Solar power is one of the best and brightest burgeoning industries in Western Canada. It offers a cleaner alternative to traditional energy sources, continues to decrease in price, and has a relatively high value-to-cost ratio.
If you are interested in getting into the solar energy market, it is important to do your research. For all of its benefits, solar power does require a fair amount of planning and forethought, on account of its relative newness and complexity. However, more and more solar power companies are appearing so there are lots of resources to find accurate information.
Some questions can complicate the cost of solar power, and these include:
What is the Investment Required for Solar Power?
When looking to invest in Alberta solar power, it is important to understand your investment. In Alberta and BC, you can expect the initial cost of a solar system to break even with what you would otherwise spend on electricity in 10 to 15 years.
While that may seem like a lengthy investment, the best solar panels come with a 25-year performance warranty, meaning they will easily outlast the term of your payback period. Even after 25 years, they are still likely to produce electricity, albeit at a slightly reduced rate year over year. Typically, at 25 years a solar panel will produce 85% of the original production in year one.
Furthermore, the best part of this investment is yet to be explained. This is that Alberta and BC both have net metering/ net billing programs to return your excess solar energy to the power grid. This means you can produce excess electricity during sunny periods, and receive a credit for the energy you need at night and during cloudy days. In fact, the solar system can be sized so you are net-zero electricity by the end of the year.
What is the Ideal Site for Solar Power?
The cost of your photovoltaic (PV) system will depend significantly on this question because if your house has significant shading from nearby buildings or trees you will require more solar panels. Similarly, if you do not have suitable roof space, a ground-mounted structure can be considered. However, this has added costs for construction. Ideally, a south-facing roof is best for solar energy, but East or West-facing roofs can be considered as well.
Now that these factors have been sufficiently considered it is still very likely that you will desire a solar energy PV system. Given that each system is unique and users’ energy consumption varies it can be difficult to pin down the exact cost, however, the average investment for a residential PV system ranges from $8000 to $45,000. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect pricing to fall between $2.00 to $4.00 per watt installed.
Empower Energy Corp is here to provide people in Western Canada with top-tier solar PV solutions. Having installed over 1.3 million watts of solar power, our reputation speaks for itself. Contact our solar power company today at 1 (780) 532-3610 in Alberta and (250) 718-7282 in British Columbia.
