's limited to 40Kw. But it has a pile of rules that make it rather burdensome or even possible sometimes. It can't be in a living space, it can't be within a certain distance of an egress door. etc etc.

All this solar nonsense is pretty whack. Without some form of storage, solar is just a big interrupter to the grid. You generate the majority of your power when you're away at work during the day and not utilizing power, other than a few base loads in your home like A/C in the summer, your refrigerator, etc. These snake oil salesman are selling you a system sized for all the power you utilize in a year, even though a big portion of your power usage is going to be when you can't actually supply it from your solar set up. So you'll be pulling all that from the grid. And the electric companies don't want you exporting to the grid during the day, because it just fucks up the base load of the grid, which is going to lead to more brown outs and power interruptions. That's why Enmax is trying cut back on your system sizing, because if you're producing any more than your personal base load and start exporting to grid, you're creating problems for them and anyone else tied to the grid.

If I was adamant to get off the grid, I'd get a Generac generator, and put a 100lb propane bullet in my backyard to fuel it when needed. Then have a moderate solar set up to supply my basic day time use.

[ZenOps]

Off grid has always been the goal. Get eighteen 610 watt Longi bifacial panels (about $350 apiece) big battery and inverter. Leave one panel for a Bluetti AC180P with a backup 2000 watt gasoline or propane generator.

If you are baller, go for the entire pallet of panels. As 600 watters drop below $300, I can imagine you might even start thinking about going with 54 panels and ditch the gasoline car.

Assuming full south sun of course.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

I got quoted 25k for 8.5kw via Kuby. I wonder if I should get a quote from SolarYYC.

[g-m]

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They only just started allowing battery storage inside your house. And it's limited to 40Kw. But it has a pile of rules that make it rather burdensome or even possible sometimes. It can't be in a living space, it can't be within a certain distance of an egress door. etc etc.

All this solar nonsense is pretty whack. Without some form of storage, solar is just a big interrupter to the grid. You generate the majority of your power when you're away at work during the day and not utilizing power, other than a few base loads in your home like A/C in the summer, your refrigerator, etc. These snake oil salesman are selling you a system sized for all the power you utilize in a year, even though a big portion of your power usage is going to be when you can't actually supply it from your solar set up. So you'll be pulling all that from the grid. And the electric companies don't want you exporting to the grid during the day, because it just fucks up the base load of the grid, which is going to lead to more brown outs and power interruptions. That's why Enmax is trying cut back on your system sizing, because if you're producing any more than your personal base load and start exporting to grid, you're creating problems for them and anyone else tied to the grid.

If I was adamant to get off the grid, I'd get a Generac generator, and put a 100lb propane bullet in my backyard to fuel it when needed. Then have a moderate solar set up to supply my basic day time use.

Yea I think people are crazy to get solar at home but I guess they just want to smug off to their friends and coworkers

[redline]

Did all you guys use the solar grant and interest free loan ? Did you get many quotes on your own or use a broker ?

Any one ever heard of these guys ? https://goglean.ca/

[89coupe]

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Yes, that is a high price. We had a 15 kW system (17kW DC) that was packaged into our build, ~$40k from Skyfire (SolarEdge inverters and I think LG panels) which included the 15% management fee. Unfortunately, we were not eligible for any of the government incentives. Our house is fully electric so we needed the largest possible configuration that could fit. The system generated 2.31 mWh during the month of April. Will be curious to see the summer production.

11.5 KW was the most our roof could accommodate. Yeh it seemed high, that was with the $5000 rebate from the government as well. Quote was from Firefly.

[ExtraSlow]

The inlaws cabin just got a 2.5kw system, which was the most Fortis / Epcor would allow based on usage. Haven't see a bill yet.

Interesting.

[89coupe]

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The inlaws cabin just got a 2.5kw system, which was the most Fortis / Epcor would allow based on usage. Haven't see a bill yet.

Interesting.

Allow? How does that work?

[BerserkerCatSplat]

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Allow? How does that work?

The utility that owns the grid you tie into gets to set a limit on how much you can produce to the grid.

[89coupe]

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The utility that owns the grid you tie into gets to set a limit on how much you can produce to the grid.

Sure, sell back to the grid, but the way he worded it made it sound like they weren’t allowed to install a larger system. 2.5kw isn’t very much, definitely not enough to power an entire cabin. What an eletrical company allows back to their grid vs what a homeowner wants to produce vendor their home are two different things.