Solar garden grows into seedling as pre-sales begin to move ahead
By Timothy Schafer
The city’s solar garden project is over half way to realization after the launch of pre sales last week and city council’s final stamp of approval.
City council gave its blessing to the program last week by bestowing the authority to Nelson Hydro to begin pre-selling panels, as well as selecting the city’s Bonnington Generating Station lands to be used as the solar garden site.
The Bonnington location, where Nelson Hydro currently generates hydro electricity, does not pose acquisition challenges. The site can accommodate the 50-100 kilowatt array, said Nelson Hydro general manager Alex Love, and perhaps allow for further expansion.
“There are adequate sunshine hours, access to grid tie in and Internet connection,” he said.
Last week Nelson Hydro staged a pre-sale and public launch of the project and sales were brisk, but fell short of the total needed to move ahead right away.
However, the city’s EcoSave program coordinator, Carmen Proctor, said 66 panels were sold Tuesday night, and 92 total to date.
“So there are more panels available, and we can sell more than our target,” she said.
“After Dec. 17 we will determine the size of the project based on the pre-sales.”
The Community Solar Garden pre-sales period started Nov. 17 and will run through to Dec. 15. Love told council there needed to be 150 panels pre-sold for the program to move forward.
If the 75 per cent of panels are not pre-sold by December, the project will be put on hold, with the option to revisit in two years.
He said the highest cost to each customer is anticipated to be $923.45 per panel and may be lower depending on the level of sales and third party contributions. The pre-sales deposit fee will be $500 per panel.
“I don’t know the final cost of the panel as it depends on how many people buy in,” and there might be another grant coming in to defray the cost, Love pointed out.
The anticipated total cost of the project is $224,689 for a 200-panel (50 kW) project. The project may be larger if sales interest is strong, Love noted.
In the community solar garden — a centralized solar panel array installation — people can choose to subscribe to a portion of the solar array and receive a credit on their utility bill in proportion to investment, doing their part for the environment by using green energy.
This type of project makes solar accessible to those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to access it such as: renters; those with unsuitable rooftops; and those who cannot afford an installation on their own.
Funding for the project will be provided through Nelson Hydro ($25,000 in 2015 and an estimated $2,000 per year for maintenance), a Bullfrog Power contribution ($15,000) other possible funding sources, and the remaining amounts recovered through the customer charge for each panel.
Funding approval from the Columbia Basin Trust in the amount of $60,000 is unknown at this time, Love said.
“Project final costs and customer charges will be known once sales have concluded,” said Love. “The incremental construction costs of increased sales resulting in a larger project are carried by the customer contributions not the electric utility budget.”
This project will be the first of its kind in Canada, where the solar credit is returned on the customer’s electric bill, said Proctor.
The solar generation is sold on a per panel basis, and the customer is credited on their electricity bill in proportion to their investment for 25 years.
For the 50kW array, which is approximately 200 panels, it is estimated that the array could generate about 61,440 kWh per year.
The credit would be measured in kilowatt hours, based on the current electricity rate, so the value of the credit will increase as the rate goes up.
Twenty-five year contracts would be set up for customers to receive a solar credit on their Nelson Hydro bill on an annual basis in proportion to their investment.
The solar credit would be measured in kilowatt hours for the energy produced.
Nelson Hydro has already set aside a budget of $25,000 for the Community Solar Garden in the 2015 business plan. City manager Kevin Cormack said the city is currently pursuing additional grants to help fund the start-up of the project.
Buy-in basics:
- Minimum purchase is one panel, maximum is 10 panels until last week of pre-selling phase, then there will be no maximum.
- Up front payment can be made, or a payment plan can be accessed through on-bill financing or the Nelson and District Credit Union.
- Credit can be transferred to any Nelson Hydro account, subject to a $25 processing fee.
- People will receive an invoice for the remainder of the deposit for the panel, or the deposit will be returned depending on whether the 75 per cent commitment level is met.
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