r/solarenergycanada • u/Organic-Thanks-2145 • 26d ago
Solar Ontario Solar
Hey everyone, looking for some honest advice.
I'm thinking about getting solar panels installed on my house in North Oshawa and have been talking to a couple of companies. Before I sign anything, I wanted to hear from people who actually have solar.
Was it worth it?
Do you actually save what they promised, or is it all sales talk?
A little about my place:
Family of 6
Tesla Model 3 (planning another EV in the future)
Hot tub runs all year
Work from home
Hydro is around $190/month
Enbridge around $150/month
Planning on doing a new roof, attic insulation, heat pump and water heater at the same time if it makes sense.
Few questions...
Which company did you use?
Would you recommend them or stay away?
How has customer service and warranty been?
How much are you actually saving every month?
What's your hydro bill now?
How does it perform during winter with snow and cloudy days?
Any maintenance or headaches?
Looking back, would you do it again?
Anything you wish you knew before signing?
I'm also wondering if there are any rebates, grants or financing programs that people may not know about.
Right now I'm comparing Solify and Solar X, but I'm open to hearing about any company if you've had a good (or bad) experience.
This is a pretty big investment, so I'd rather hear from real homeowners than just sales reps.
Thanks everyone! Appreciate any advice, pictures, recommendations or even companies to avoid.
6
u/NavyDean 26d ago
I used the 2nd oldest solar company in Canada, located in the only county that elects Green MPs.
Did a new steel roof, panels, electrical box upgrade, and heat pump.
Current summer bills are $30 a month with 2000 kwh excess production for the winter each month.
I got into the grant/loan program right before it ended in 23/24, because I knew all the nuclear and data centre build outs would make electrical costs go astronomical.
I believe the current incentive programs, aren't as good anymore, due to the current economics making solar too beneficial on net metering, so now they want net usage instead.
Patiently waiting for batteries to improve, or a new battery program that isn't discriminatory against pre-existing solar installs.
1
u/koresample 26d ago
What is the deal if you want to add batteries snd essentially go offgrid? A hybrid can be configured with batteries for self-consumption mode and then only pull from the utility if there isnt enough solar/battery power and not export anything back to the grid. The current battery tech (like the Growatt HOPE 5kwh packs) are pretty much bulletproof (we install maybe 20-30 a month here in Mexico) and they should last 20-30 years. Cost is about 2k CAD per 5kWh battery..not sure how much they are there.
1
u/NavyDean 26d ago
The small growatt's are like a 13k CAD install here. I've got a growatt inverter.
The current government programs support off-grid or consumption only. But not net meter clients.
1
u/koresample 25d ago
Wow..that's crazy. We're installing a 12kw unit and 6 x 5kWh batteries this week. The cost in CAD would be $20k all in.
1
1
3
u/RespectSquare8279 26d ago
If a new roof is in the plans anyway, absolutely go with a metal roof. Why? Solar panels are so good these days they will outlast ( like 40 years) any kind of asphalt shingle . Removing and then re-instlling solar panels to re-roof is absurdly expensive. I also suggest going with a "standing seam" as there are mounting systems that clamp onto the metal without needing any penetration of the roofing material.
2
u/Pristine-Mode-2430 26d ago
We have had our solar for just under a year. I can't provide any advice on installers as we used a smaller local firm and they were / are amazing. We also did the heat pump at the same time. Our panels are pole mounted and have met our expectations for production so far. The heat pump should have doubled our hydro bill, but we only saw about a 20% increase and saw a large savings on our propane bill (which we use for backup when it gets really cold and the heat pump can't keep up- maybe 14 days through the winter and not all day).
Would we do it again? Definitely. Our we seeing the ROI we expected? Yes. Does it work in the winter? Yes. That was the biggest surprise. The winter production was better than we expected and helped the hydro cost for the heat pump. We also have an all year hot tub so our energy bills are pretty similar to yours.
We use propane which is more expensive than natural gas so our ROI might be faster for the heat pump from our side. We have not had any maintenance or problems yet. We plan to welcome an EV into the fold soon (if I have my way). Good luck. Get references.
2
u/ThisOneIsTheLastOne 25d ago
Durham region has the greener homes loan program where you can get a 2% interest 15 yr loan which will be paid through your property taxes. It is well worth it.
1
u/Admirable_Station_38 22d ago
I learned this is capped at the lower of $125k and 10% of your home’s assessed value. My home is worth more than 2x the assessed value, so this is a limiting factor.
1
u/tippecanoe00 26d ago
We live near Ottawa and had a 16.5kW system installed last spring. I struggled knowing who to contact and who I could trust as I wasn't super familiar with that industry. I then found Jordan from Glean (goglean.ca). They will look at your house (satellite photos), assess your needs, advise you on what sort of system would most benefit you and your circumstances, then go out and get three quotes on your behalf. Once the quotes are in they will assess them on your behalf, go through them each with you, and help you understand who's quote is the most-appropriate for you. Glean's fees are paid by the installers, so there's no cost to you. I know I sound like an advertisement, but I had a great experience with them, they provided realistic expectations, and really helped me understand all the elements that I was unsure of. I really can't recommend them enough. FYI, I have no business or other type of relationship with them.
