Do you live in Calgary, Alberta? As a Calgarian, you may be considering installing a solar system in your home or workplace. But is there anything that is resisting you to do so?
Are you still dubious about the viability of the solar systems put in Calgary buildings? You might be looking for an article that will provide you with all the information you want about Calgary Solar Systems.
Let me tell you that you are in the correct place. You can continue reading this article. Because this writing will tell you about the ins and outs of installing a solar system in the city of Calgary residence or office.
Why would you put a solar system in your Calgary Building?
Our city, Calgary, is trying to minimize the emissions of greenhouse gasses and control energy usage. The Calgary City Council directed an administration in 2012 to guarantee that all of the city’s activities are fueled by 100 percent renewable electricity.
The goal of the direction was to minimize greenhouse emissions by 20% from 2005 levels within 2020 and 80% within 2050. Also, the promotion of green energy sources will improve the city’s environmental friendliness.
Solar energy is a kind of sustainable energy, and the city Council encourages us as Calgarians to think about solar as an energy alternative for our home, workplace, or both! If we switch to solar energy systems, we’ll be helping to conserve natural resources. It will also help our city’s energy distribution and long-term sustainability.
Now you could have a question in your head. Why solar energy? Let me tell you that Calgary is an excellent location for using solar energy. To identify the sunniest city in Canada, Environment Canada conducted a survey collecting data on sunlight levels from 1981 to 2010 in the 26 largest Canadian cities.
The survey showed that our city, a city of Alberta, Calgary, is one the sunniest in Canada. On average, it receives 2396 hours of bright sunlight per year and has approximately 333 sunny days each year. In the city, sunshine is present about 52% of the daylight time.
Calgary has a climate that may be classified as humid continental. Summer days are hot, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, while winters are frigid, with temperatures sometimes dropping below 20 degrees Celsius.
Because of this excellent accessible solar energy, the solar system installation is an appropriate choice for your Calgary house or office. If you install a 1 kW solar panel at your property in Calgary, it will provide you with more than 1,200 kWh of electricity per year.
Also, by installing a solar system in your Calgary building, you will be contributing to reducing Calgary’s ecological footprints and electricity expenses.
What will be the cost of installing a solar system in Calgary?
The installation cost depends on the size of your solar array, the difficulty of the installation job, the type of equipment you employ, and the expertise of your solar contractor company.
On average, a Calgary home uses 7,200 kWh of electrical energy per year. A 1 kW solar panel installed in your Calgary house will provide you with approximately 1,292 kWh of electricity per year. So to meet your yearly electricity demand, you will need a 5.6 kW solar system to be installed in your house.
Your dedicated solar contractor will determine the ultimate size of your solar system depending on the tilt and azimuth of your rooftop and shade from trees or buildings.
The cost of home solar per installed watt in Calgary ranges from $2.00/watt to $3.00/watt. The average cost per watt is $2.50. So, you will have to spend $14,000 to install a 5.6 kW grid-connected solar system. This generally covers all necessary equipment, permissions, design, and manual labor.
Overall costing may vary based on roof complexity, criteria for accessibility, criteria for local permissions, and other considerations. Other considerations depend on the space availability of your home.
You have two options for installing- roof-mounted solar or ground-mounted solar on your property. If you decide to install roof-mounted solar, please bear in mind that you have a south-facing roof with proper tilt.
Your east and west facing roof-mounted solar systems are also capable of generating your 100% annual energy demand. But there will be minor energy loss. If you have a north-faced roof, then you have to reconsider your decision before installing a roof-mounted solar system.
Let me tell you one more thing about roof-mounted solar. If you have decided to install roof-mounted solar, you might have to replace your shingles (or complete roof) before installing solar systems.
This is a crucial issue because your solar contractor will provide you with a solar system with a 25-years guarantee. If your roof doesn’t serve you with solar systems for at least ten years, you should change your roof before placing solar systems on your roof. This will increase your installation cost.
If you don’t have enough space on your roof to install solar systems, you can go for the ground-mounted solar system. You may have to pay extra because of the added costs of cabling, foundations, and cable trenching. The major advantage of a ground-mounted solar system is that you may position it to receive the most sunshine.
Thus, the system will be free from total or partial shading. Your ground-mounted system will be more effective, and it has a longer lifespan. Also, if you clean the snow that falls on your solar system in the winter, it will provide you with 5% extra electrical energy annually.
