Alternative Power
Solar panels get their moment in the sun
February 17, 2011
Ian Harvey
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Do the math and it seems like every homeowner's dream: Instead of buying hydro at 8 cents a kilowatt hour, install some solar panels on your roof and sell it at 80.2 cents kWh back to the grid.
If only it was that easy. First you'll need to source and install those panels along with a special meter and then connect it to the grid. You must also have it all signed off by a certified electrical authority and you'll enter into a contract with the Ontario Feed-In Tariff program.
And that's where things start to add up, literally. To install even a modest array of panels on the average home will cost upwards of $30,000 when all is said and done, says Ryan McCalley, founder and vice president of Pure Energies, which is in the business of installing solar system on residential homes.
Unless you've got cash lying around, even at the madly generous rate being offered by the government for your solar electricity, it will take more than 15 years to pay off the cost of financing the purchase, installation and maintenance before you see a penny of profit, he says.
And that's where Pure Energies ( www.pure- energies.com) sees an opportunity. They'll finance, install and maintain a solar system on your roof if you'll enter into a 20-year lease to share the profits. They'll take care of all the paperwork, cut you a cheque for between $300 and $500 a year as a “dividend,” and at the end of the lease you'll own the system, which is expected to still be viable even though more efficient systems will probably be available by then.
The payments are contingent on roof size, how many panels can be installed and how much power they generate. Pure Energies claims some may see cheques of $1,200 a year if they can have larger systems installed.
Not only will they do this with existing homes — assuming you've got good sun access and few shadows — they've also partnered with a slate of high- profile homebuilders to offer it as an option with new homes, including Empire Communities, Brookfield Homes and Marshall Homes.
“There's nothing really required for most roofs,” says McCalley. “It doesn't weigh much more than an extra layer of shingles.”
The black anodized aluminum frames and black glass photo-voltaic panels lay flat so they're also fairly inconspicuous. They are made by Suntech Power and SMA America, the world's largest suppliers of solar panels.
The GTA averages over 2,000 hours a year of sunshine, more than even Germany where solar panels on homes are ubiquitous and produced about more than 4.8 gigawatt hours of power last year, making it the world's largest photo voltaic market.
Last summer change management specialist Peter Berwick installed a 3 kWh Pure Energies system on his Kingsfield Loop house in Oshawa 2 1/2 years after he moved in.
He'd seen the system on the model home at Marshall Homes' next phase and thought it was a great idea.
“I did it because it was the socially responsible thing,” says Berwick, 68. “I didn't do it to make money, I did it because I wanted to do my bit.”
Installation was quick and simple, he says, and today the only evidence of the panels is an extra conduit down the side of the house and a second meter.
Pure Energies is one of a handful of companies jumping into the solar energy sector to offer financing. Others offer similar packages and leases in other sectors. Farmers, for example, can have a new barn built for free from one company if they agree to maintain solar panels on the roof while another company is working to install panels on brownfields (toxic lots which have to be cleaned up before they can be developed) and other underused land, such as highway cloverleafs.
There's also a “feel good” aspect to solar, which remains its biggest drawing card despite the lack of an instant cash flow.
The Building, Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) also thinks it's a good idea and has worked with Pure Energies to install 80 solar panels on the roof of its Upjohn Rd. offices in North York, which will generate 10 kWh of power.
“Ontario is leading the global evolution in green home construction, which can now include renewable energy as part of every new home constructed thanks to the Green Energy Act,” said Paul Golini, BILD chairman and vice president of Empire Communities, said when the system was publicly unveiled this week.
For homebuilders,
adding a solar option to home is the next step on a logical path. A few years ago, for example, Marshall Homes started offering geothermal heating systems in their new homes and for some buyers it was the tipping point to making a deal.
Golini says while there haven't been any design or construction changes resulting from the solar option, it's all part of the evolution.
“I think in the next few years we'll start to design homes with plug-in facilities for electric cars as the norm,” he says. “And with that many electric or hybrid cars on the road, and the grid not being able to meet all the demand, we may add solar panels to charge up the car.”
In the next generation of homes, solar panels may become as essential as a dishwasher and designers will lay out homes and configure roofs to take maximum advantage of sunshine.
“For buyers, it's an opportunity to have solar on their home without any investment,” says Golini. “And then there's the obvious green aspect and the social consciousness of contributing. They sign up because they believe they are doing the right thing and they want to show friends, family and neighbours that they are putting their words into action.”
• For more information on Pure Energies, go to www.pure-energies.com, for Empire Communities go to www.empirecommunities .com, for Brookfield Homes go to www.brookfieldhomes.ca and for Marshall Homes go to www.marshallhomes.ca.