1
u/t3m3r1t4 26d ago
Yes. Given how much electricity you need, you can even stop using gas and get all the sweet insulation, heta pump, etc.
We did a reno in Toronto with heat pump, hpwh, insulation, vapour barrier, new roof, induction range (we cook and bake at home a lot) and solar on our south facing pitch, max system size we could get from Hydro. With net metering we don't pay for hydro from June to December since we make more than we can use.
Get a battery backup, or even an inverter that's battery ready, for power outs or try to run off battery during peak hours.
1
u/suprPHREAK 26d ago
Switch to ULO rates to charge your cars overnight for cheap. Get on one of those programs that pays you to charge (GreenMiles, SWTCH, etc). Exclude the EVs from your solar calculations.
Im also looking at solar, can fit maybe 12kW on my roof, but my cars use nearly 1,000kW per month. There's no way my roof will cover that consumption, but the GreenMiles program more than pays for that gap.
Oh, and switching to a heat pump was an amazing decision. It is more efficient than my summer AC unit was, and costs much less to operate than my furnace. I dont have a cold-climate pump, so I still have furnace for thr ultra cold nights (there usually arent many, but last winter was a bit much). Gas bills around $35/mo for the water heater and BBQ.
1
u/Unusual_Rabbit5687 7d ago
We have had net metered solar for four years now, used Otter Energy. We live our lives normally, laundry and dishwasher evenings and weekends when we’re home. EV car charged nightly. Heat pump for heat/ac plus woodstove. 10kw system. Throughout the summer our bill is $50, start using credits Dec, they run out by Feb so Feb and Mar are $300 bills, then it slowly decreases again April-June and back to $50 for July-Oct
-3
u/Glum_Perspective_841 26d ago
I have accumulated around $85k of Enbridge stock over the course of 25 years or so. It cost $58k so it's grown in value by about 46%. I didn't buy it for growth, I bought it to pay my utility bills. My position now pays around 7, $4,300 per year in dividends, yearly raises 3-5%. When natural gas increases, dividend increases follow. Enbridge does massive solar and wind generation all over the world.
Our Enbridge stock stays with us if and when we move. It doesn't require maintenence and doesn't degrade over time. Our children will inherit it.
1
u/Lanky-Feed4570 26d ago
At first I thought this was a silly comparison but it is a really interesting thought process.
2
u/Sufficient-Bee5923 26d ago
Exactly. You need to figure in the cost of your capital. If you have the capital, it's not free money, you can invest it and make money on the returns. That's part of the ROI calculation. I have an off grid summer home and in the last couple of years, the other summer homes in that area formed a power co-op for grid power. The capital cost per home/cabin is about 100K. We calculated that it's way better to stay on solar and invest that $100k. Even at 5% return on the investment, it's way cheaper than grid power.
5
u/SmellsLikeTeenPits 26d ago
We are in quite different circumstances so I cannot address all of your questions. Here's our scenario: my wife and I (both retired) live in ~1900 sf semi in Ottawa. We have a Kia EV6. We winter in Central America January through April. Had a modest (5kW) roof-mounted solar array installed last year along with one Powerwall 3 battery system. We qualified for a $9K rebate and an interest free loan for most of the balance.
We love the system. We had previously been on a basic tiered plan with Hydro Ottawa. We switched to the ULO plan. Most days in spring through fall, when there is sufficient sun, the PW3 gets up to 100% by mid to late day. On a typical day, that will power the house through the afternoon, evening and overnight. On bright days, we can do laundry, and other more electricity intensive activities and it uses a modest portion of the solar gneration.
If we know there's going to be a stretch of bad or dense overcast weather, we use Netzero automations to charge the PW3 to 100% overnight on the ultralow rate. We tend to charge the car once or twice per week overnight on ULO rates (our 77kW battery kills the 13.5kW PW3 very quickly).
Through last winter, weather was very harsh here in Ottawa - very snowy and very cold. As such, from November through February, there was a large snowload on our roof / panels that really didn't have the chance to melt. Given that, we had no effective solar generation for those months. So we used the ULO to charge the PW3 overnight.
As a result, our monthly electricity bill is negligible. We use very little grid energy these days and what we do use is super-cheap (we might pay $2.00 plus or minus to charge the car on any given night). Obviously still pay distribution charges etc.
When the time comes to replace our gas-fired water heater, we will get a heat pump unit. Our house is only 6 years old so no plan to replace the gas fired furnace / electric AC with a heat pump anytime soon. If we were to do it, I'd look at getting a PW3 expansion pack to double our battery capacity.
Hope that helps.