SASKATOON’S SOLAR SUNRISE?
Solar power is barely a blip on Saskatoon’s energy production radar, but falling prices could mean the dawn of a solar era
A ngie Ortlepp and her husband have lived in a lab for the last 10 years. Ortlepp, an engineer, and her husband Bill Campbell, a carpenter, built their home in Pike Lake as a sustainable energy project in 2004 and have lived there ever since.
Their home uses a combination of solar and wind power to produce almost all of the energy they need, and generators take care of the rest. They are not connected to the electrical grid.
“It was supposed to be our experimental home and we’re still in it,” Ortlepp says.
Through their company, Suncatcher Solar, they now help others in Saskatoon and rural Saskatchewan design and adapt homes that use solar technology to produce energy.
As the cost of solar panels falls, Ortlepp says 2014 has been the company’s busiest year. In recent years, the company would sell eight or nine systems annually, but so far this year they have already sold 18.
In Saskatoon, Suncatcher has completed seven projects and three more are underway; however, most of their customers own farms or acreages.
One of the most highprofile projects used federal and provincial funding to install a $120,000 solar system at the Confederation Inn on Fairlight Drive. It provides about half the energy needed to heat the water for rooms, the restaurant and the indoor pool.
Ortlepp admits the upfront cost of converting to solar or building a home that relies on solar remains an impediment to many, but she believes solar’s appeal should be higher in Saskatchewan and Saskatoon due to the high amount of sunshine and the cold winters.
“It just makes sense to do it here, because our power usage is very high, especially in winter,” Ortlepp says. “It’s shining on your house already. Why not make use of it?”
Solar energy appears to be an underused resource in Saskatoon. The falling cost of solar panels could change that.
According to Environment Canada data compiled from 1981 to 2010, Saskatoon receives an average of 2,268 hours of sunshine a year (fifth among major cities in Canada), an average of 319 days with some bright sunshine (fourth) and an average of 49 per cent of daylight hours that are sunny (fifth), according to the website Current Results.
The environmental reasons to advance the cause of solar power in Saskatchewan are compelling: Most of the energy produced by SaskPower comes from nonrenewable resources, including nearly 50 per cent from coal and 28 per cent from gas. Hydro produces nearly 20 per cent of the province’s power, while wind accounts for three per cent.
The City of Saskatoon is pursuing solar initiatives, but civic officials declined to comment on it until a report is ready to be made public. The city’s 2015 preliminary budget has allotted $200,000 for a Solar City initiative.
The city has flirted with solar in recent years.
In 2011, solar panels were installed atop two recreation facilities — the Harry Bailey Aquatic Centre and the Lawson Civic Centre — to help heat pool water.
The photovoltaic panels convert sunlight to energy to heat a non-toxic solution that then heats the water. This approach provides 20 to 25 per cent of a pool’s heating needs and saves about 111 tonnes of greenhouse gases each year, according to the city’s website.
New neighbourhoods, like Evergreen, are designed with solar in mind — houses face south to maximize exposure to the sun.
The new on-street parking system will use solar-powered stations.
Solar cities
Bob Haugen, executive director of the Canadian Solar Cities Project, says he approached the City of Saskatoon in 2013 and invited officials to apply for membership.
The non-profit organization designates certain communities as solar cities for establishing a strategy for sustainable energy through adapting civic buildings and encouraging residents to rely more on solar.
Dawson Creek, a municipality of about 12,000 people in northern B.C., became the first city to receive solar city recognition in 2012. Three other B.C. communities followed, including the First Nations community of T’Sou-ke.
The designation recognizes sustainable energy efforts through compliance to 10 basic goals.
Haugen wanted to see about 40 members in his solar power club by now. He sees places like Saskatoon as ideal candidates for solar success.
“Prairie cities are ideal cities to be considered for solar as they receive the most hours of sunshine per year in Canada and are in cold climates,” Haugen said in an email. “The cold winters have the effect of making the solar PV (photovoltaic) panels more efficient, as a cool panel produces more electricity.
“The Prairie Provinces also produce most of their electricity by burning coal and natural gas so have the most to gain in terms of reducing greenhouse gas and air pollution.”