How will the solar system installed in your Calgary home help you save money?
In Calgary, an average household consumes 600 kWh per month. Depending on your monthly consumption, you should budget around $85 each month.
The cost includes energy charges, administration charges, transmission and distribution charges, rate riders, and local access fees paid to Calgary. So overall you have to spend more than $1020 per year.
A grid-connected roof-mounted 5.6 kW solar system will cost you about $14,000 to cover your yearly electricity consumption.
Are you worried about the price of installation? If your solar contractor supplies you with high-quality equipment and excellent services, your money will be protected for the next 25 years and maybe beyond.
Think about it! How much money you can save using a solar system in your Calgary residence or office!
Putting solar systems on your Calgary property will also help reduce your power bill’s kilowatt-hour-based prices. Also, you will be less influenced by variations in traditional power rates if you use solar energy.
How effective is the on-grid solar system in your Calgary home?
What would you do if the on-grid solar system installed in your Calgary building generates more or less energy than is required? Using Alberta’s net metering program, you may sell surplus energy and buy deficit energy from your standard energy provider.
Your solar system will be generating more energy than the demand during daylight time or on sunny days. This means you will be selling power back to the grid and earning net metering credit as a result.
When there is less energy generation than demand (like at night or winter), you may need to use electrical energy from the grid. In such circumstances, instead of getting charged, you’ll be able to use the net-metering credits that you accrued when the sun was shining. Want to know the billing system? You will only be billed for your ‘net’ usage.
Although you will be free of distribution charges (system usage charge) at sunny times, you will be charged for distribution (system usage+ service charge) whenever you extract power from the grid. You must pay for the service and facilities charge no matter how much energy you use.
In Calgary, residential transmission charges are mainly dependent on energy usage. With a net-metered solar power system, you may save a substantial amount of money on your monthly transmission rates during the warmer months (this is possible only if you extract very little energy from the grid when the sunlight is down).
When there are fewer daylight hours (like in winter), you will notice a small rise in transmission charges. Overall you can expect to save approximately 50% on your transmission costs per year if you put an on-grid solar system on your building in Calgary.
In general, in an on-grid solar system, you can save a lot more money than keeping your home in a conventional grid system. But at times, you might need to pay even if you are not drawing any net power from the grid because of different charges like municipal, gridline, distribution charge, etc.
How effective is the off-grid solar system for your Calgary home?
If you don’t want to pay the extra money required for an on-grid system, you can go for off-grid solar system. Unlike an on-grid solar system, the generated extra energy will be stored in a storage device (like a battery). When electricity generation is less than the demand, you can use energy from the storage device.
The environment might be bad at times, or peak demand can persist for a long time. To prevent this adverse scenario, you may require a backup generator for your off-grid solar system to power and recharge the storage device.
Off-grid solar systems are 4-5 times more expensive than on-grid solar panels. This is because off-grid solar systems require extra equipment such as backup batteries and off-grid inverters, both of which are costly.
However, by installing an off-grid solar system, you will not be affected by a multiday outage occurrence of the grid. Your backup storage will charge and power your home appliance smoothly.
If you are in a rural area of Calgary from where the grid is not easily accessible, an off-grid solar system is viable for you. Otherwise, opting for an on-grid solar system for your Calgary home will likely be the better option.
You should make a decision depending on the feasibility of the types of solar systems in your location. To get an accurate cost of the feasible solar system, you must contact an expert solar service provider.
Your solar contractor will provide a solar proposal specific to your home or business so you can make an informed decision. If you have any questions or concerns make sure you ask your solar contractor for clarifications, so you fully understand your investment into solar.
In terms of sunlight and installation prices, Calgary is one of the best cities for solar energy. You will not be disappointed if you mount a quality solar system on your Calgary home. Your property’s value will rise, and you will be able to protect yourself against future energy cost increases.
So, install solar systems on your Calgary property and get the benefits of having solar power!
If you are in Calgary, Alberta and, thinking of installing a solar system on your property, you can contact Empower Energy Corp. Our solar solution services are available for all residential, commercial, institutional, Indigenous, and municipal buildings. Our qualified professionals will help you design and install a suitable solar home or workplace.
Do you find this article useful? Please leave us your feedback. For further queries, you can email at sales@empowerenergy.ca.
