Lesson Thirty-Five: Solar Energy
Solar power is energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy.
It is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source available.
HOW IT WORKS
Solar energy is an option available to any homeowner who wants to fully or partially supply their home with power from the sun.
You can calculate the size of the solar power system you’ll need by dividing:
Size of System = [Yearly Energy Use / Annual Equivalent Full Sunlight Hours]
While solar panels cost money upfront, it saves homeowners money in the long term.
The average home can save between $1,200-$1,500 a year by having solar as an alternative energy source.
CAN YOU GET MONEY BACK?
Ontario used to have a Feed-In Tariff (FIT) Program. Developed in 2009, it was one of North America’s first comprehensive guaranteed pricing structures for solar energy.
Unfortunately, it was cancelled in 2016.
(There were several rebates and tax breaks for solar energy, but this was cancelled by the current conservative provincial government).
DOES SOLAR WORK EVERYWHERE?
Solar panels work best when there is LOTS of sun (duh 😅). To the right is a map of the solar potential for Ontario.
“Solar potential” is formally known as irradiance. Ontario’s highest (1250 kWh/kW/yr) is about America’s lowest - with America’s highest being around 1800 kWh/kW/yr.
The areas in RED produce around 1250 kWh/kW/yr and the BLUE areas produce around 1000 kWh/kW/yr.
HOW MANY SOLAR PANELS DOES IT TAKE?
WHY IS SOLAR TRICKY?
Solar energy has a lot of requirements:
1) Installed on a south facing roof for maximum exposure
2) High-sun regions with little variance throughout the seasons
3) Ideally in areas that have purchase incentives so you aren’t wasting energy
Ontario unfortunately doesn’t fare well with most of these.
This is an inconvenient truth about using this particular type of renewable energy…
BUT!
Luckily, there are so many others to choose from 🥰! (…more on that another time 😉)
This was a very high-level overview of solar and how it works in Ontario.
If you have any questions about the lesson or topic, let me know! It makes my day when I hear from you! 💚
