# How much does a solar installation cost?
Your investment in a typical turnkey residential system can range from 12 to 32 thousand dollars, depending on the size of the system.
# What are the financial benefits?
1. If you are located in Ontario, you can sell your power back to the grid, and receive a fixed guaranteed rate for that power for 20 years. The current rate is 42 cents per kwh. To put that in perspective, the current rate you pay for power would have to compound annually at about 6.5% to reach 42 cents in 20 years.
2. You can depreciate the cost of the system to reduce your taxable solar income to zero, which increases your effective rate of return (consult your financial advisor and CCRA).
3. Increase the resale value of your home. Homes with solar installations have been shown to sell more quickly and sell at a premium.
# Are there other benefits?
The environmental benefits are big. A typical 2kw residential rooftop installation will reduce your family’s carbon footprint by 2.6 tons per year for 35 to 40 years.
# Aren't we too far north to generate solar power?
Ontario actually has enough annual hours of solar radiation to be considered an excellent site for solar, and is attracting international interest in building large-scale ‘solar farms’ here. The GTA’s latitude is equivalent to the south of France. Germany’s latitude is further north, and it is the world’s leading country with installed solar.
# Isn't it too cold?
Solar panels often work better in cold temperatures during winter months because there is an increase in the conductivity of the metals.
# Will the panels produce power on cloudy or snowy days?
Even on cloudy days some light is absorbed by the panels, so some power will be produced. With snow, the panels capture heat during the day and the melting snow creates a water slick. The snow slides off and the panels resume producing power.
# Then what are important things to consider?
The most important predictors of solar power generation are present and potential future shading on the panels (chimneys, trees, other buildings), their slope and orientation towards the sun, and the average annual hours of radiation in your location.
# Will my home have power in a blackout?
This is possible if you also install a battery back-up system.
# Are there government incentives available?
The Province of Ontario offers a rebate on part of the Retail Sales Tax. Through the only such program in Canada, Ontario offers to purchase the electricity you generate at a guaranteed rate.
# What is the Standard Offer Contract (SOC)?
It’s an agreement with the Ontario Power Authority to sell and export your power to the grid. The offer is available to residential, commercial, and industrial locations, and solar farms. The current 20-year contract offers to purchase power at a fixed rate of 42 cents per kilowatt hour.
The OPA has received an overwhelming response as a result of this offer and Ontario’s good solar radiation. In 2007/2008 the OPA approved projects for total megawatts of solar power that they anticipated would take until 2012 or 2014 to reach.
# What is the difference between a net-metered and an SOC grid-tied system?
With net-metering you consume the electricity your panels produce. Any excess power is fed back through the grid and credited to your hydro bill. You import less power from your utility, and so your electricity bill is reduced.
With a Standard Offer Contract grid-tied system you export all the power generated by your panels back through the grid. The amount you export is tracked by a second meter installed beside the current one. You receive a bill from your utility as usual for the electricity you consume, and your utility credits you for the power you have exported (at 42 cents kwh).
Both ways of being grid-tied have the same environmental benefits.
# If I sign a Standard Offer Contract, how much income can I expect?
With a Class A rated site you can expect gross income of $1,000 to $1,100 annually for a 2kw system, $1,500 to $1,600 for a 3kw system. At year 20 you have the option to renew your contract at the new rate.
Quelle:www.arisetech.com/
Arise ist schon ein seriöses Unternehmen und ne super Firma :-)
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