The City of Saskatoon owns and operates its own power utility, Saskatoon Light & Power. Haugen sees that as a huge advantage, one that’s absent in most other municipalities.
“First of all the city utility could launch an aggressive solar PV initiative and start installing solar systems on all of the municipal buildings like Dawson Creek has done,” he said. “They could also launch a residential solar program and install gridconnected solar systems on the homes of customers and provide net-metering deals.”
Right now, only 43 customers in Saskatoon take part in SaskPower’s net metering program, where those producing their own energy, like solar, can also sell some power back to the provincial Crown corporation. About 250 customers throughout Saskatchewan take part in the program.
Kevin Hudson, the city’s manager of metering and sustainability, said customers taking part in the program have doubled in 2014 in Saskatoon Light & Power’s jurisdiction. Eight commercial and 28 residential customers are enrolled. Seven others are served by SaskPower.
“The driver behind that is the economics,” Hudson says. “Electricity costs are increasing year after year and the cost of solar is falling and falling. So every year, it’s looking better.”
Hudson says most of the residential systems in Saskatoon are five-kilowatt versions that produce about 60 per cent of electrical needs.
About half of the electricity produced is sold back to the grid, since power generation tends to peak at midday when the sun is at its brightest but when people are often not home to use power.
He’s starting to see a wider range of applications, however.
Holy Family Catholic Cathedral in the city’s northeast boasts a two-kilowatt system that captures the sun’s energy with photovoltaic cells in the church’s stained-glass windows.
The city’s largest solar project is the University of Saskatchewan’s 24-kilowatt ground-based system — most panels are mounted on roofs — that provides power for its horticultural facility on 14th Street.
The Broadway Theatre is in the process of installing the city’s second largest system, a 22-kilowatt version.
Jastek, a home builder on Gray Avenue, has installed parking lot lights powered by solar panels and small wind turbines.
Solar cheaper
Saskatoon’s mini solar revolution is powered by economics.
An eye-opening Deutsche Bank report in October suggested solar power will be the same price or cheaper than traditional electricity in 47 U.S. states by 2016, assuming a 30 per cent tax credit on system costs remains in place.
In Saskatchewan, SaskPower’s 20-per-cent rebate on solar systems is set to expire on Nov. 30. The rebate is under review, however.
If it continues, Ortlepp says solar power is now cheaper in this province than traditional electricity, almost half of which is generated by burning coal.
Solar costs are calculated using the cost of producing energy during the 25-year warranty life of a solar power system. Using this method, Ortlepp says solar now costs eight to 11 cents per kilowatt hour, while electricity from the grid costs 12 cents per kilowatt hour.
“It’s still a big upfront cost, but it pays for itself over the life of the system,” she says. “One thing with solar — it’s the only part of your house that pays you back. People still have the idea that it’s so expensive it isn’t practical.”
A five- to 10-kilowatt system can produce 600 to 1,200 kilowatt hours of electricity a month.
Suncatcher’s eight-kilowatt system operates using 32 solar panels mounted on a south-facing roof, and costs $27,000 to $28,000.
Solar systems can also be established on east- or westfacing roofs, but are not as effective.
A five-kilowatt system that can produce 600 to 700 kilowatt hours per month with 20 panels costs $17,000 to $18,000.
Susan Shantz calculated the rising cost of electricity when she decided to convert her City Park home to solar in August of 2013.
It made financial sense for her, but there was more to it.
“I just think it was a good thing to do,” Shantz says.
She would seem an unlikely person to one day become a solar enthusiast. The artist grew up in a home where her electrician father’s slogan was: “You can’t beat electric heat.”
Her adult experience beating electric heat has been mostly positive, despite finding that snow collecting on the roof hindered the effectiveness of the system.
Shantz participates in SaskPower’s net metering program and produces about two-thirds of the electricity she needs. In October, her system produced 991 kilowatt hours.
Shantz said she wonders why more people are not opting for solar and why the city does not seem to be doing more to encourage it.
“It’s a sunny place,” she said. “So it seems that it’s a place that could be doing more about it.”