Alberta Solar Power coggle
E.I (Gauge)
Pros and Cons (Cynthia)
Availability (Justin)
The cost is in dollar per watt
Low dollar per watt is favourable
High dollar per watt is unfavourable
Installation time is a factor as well
The time it takes to install 24 solar panels is the same time as installing 22 modules which means for the same amount of fixed/labour cost you get more power and a lower dollar per watt
Standard solar panels from 265 watts to 365 watts depending on what module/inverter configuration works best
Average solar installation in Alberta costs between 10,000 and 16,000 dollars fully installed
The average Alberta household consumes about 7200 kWh of electricity each year
This would require a solar photovoltaic system of around 6000 installed watts to reach net-zero electricity use
Might only be available to some regions
Residential
Commercial
Non-profit
Requirements
Interconnection approval from the WSP signed on or after April 15, 2017
Solar photovoltaic system must be grid connected in accordance with the Micro-Generation Regulation (AR27/2008)
Sources
System must not be eligible for the AMSP, AISP, Growing Forward On-Farm PV System program, or any other provincial solar incentive program
Must not have received an incentive for a solar PV system on the same parcel/property under this program or any other provincial solar incentive program
Incentive based on site ID
Combined incentives from the government mustn't exceed 100% of eligible system cost
Must own or have long-term rights to the property on which you are installing solar electricity
System is designed and installed by a qualified installer and system components must meet the CSA's requirements for electrical safety or equivalent certification to applicable Canadian standards
When available funding is fully committed, applicants will be automatically placed on a waiting list in their order of a part one approval and any additional funds that become available will be distributed to systems on the waiting list queue
How much hours of sunlight does it get?
Southern
Central
Northern
53.3i hrs
46.8 hrs
44.6 hrs
Is it really good for the environment?
Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Suffield are the 3 sunniest places in Canada
Many argue that solar panels aren't healthy for the environment
Require energy to manufacture
Sometimes use harmful chemicals
Have to mine materials
Quartz
Produced into electronic-grade silicon
Aluminum
Copper
Silver
habitat loss
water use
use of hazardous materials in manufacturing
Involves heating it in a high-temperature furnace
Reacting it to other chemicals
More energy to manufacture than other forms of energy generation
Processed and cleaned
Coal
Mined
Cleaned
Burned on a mass scale
Pros
Cons
Intermittency
Only operates during the day
Can't operate in cloudy or snowy weather
Won't get sun's UV rays in those conditions
Aesthetic
Improved in this department in recent years
Only options previously were bright blue cells, with a white-back sheet and a silver frame
Now, you can get all black solar panels with black-back sheets and frames to blend in to darker shingles
Cost
Major issue
Installed for between 10,000 and 16,000 dollars pre-rebate
Solar panels aren't cost, they're an investment
Sustainable alternative to fossil fuels
73,000 terawatts emitted by the sun every day, 10,000x what the daily global usage is
Energy Independence
Sun shines around the globe
Any country could become a potential energy producer
Land Use
Lots of land degradation and habitat loss involved
Larger-scale PV systems can require from 3.5 to 10 acres per megawatt
CSP can require from 4 to 16.5 acres per megawatt
Definition of solar energy
Radiant energy emitted by the sun
Scarcity of Materials
Lots of rare materials needed
Most of rare materials are byproducts of other processes