Power customer subsidized solar projects approved...So how are they performing?

[oneoff]

Quite interested in seeing how they are performing. Even average general statistics would be a start.

[malleefarmer]

Quite interested in seeing how they are performing. Even average general statistics would be a start.

Cant compare apples with apples i guess as i dont know prices in canada.

But i got a quote the other day.

5ka solar system $7000 or thereabouts subsidized to the tune of about $2000 roughly.
Then to get full "benifit" a battery to store power another 10k.

The 7k system alone it was suggest i would save $6 to 700 per year.

Still relevant i went to a white goods place over weekend looking at replacing my 34 year old chest freezer 500l size the salesman suggested i would save possibly 300 to 350 per year by ditching that for something more efficient

[farming101]

As long as your hi tech efficient freezer doesn't break down.

[sumdumguy]

Cant compare apples with apples i guess as i dont know prices in canada.

But i got a quote the other day.

5ka solar system $7000 or thereabouts subsidized to the tune of about $2000 roughly.
Then to get full "benifit" a battery to store power another 10k.

The 7k system alone it was suggest i would save $6 to 700 per year.

Still relevant i went to a white goods place over weekend looking at replacing my 34 year old chest freezer 500l size the salesman suggested i would save possibly 300 to 350 per year by ditching that for something more efficient

Will the salesman put that in writing?

[tmyrfield]

Cant compare apples with apples i guess as i dont know prices in canada.

But i got a quote the other day.

5ka solar system $7000 or thereabouts subsidized to the tune of about $2000 roughly.
Then to get full "benifit" a battery to store power another 10k.

The 7k system alone it was suggest i would save $6 to 700 per year.

Still relevant i went to a white goods place over weekend looking at replacing my 34 year old chest freezer 500l size the salesman suggested i would save possibly 300 to 350 per year by ditching that for something more efficient

the wife can carry the new one in while it takes 4 grown men and a boy to carry the old one out...

[oneoff]

And does not anyone care to brag about their solar project performing much higher than their expectations?

Impress me; or even tell what you believe to be the truth?.

[chuckChuck]

Really need at least a full month and a full year of results to measure.

The good news is on cold January days when the sun is bright we are getting 90 percent of rated capacity for a few mid day hours. Panels are more efficient at colder temperatures. And reflected energy from the snow helps.

So far we are producing more than we are using. Production looks in line with what the models predicted.

But the days are short, the angle of the sun is low and and on cloudy snowy days there is no production. January and February are not the best months, but it is still possible to produce more than you use if you don't have a ton of usage. Cloudy weather is a big negative factor and could really swing results negative if you have a long period of cloudy weather.

The light fluffy snow brushes off easily in about 10 minutes. Roof mount panels would make that job much more difficult.

When you talk about the subsidy, remember that rural farm customers have been getting subsidized by lower rates for many years, as the cost of delivering power to rural customers is much higher than what it would be to deliver to towns and cities.

Rates have recently gone up. But last year, farms paid 11.8 cents per kwh and town customers paid over 14 cents per kwh. So when you get worried about the small number of dollars going to solar you might want to be careful about bringing up the issue of subsidies, because you and I as farmers have been getting a pretty good amount of subsidies over the years from the majority of Sask Power customers.

The other factor to consider is the subsidies and hidden costs of other forms of generation. It is not as black and white as many would think.

[oneoff]

Good information. But could you also just include how many Kwh was produced during the each of the months there is information for..

No trade secrets involved that I know of. Maybe a person was away for the winter; maybe they have all natural gas appliances and maybe they have 10 acres of panels. So electrical use could have been minimal too. Any electrical generation does have to pass some economic feasibility test when need it becomes a significant part of the supply needs.

The Kwh's produced per monthly period and the rated PV generation at "full capacity" are obviously what is required to evaluate any generation project.

I just acquired a new 23 KW Solectria PV inverter for the right price (<$2000). But questions such as if it makes sense to attempt to even operate solar panels during the December through February time period have not yet been answered.

[binthere]

Pull the plug clean the panels throw a tarp on remove tarp in May. Repeat in Oct.

[chuckChuck]

To get a reasonable estimate of monthly and annual production there is a solar calculator on the web at https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/

Enter your location, system size, angle of the panels and what you pay for utility electricity and you will get an estimate of what the value of electricity will be under net metering.

Some factors to consider. Snow and how easily it can be cleaned off. Shading from trees or buildings. String inverters are similar to series christmas lights. If one panel is shaded then production drops to that level on all panels. Some systems have optimizers or micro inverters to fix this problem if you have a roof install where shading is an issue. Ground mount with string inverters works well.

Payback after the .61 cent per watt subsidy looks to be about 10-12 years but that does not include lost opportunity costs or finance costs, any replacement costs if something fails, nor any increase in the utility price per kwh.