Why is home solar generation in Alberta limited to personal use?
Thanks to decreasing costs and accessible grant programs, the number of Albertans with home solar panels has grown exponentially.
While some people are content just getting a break on their energy bills, many look at rooftop solar systems and envision pumping electricity back into the province’s power grid — and generating extra cash in the process.
“It's one of the more common questions that we receive, especially among a certain audience that maybe have a really ideal rooftop, and they have the funds or have access to the funds to support a larger system,” says Greg Sauer, vice-president of business development for SkyFire Energy.
The question often comes up in the beginning stages of conversations with new customers, Sauer said: Is it possible to max out my home and become a net supplier of electricity?
The first hurdle in plans to become a small-scale power plant is regulatory. Under Alberta’s micro-generation regulations, home electricity production is only intended to offset your own annual energy consumption.
Sauer said the limits set out in regulations are a bit unclear, but generally this means having enough solar to produce around 105 per cent of your annual electricity needs.
“Because not every year is going to be the same in production and solar systems over time decline, there's a little bit of a margin or a tolerance,” he said.
But why stop there if you have the space to generate twice what you normally consume?
Over-sizing is attractive to customers because the more solar you install, the lower the price of each installed watt. Some people also imagine that when the system is paid off, then there is an opportunity to generate revenue, Sauer said.
Which brings us to the second, and more serious challenge. Our electrical infrastructure wasn’t really designed to accommodate solar panels on every roof sending power back into the grid.
“Micro-generation users connect to the grid via the distribution system provider in territory where the generator is located. There are technical limitations to the amount of power that can be imported on those distribution system lines, generally and specific to the actual location,” says Geoff Scotton, a communications advisor with the Alberta Utility Commission, which administers the provincial policy set out by the government.
“Generally speaking, those distribution systems were designed and built to distribute and deliver power, rather than collect it.”
That said, the grid does have some collection capacity and people can seek and obtain agreements with the distribution system operator, Scotton added. “This is for both safety and capacity reasons.”
“Even the way we're designing communities today, the servicing they're putting in really hasn't changed from what it was in the 90s and the 2000s,” Sauer said.
If a neighbourhood or a street is serviced by a 100 kVA transformer, that is the limiting factor. Within those capacity limits, the issue becomes one of fairness and equity.
“You could have 10 10-kilowatt systems connected that transformer. Or you could have 25-kilowatt systems connected to that transformer. At the end of the day, it's the same,” Sauer said.
“From my perspective, personally, I'd like to see more people have the ability to connect and offset their consumption than one or two or three people have the ability to put two or three times the size of system on and take up that capacity.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Biden delivers remarks following Trump's win
U.S. President Joe Biden delivered remarks to the nation Thursday in what was his first appearance on camera following Donald Trump’s decisive victory over Kamala Harris.
PM Trudeau revives Canada-U.S. relations cabinet committee after Trump win
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is reviving a special cabinet committee dedicated to Canada-U.S. relations, following Republican Donald Trump's re-election.
Police in southern Mexico find 11 bodies, including two of minors, dumped by a highway
Police in a southern Mexico region rife with drug cartel violence have found 11 bodies, including two of minors, dumped by a highway, prosecutors in the state of Guerrero said Thursday.
The world's 10 richest people got a record US$64 billion richer from Trump's re-election
Wednesday wasn't just a good day for Donald Trump. The wealth of the world’s 10 richest people also soared by a record amount, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.
Video shows suspect shooting man inside Markham, Ont. garage
Police have released video footage showing a suspect shooting a man inside a Markham garage in broad daylight on Wednesday afternoon.
Inside Canada's chaotic response to avian flu
A CFIA official is calling it the 'largest animal health emergency that this country has ever had to face.' A joint IJF/CTV News investigation looks into Canada's response to the bird flu pandemic, and how it's ravaged the country's farms.
Wayne Gretzky, Elon Musk and a few pro golfers: Here's who attended Trump's victory party
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump welcomed a variety of attendees at his victory celebrations in Florida this week, from his family, supporters and political allies to a selection of high-profile figures.
43 monkeys escape from a South Carolina medical lab. Police say there is no serious danger
Forty-three monkeys escaped from a compound used for medical research in South Carolina but the nearby police chief said there is "almost no danger" to the public.
A murder trial is closing in the killings of two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana
A murder trial in the small Indiana town of Delphi was wrapping up Thursday after weeks of testimony and evidence surrounding the fate of two teenage girls who vanished during a winter hike in 2017. Their killings went unsolved for years before police arrested a man who lived and worked in the same town.