My Solar quote experience in Alberta Canada

[Altamate]

Hi all, new here, for the past 5-7 years I’ve been occasionally checking out solar for our home because about every 2-3 years someone knocks on our door and says our house has nearly the perfect roof for PV system. I let them get all the info they need and then provide a quote. Each time the quote has been crazy high(I think) and I call a couple other solar providers to confirm the price. The results have always been not much better and often worse.

Well it(door knock, then crazy high quote) happened again 2-3 weeks ago,, but I checked with a second provider I had quote the job 2yrs ago and this time around the price dropped to nearly half the Door knock quote and less than 2/3s of their own prior quote 2yrs ago. So now I’m in the process of figuring out if I want to sign a contract and get solar. In the mean time a 3rd quote came in at a very similar low price.

I’m in Edmonton Alberta Canada.
Low quote 1.

24 LONGi 450watt panels, (LR7 54HGBB-450M) 10.8kW system - 105% energy offset
1 Solar edge string inverter (SE7600H-US) it is the older wave inverter, not the new Hub one and I may change up to the newer one at an extra cost.(likely $1500 upgrade, but not sure)
24 Solar edge optimizers (S500B)
Rodent guard protection mesh

Installed (permits included) and warranted buy a company that has been in business in Alberta since 2015 for a cost of $20,856 CAD

Low quote 2

20 LONGi 500Watt panels, (LR8 54$HBB -500) 10kW system - 102% energy offset
1 solar edge string inverter -Wave (SE7600H-US)
20 Solar edge optimizers (S500B)
Rodent guard protection mesh

Installed(permits included) and warranted by a company that has been in business for nearly 20 years for a cost of $21,420 CAD

Both companies have said they can run the wiring though the attic and down the utility corridor that the furnace flue is in and in the basement ceiling(we have basements in Alberta) over to the main panel, so I won’t have much or likely any conduit on the roof or siding of the house.

The Canadian government has a program encouraging solar by offering an interest free loan for the full cost of a solar installation up to $40,000 with a 10year amortization. My monthly payments on the loan will be lower than my current monthly power bill payments, so it finally looks like a smart decision to go solar.

Wondering if you all have some words of warning or concerns before I move forward.

Thanks for any responses you may provide.

[organic farmer]

Welcome

I am not in Canada so I am not familiar with the programs you have there.

Where I live there are no laws requiring utility companies to pay you money for power you put onto the grid. At best they will credit you for the power, and give you a small discount when you later use grid power.

Our electric bills are broken into four segments. 1 - the power you consume, 2 - taxes on the power you consume, 3 - a fee on the transmission of that power, 4 - taxes on the transmission.

When you put your power onto the grid they still bill you for #2, #3, and #4 of the above.

Also 'grid-tied' or 'net-metering' systems routinely cost 50% more than simple off-grid systems [including the batteries].

We got three quotes, and we decided to spend significantly less money by going with off-grid solar and a battery bank.

One other thing, here in the USA all money spent on solar power depreciates over seven years. the IRS requires that all expenses toward solar equipment must be written off your taxes over a seven-year period. Which makes the idea of a 'payback' longer than seven years kind of impossible.

[Mike 134]

Welcome

I am not in Canada so I am not familiar with the programs you have there.

Where I live there are no laws requiring utility companies to pay you money for power you put onto the grid. At best they will credit you for the power, and give you a small discount when you later use grid power.

Our electric bills are broken into four segments. 1 - the power you consume, 2 - taxes on the power you consume, 3 - a fee on the transmission of that power, 4 - taxes on the transmission.

When you put your power onto the grid they still bill you for #2, #3, and #4 of the above.

Also 'grid-tied' or 'net-metering' systems routinely cost 50% more than simple off-grid systems [including the batteries].

We got three quotes, and we decided to spend significantly less money by going with off-grid solar and a battery bank.

One other thing, here in the USA all money spent on solar power depreciates over seven years. the IRS requires that all expenses toward solar equipment must be written off your taxes over a seven-year period. Which makes the idea of a 'payback' longer than seven years kind of impossible.

That is true if you own a farm. Us poor city folks cannot deprecate the costs. I've seen some of the dollar amounts online the Dept. of Agriculture gives to our local farmers and it's just WOW!!!

[organic farmer]

I live rural, my home is off-grid on solar power. Yes, I file a schedule F with my taxes. It is by filing a schedule F that I am able to attach an addendum for the depreciation of solar equipment. The first time I filed a schedule F, I was living in a city [and not rural]. I had decided to start raising honeybees, and with one beehive I was able to file a schedule F.

I suppose it is reasonable to assume that anyone filing a schedule F would be rural and on a 'farm', though not always.

[J.P.M.]

That is true if you own a farm. Us poor city folks cannot deprecate the costs. I've seen some of the dollar amounts online the Dept. of Agriculture gives to our local farmers and it's just WOW!!!

Mike : Whether intentional or out of ignorance, Organic Farmer's statement implying that ALL PV equipment is depreciable for U.S. income tax purposes is incorrect.
He's been writing that misleading half correct nonsense about depreciable solar equipment for a long time. I've called B.S. on it more than once.

The reality, as you and most others probably know:
PV or other equipment is depreciable as a business expense if you make it part of your business operation (such as a farm).
More reality: Most residential PV applications do not normally qualify as depreciable assets under the U.S. tax code.

[Altamate]

.

Our electric bills are broken into four segments. 1 - the power you consume, 2 - taxes on the power you consume, 3 - a fee on the transmission of that power, 4 - taxes on the transmission.

When you put your power onto the grid they still bill you for #2, #3, and #4 of the above.

Also 'grid-tied' or 'net-metering' systems routinely cost 50% more than simple off-grid systems [including the batteries].

Our bills here are similar and we also have long winters that are have short days that are short on sun hours and the sun is lower in the sky during the winter so power generation is much lower in the winter. This is offset by very long and very sunny Summer days when we over generate and can bank that power for use in the winter.

For us #2,#3 and #4 all reduce considerably because they are mostly(some are fixed) all based on power consumed and averaged over the whole year we net don’t consume any power. Ideally we sell back to the grid a small percentage more than we use in the year and come out even on the $$$.

Here batteries would double the cost of the above systems and if I understand the available pricing models for power here, would not help the financing much, but the benefit would be power outage protection.

I’m strongly considering upgrading the string inverter so is supports battery addition at a later date if or when the need arises.