Ontario is the first province in Canada to support the construction of solar energy generation projects through the Standard Offer Program which offers property owners secure contracts and financial incentive programs to sell their energy created from solar panels back to the energy market.
Solar power uses the energy that the sun produces to directly generate electricity. The sun provides us with energy every day, it’s a renewable and sustainable energy but it has never successfully been tapped into in large quantities for re sale until now. Is the technology of converting the sun’s energy into electricity worth the investment from our government?
Solar panels are constructed of photovoltaic cells; these cells are made of silicon and are usually 10cm square in size. Each individual cell will produce an average of 0.5 volts of electricity and are grouped in batches of 36 cells to produce a module or panel. Modules can be linked together depending on the amount of electricity needed. However, photovoltaic systems are not very efficient at converting the sun’s energy to the end product of electricity. Only about 12 to 15 % of the solar energy that reaches the panels is actually converted to electricity and it needs to be used with a conventional method of producing energy to adequately supply a home with energy.
When the Ontario Government made the commitment to offer financial incentives in order to stimulate the Subcontractor Job Description Resume of microFit ground mount Solar PV projects, it started by offering contracts to purchase the electricity produced at $0.802 per kWh. After the program was launched it didn’t take long for average people and small business that own property to realize the Ontario Government was essentially giving money away if you were willing to make this investment. As a result there was a flood of applications that overwhelmed the OPA’s offices. The OPA has made a decision to reduce the purchase price of $.802 per kWh to $.588 per kWh; does this tell us that our government was once again very frugal with our money or are they simply trying to save us some money?
If you look at what your cost is for the hydro your home consumes, you will probably find that the cost is around $.08 per kWh which is much less than our government has agreed to pay private owners for this hydro even after their $0.22 / kWh cut in pay. Maybe the concept is good but the technology hasn’t caught up. I’m sure you have heard stories of private homes spending upwards to $30 000 for their own home solar power system while still relying on established hydro to power their home. How is existing technology going to power cities? Without new technology that will increase that conversion rate from 12 to 15% of solar energy to electricity cost, our government may be in another lose – lose situation with solar electricity. Or are you willing to trade your $120 per month hydro bill for a $1200 per month bill until the government decides to fund new technology instead of Simple 3 Bedroom House Plans of existing technology? I support green energy, however, in most cases regarding business, the first one to bat pays the big bill, the 3rd and 4th company or government to step up gets the benefits. Our government should consider funding new technology and let private business owners invest and receive benefits from the technology at fair market value. Should our government have waited till this form of energy can be profitable or at least financially sustainable or has Canada made the right step in preserving our environment for years to come and at a cost to all of its tax payers?
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