Take a shine to solar panels

Want to save money on energy? Billions need not be spent on the Site C dam; spend a lot less and develop a solar industry in B.C. for the same amount of power and more jobs.

Home- and business-based solar energy is clean, cheap, and never goes up in price. I cannot see the consumers’ final cost of power from the Site C dam being less than 30-40 cents per kilowatt hour.

With my 24 solar panels, self- installed this year, my cost for power is between four and six cents a kilowatt hour.

Researchers are making solar panels cheaper and more efficient. Solar panels work on light; they don’t need sun shining on them to produce power. Long before the sun rises over the mountain, I’m producing more power than I need and I’m able to sell excess power back to my hydro supplier.

A solar industry, with existing hydroelectric dams, will supply all the power we need and more in our province.

Solar panels will pay for themselves in reduced energy costs. In the future you can charge your electric car at home. Solar-assisted charging stations on highways will keep you going.

Electric cars are cleaner to run and cheaper to maintain. No gasoline, no motor, no oil changes, no radiator, no exhaust system, no antifreeze, no emissions.

Solar panels are guaranteed to give 95 per cent of their original rated power for 25 years and will last decades beyond that.

Because they need to make a huge profit, solar and wind farms owned by corporations are no better or cheaper than dams. Just you and the sun: that’s the cheapest partnership for a clean, sustainable future.

The rest of the world is way ahead of us when it comes to solar energy. Canada is still in the dark ages; let’s lighten it up. PAUL MCCAVOUR Osoyoos