How much is solar actually costing us?

The price being paid for PV’s contribution to the grid – 80.2 cents for projects under 10 kW, down to 44.3 cents for ground-mounted projects over 10 kW, has become a politically charged matter. Research and advisory firm Clear Sky Advisors has actually run the numbers on that. Co-founder Jon Worren explained in a phone interview that a recent model (now slightly out of date, but still highly indicative), found that, as a result of the price being paid for solar in Ontario, the commodity rate for power will rise by a little less than 1% per year, or 4.6% higher by end of 2015.

            In other words, to use the words of one industry observer, it will add about the price of a donut to a typical homeowner’s monthly electricity bill.

            The projection takes into account planned price reviews for the FIT and microFIT prices, using similar patterns from other countries with feed-in tariffs, like Germany, along with conclusions from extensive market research on the likely contribution from microFIT, versus utility-scale and rooftop solar.

            Mr. Worren noted that the model was based on an assumed 3 GW worth of capacity from photovoltaics by 2015. Since then, under the recently-issued Long-Term Energy Plan, the government has set a slightly lower figure of 2.7 GW as a target for 2015.

            David Brochu, Vice President, East Region Development and Managing Director, Canada at Recurrent Energy, observes that “Ontario has become a global leader in the development of solar energy as a key component to its energy supply mix. It stands at a juncture now of needing to decide whether it wishes to further that status or change course. Our experience and observation is that the Ontario public is overwhelmingly supportive of solar. While people are concerned about the cost of electricity in Ontario as they are all over the world, solar is but a tiny contributor to increased household costs as people make a conscious choice to support more renewable energy to replace existing coal-fired generation.”

 

Related stories in this feature:

What’s behind Ontario’s PV boom?

Enbridge, First Solar announce more projects

First Solar and the Sarnia solar farm

Ontario’s solar sector evolves to meet the challenge of large scale application

The evolution of PV technology

CanSIA: Getting to 2025

Competition in the PV industry evolving quickly

Approaching grid parity

Extracting additional benefits from solar installations

City to build solar power