I ordered a 2kW rooftop solar panel array for my downtown Toronto home. Installation commences next month and should be complete by the end of December. The photovoltaic system connects to the grid through the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) under their Standard Offer Program.
The utility will buy my solar generated electricity at a rate of $0.42 per kW hour. My house buys back electricity from the utility at about $0.07 per kW hour. Although this may seem like a generous government offering, keep in mind that Germany, a world leader in solar power, pays $0.85 per kW hour for third party generated PV energy.
Governments are not motivated to do this seemingly foolish fiscal extravagance as the result of an environmentally guilty conscience. Solar energy systems deliver their product at peak consumption times, like those hot humid July afternoons when the city warns of blackouts and brownouts. The technical term is “capping” and it improves operational efficiencies by helping power utilities reduce their peak period forecasts. An installed base of a few hundred independent solar arrays might eliminate the need for a coal powered generator.
Toronto’s daily average of sunlight is only 5.5 hours and this translates into an estimated 15 year return on investment; not a great business plan but I am not in it for the money. I will be posting monthly results on this site as they roll in. Stay tuned.