Why Should You Use Renewable Energy at Your Home - Page 4

 

MicroFIT is the programme you are referring to in Ontario. This is the
programme that pays 80.2 cents / kWh for roof top solar PV only, on all kWh
produced regardless if you use it all or not. It takes two meters ot three
meters if you add other sources for different rates.

Net Metering only uses one meter with two registers, "Delivered" and
"Received". The payment is at the current rate and will never give a refund.
Thus the term "Net"


In the US, every state and every utility  is different.  With net metering
my
understanding is that they usually install 2 meters and you usually sell
power
back to the grid at some sort of wholesale rate yet buy power at the usual
retail rate.  So you may "save" 10 cents on power you produce and use
directly,
but the utility will only pay you perhaps 6 cents for your excess power.

Correct me if I am wrong here...

Vaughn

 



I agree. at 10cents a kwh you'd be hard pressed to make up that
difference using solar.  A lot of us on this group are too far from the
grid, so we're forced to use solar, wind, hydro or whatever just to keep
from running generators all the time.  Electricity I produce costs me a
crap load more than 10cents a kwh, but to get the grid I'd have to pay
around 140,000 dollars so .. it makes sense for me to do solar and hydro.  
I'd freaking kill for grid at 10c a kwh let me tell you!!

Now there might be some writeoffs and other incentives that you could use
to offset your system which could make the difference.  Also you could be
adding value to your house/land by doing a solar thing if you ever
thought about selling.

But these guys who replied know their stuff.  Better to spend some $$ to
increase efficiency of your house (power usage, heat, cooling etc) than
to blow a lot of money on power gen.. unless you are rich -- then go for
it dude!

-zachary (off the grid but not by choice)

 

On 10-05-23 02:15 PM, Bob F wrote:


measures.

Unless

It depends how you look at it. If your electrical panels and batteries
keep your entire plumbing system from freezing solid during a power
outage, you're ahead. A furnace needs electricity to run.

If you can keep your refrigerators and deep freezes from thawing out and
spoiling two months' worth of food, you're ahead.

If you can keep your video game addicted, cell phone texting children
and friends happy during an outage, they possible may not murder you in
your sleep. You're ahead.

So, the question to ask isn't what having solar power costs. It's how
much it costs you NOT to have it.

There were locations in Southern Alberta only a month ago that went
without power for over a week. It was a freak snowstorm...one of the wet
kinds that power lines hate. I was only off for 27 hours, but my furnace
and lighting worked fine off the 3000 watt inverter.


mike

 



I understand exactly what you are saying, but for most folks that would be
expensive advice.  A potential 27-hour power outage is NOT a reason to have a
$30,000 PV system, it is more a reason to have a $1,500  standby generator.

Vaughn

 

Exactly. We need to give advice on normal and expected  patterns, not OCD
based hysteria.


I understand exactly what you are saying, but for most folks that would be
expensive advice.  A potential 27-hour power outage is NOT a reason to have
a
$30,000 PV system, it is more a reason to have a $1,500  standby generator.

Vaughn