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Kelowna signs on to SolarBC
Cost of solar power falling for consumers, summit told Homeowners, offered rebates for rooftop projects
By Scott Simpson, The Ottawa Citizen February 21, 2009
British Columbia is off to a good start, but needs additional leadership, funding and regulatory support to reach an ambitious goal for installation of 100,000 solar roofs in homes across the province, a solar energy summit heard Friday.
South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale MP Russ Hiebert announced the federal government will contribute $1.6 million toward installation of 1,600 domestic solar hot-water roofs, in addition to existing provincial and federal incentives that cover 36 per cent of the cost of the technology.
That effectively doubles the initial rebate on a hot-water system to $2,000, and there are tax credits, other cash incentives and low-cost loans.
Homeowners in seven communities signed on to SolarBC's "solar communities" program, including Whistler, Kelowna and the District of North Vancouver, get first dibs on the money.
"For the average $7,000 solar panel, with all of the programs we have announced both provincially and federally, that $7,000 cost is actually reduced by 36 per cent," Hiebert told a SolarBC summit in Vancouver.
A typical family can expect immediate savings of about 65 per cent of energy costs associated with heating water -- more than $300 a year at current energy prices -- by installing a system that collects rooftop heat and uses it to warm water before it goes into a water heater.
Hiebert noted that Ottawa recently announced up to $1,350 in home-improvement tax credits as part of the Conservatives' economic stimulus package, adding that "this is the year to do home renovations if anybody's thinking about it, and it's our understanding that solar panels qualify."
B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner set up a committee in 2006 to develop a plan for installation of solar hot water panels on 100,000 roofs in B.C.
Progress has been slow but steady.
SolarBC, a non-profit group, presented the solar plan to the province in 2008.
The group is striking partnerships with schools and subsidized housing agencies, lobbying local governments and pressing both the province and the feds to create a regulatory environment that can support accelerated development of the industry.
"What we have learned from Europe is that when you develop a solar program it takes five, 10, 15 years to make it happen," SolarBC executive director Nitya Harris said.
There is still plenty of work to do, and much of it involves the absence of a regulatory framework in which to develop and promote the technology on a wide scale, said Guy Dauncey, president of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association.
Dauncey reeled off 10 actions government could take that would accelerate solar installations and guarantee Penner's target of 100,000 roofs is reached within a decade.
One of those is a "sign-off on new technologies by the Canadian Standards Association [which is] losing the race with the snails for the slowest sign-off on any technology in Canadian history," Dauncey said.
Others include standardized training for system installers and for architects, "a 100-per-cent tax credit for installation" and mandatory solar hot-water installation in commercial buildings when constructed or resold.
Ian Bruce of the David Suzuki Foundation described Ottawa's funding announcement as "a huge step in the right direction -- although Canada still lacks a credible climate-change plan and a comprehensive strategy to spur innovation, to get these new technologies, whether it be solar or other, out into the marketplace."
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