Watts Happening?

by Don Pettit
for Peace Energy Cooperative
www.peaceenergy.ca ph 250-782-3882

SOLAR: another Site C alternative

This 12-kilowatt solar array (enough to power several homes) was recently purchased from Peace Energy
Cooperative by Guy Armitage of Hudsons Hope at his own expense. The solar power equipment was exempt
from provincial sales tax, but BC should consider serious subsidies for rooftop solar as a cost-effective, lowerfootprint alternative to the Site C dam.

roponents often present the

Site C project as the only
answer to BCs impending
energy crisis in the lame and
stunningly misleading words of a
certain energy minister, we need
Site C to power all those electric
cars that David Suzuki wants.
If you have been reading Watts
Happening, you know there is no
energy crisis and if we need more
power there are many better ways
of producing it.
In the last issue, we looked at
wind power as an alternative to
Site C, and concluded, with simple
common sense calculation that

the Site C equivalent in wind

power would cost about half that
of the mega-dam, and would have
about one quarter of the physical
footprint. Wind would also be
developed by private investors
rather than taxpayers, a real winwin.
Now lets look at another
common sense, squeaky-clean
energy source that BC has in
abundance: solar power.
BIG SOLAR
The average energy received on
Earth from the Sun is tremendous

about 1,350 watts per square

metre. Day in and day out, the Sun
bathes the Earth with almost 100
million billion watts of radiation,
as it has done for 4.5 billion years.
This solar energy powers the
Earth as we know it: almost
everything that lives is solar
powered, and all of our weather.
Think of the energy in a hurricane!
Thats big solar.
Can we directly harvest this
vast, unending source of free
energy? Certainly, and we have
been doing so for some thirty
years.
Solar electric panels use a

thin layer of crystalline silicon to magically convert

photons of light directly into electrons of electricity.
No moving parts to repair, no polluting fuel to burn,
extremely long-life with nothing to wear out or get
used up. Sweet.
Solar panels used to be really expensive, but not
now. The price has plummeted to close to $1 per
watt, down from $15 per watt just a few years ago.
Could solar power cost-effectively replace the need
for Site C? Sure it could.
ONE MILLION SOLAR ROOFS
Last issue we used what is known as the power
capacity factor (PCF) of various energy sources to
help us fairly compare one to the other. The PCF is
the power that an energy source REALLY puts out
allowing for downtime. The PCF for hydro is 60% (a
BC Hydro figure), Peace Country wind about 30%,
and solar-electric about 15%.
If we generously assume that Site C will cost the
projected $8 billion with no overruns (ha!), and a
60% PCF, we get a cost of about $13 per operational
watt.
Cost of solar? My personal 5-kilowatt solar power
system, installed in late 2013, cost $17,000 for
everything: solar panels, rooftop rack system, grid-tie
inverter, and all labour. For a 15% PCF, that works out
to about $20 per operational watt. More than Site C.
But what if BC Hydro paid just half of the cost

of each solar installation? I know, having worked

with Peace Energy Cooperative, that many folks
are ready to produce their own independent solar
power but would welcome a bit of help to do so.
They like that solar will pay for itself by completely
or mostly eliminating their electrical bills, add value
to their property, require little or no maintenance,
no fuel costs, last for 50 years plus and give them a
real sense of independence. After all, they end up
owning the solar asset, so if Hydro paid for some of
the up-front costs, almost everybody would go for it.
So if Hydro subsidized half of each rooftop solar
array, for the cost of Site C we could have about one
million grid-tied, 5-kilowatt solar roofs across our
province at a cost of $10 per operational watt less
than Site C.
And physical footprint? Well, probably zero, with
all those empty roofs waiting to be covered with
solar panels!
This is possible. Lots of other countries, provinces
and states are encouraging rooftop solar with
subsidies (Japan installed one million solar roofs
last year!), and getting the long-term jobs and
manufacturing that a vibrant solar economy attracts.
We can too, while providing direct benefit to one
million home owners and small businesses and
saving 9000 hectares of rich and wonderful Peace
River valley from flooding and destruction.
Yes, in the 21st century there really are better ways
to make electricity.

Quick Fact:
SOLAR CLOTHES:
The clothing manufacturer Patagonia will use state and federal tax credits to invest $13 million
in the installation of solar panels on 1,000 homes in Hawaii, turning the retailer into the financial
backer of a green electrical utility.