777 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

I am glad my tax dollars were able to ride to the rescue.

[Victoria Watcher]

Rotating brownouts leave thousands of Albertans without power Friday

Electric system operator issued provincewide grid alert at 6:49 a.m.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...riday-1.7165290

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 April 2024 - 04:59 PM.

[max.bravo]

I talked to a couple from Calgary the other day. They put in a solar panel system using the federal 0% loan - costs them about $250/month for 10 years, and offsets their electricity enough to pay for itself even while the loan is being repaid. They were pretty happy with it. I think we’ll see a lot more solar panels going up, if it makes sense financially and brownouts start happening…

[Victoria Watcher]

Enmax turned off power to about 25,000 Calgary customers for about 14 minutes, a spokesperson said in an email.

Epcor shut off power to about 20,000 customers across Edmonton for less than 30 minutes, a spokesperson said.





^ that’s pretty third world.

[max.bravo]

How does this jive with the every ‘vehicle must be an EV by 2030’ mandate? And banning gas heating… 🤔

[LJ]

It doesn't.

 

If you want to get serious about electrifying everything, you better start talking about nuclear power plants. If you don't, you are not serious about converting everything to non-fossil fuel energy.

[Nparker]

Since the entire "climate crisis" is about controlling the masses, these brown outs are just part of the plan.

[max.bravo]

Throw up 12.15kw of panels on your roof for $260/month @ 0% and laugh with the lights on

[Mike K.]

Does the $260/month include storage of energy, or is the power only generated in real-time for real-time usage?

I’m spending at most $100/month on hydro right now. If I used electric heat I think that would easily jump to $300 or more.

[max.bravo]

You’d need a battery to store the excess. But your panels are always producing (even if house demand is low) so you’re selling back to the grid at a net metering 1:1 rate.

If you generate more than you use in a month; hydro puts a credit on your account. So many people can eliminate their $100 hydro bill (at current rates) with a $150/mo solar payment for 10 years.

[Mike K.]

Hydro pays you for the power you produce that you don’t use? That’s interesting.

[max.bravo]

Yep, net metering. https://app.bchydro....metering.m.html

At some point they will change the rate, so you sell back to the grid at a lower price. but for now you get the same price for both production and consumption. And you get grandfathered when they change the rate.

[Mike K.]

Interesting. What is the long-term implication of a setup? Are there annual or semi-annual maintenance costs? Is there a lifespan for the panels? Are there property tax implications?

I feel like the last time I looked into this, the industry was in its infancy.

[max.bravo]

Two things happened in the last decade - PV cell technology improved; and hydro rates went up by 70% in 10 years.

25 year warranty, monitor your production via app- if you’ve got lead litter on the cells I imagine you’d want to dust them off, but they’re designed to be outdoors for 30+ years. The only moving parts are the electrons.

[Victoria Watcher]

Some of the inverter / switching / regulator parts will fail, but those prices should fall too.

[dasmo]

Battery backup will double your cost. I personally would prefer that as it makes you independent but it’s too pricey to make sense. I don’t remember these interest free loans before

https://shift.ca/for...ate-incentives/

Edited by dasmo, 06 April 2024 - 09:40 AM.

[max.bravo]

Battery tech isn’t there yet. Give it 10 years and everyone will have a Tesla battery wall in the garage.

The real benefit of doing solar today is BC Hydro gives you a one-to-one credit for net metering. So you sell your excess for the same price you buy Hydro

They will yank that away at some point in the future, making it so you sell that to the grid at a fraction of the price you buy electricity at. But if you have net metering now, your grandfathered 😁

Edited by max.bravo, 06 April 2024 - 09:55 AM.

[lanforod]

Not likely unless the things come down to the low 4 figures. Maybe 30 years.