Posted by Mike Holm on May 1, 2010
Well, I knew the day would come. History repeats itself. The progression of solar in Canada is a tough one. It has usually been a Liberal government that sets in place some progressive rebates or support for solar thermal and it is usually a Conservative one that removes it. This has been untrue only once Federally. After much lobbying the Conservatives re-named a Liberal program, actually made it better in some ways, and just when it was getting to the point of sustainability and general acceptance, they killed it again…claiming that it was too popular. When it was killed the first time, in 2006, they told us in a meeting that it was because they did not believe in global warming and as an industry we were too small to care about. Well, times have changed some. We are a much bigger industry than we were 4 years ago and regardless of their beliefs, global warming is an accepted fact (unless you listen to oil industry paid “scientists”).
While they still don’t believe in global warming, they gave $850 million to the nebulous and ineffective program called “Carbon Capture and Storage”, while the cheaper and much more effective EcoEnergy program, which helped pave the way for 1000s of jobs retrofitting houses and buildings, not to mention solar, was plowed under.
So, in Ontario, we are left with their part of the program: $1250 for a water heater. Not enough to get anyone’s pulse racing … but probably the best program ever made just wrapped up in Toronto. The Solar Neighbourhoods project gave the 0% interest loan to anyone who wanted it. Although it was only a pilot project, it had the effect of allowing those who could not normally afford the upfront cost of installing a solar system to do so, something no other program has done before, to my knowledge. And when it was combined with the $1250 from the feds and the renovation tax credit, a perfect storm was created. One that, I fear, is never to be repeated. Unfortunately, governments don’t tend to care much for the working poor, and solar in all its forms needs upfront money so they are left out of the loop. Solar Neighbourhoods was the exception.
So we are left with the FIT and MicroFIT program, may they never die. It is a progressive a program as we have in North America at this time. Enter the PVT (PVthermal). Piggyback the thermal onto the PV panels, get a bit more electrical production from it, save some racking and installation cost, and provide for a lot more of the annual energy bill by providing for hot water.
As the rebates come and go, we must find ways to be more efficient and keep the pulse racing.
Posted by Mike Holm on October 30, 2009
We are having a resurgence in interest in solar water heating and PV systems in North America. There are a few reasons for this. Aside for the general acknowledgment that something needs to be done about climate change, for the first time since the 80′s we have some decent subsidies from most levels of government.
In Ontario the Provincial govt matches the Feds $1250 and for a limited time the renovation tax credit is with us. This allows for a nearly 50% subsidy for the system and along with the increased publicity more people feel the deal is a good one. 20% subsidies are not enough and talk alone is not enough. The subsidies have made manufacturers and new installers believe that they should enter the market at this time. Unfortunately this also includes the usual groups of cheap vacuum tube collectors which come with a world of promises, most of which will never be met, but that is another story.
In the 70′s and 80′s, when we had our last big explosion in solar installations, the subsidies were impressive. When both Canada and the US had changes in governments in 80 and 84, those subsidies died and so too did all but a couple of manufacturers in Canada. At the time nearly all the manufacturers were Canadian and the technology was home grown as well. When we abandoned solar most government support either died or was severely cut.
Europe was somewhat different. The Germans, who had little natural resources to burn, decided that it was time to try to build an industry which now has over 100,000 people employed. Canada might have 3-4000 at this time. The techniques used in Europe mesh very well with the boilers used for heating every home. The technology is similar and the installers of boilers understand solar much better than our heating installers do (many have never soldered a pipe and only install forced air). We, as a country make choices which are much more individualistic than community oriented. This is why we can only see a short time into the future when it comes to support for technologies which don’t have very fast paybacks for the purchaser. It is also why we demand lower taxes and then complain when there is not enough money going into the educational or health care systems. We do not see very far ahead.
Since 2000 the government of Canada has decided that it will support one company, far above all others, and do so blindly. The official line is that, if you have an EcoEnergy assessment after some undisclosed time in 2010 any solar water heater installations wanting to get EcoEnergy funding must be CSA tested and approved. The heads of some of the divisions in NRCan were assured that there was a lot of option for consumers but this is not true. As of July 2009, there was only one middle of the road system flat collector system available in Ontario (there is one in Alberta) and it is the one the NRCan supported so strongly. There is also 2-3 cheap vacuum tube systems, one of which just barely managed to get the certification and in my opinion, does not deserve it.
There will be some more systems getting certification in the coming months but if all the systems currently on the list for testing are approved, it will only number 14-15 and this is not enough. The difficulty in getting a CSA approval and the time needed to do it means that any manufacturer has to be willing to wait for 3-5 years just to get to a level playing field with the other companies. Other countries do not put as many restrictions on their own industry, but we do. With the exception of these few companies, this government would rather see offshore companies (good quality or bad) get a toe hold here than build our own industry.
Boss Solar has a perfectly good, well made product with above average performance and good reliability and we strive to make as much of the product in North America as possible. This is a lot better than our most well known competitor who keeps having to change pumps on a regular basis and the company still gets the government favouritism. Anyway, I vent and that is what a blog is for……more to come.
