To Assist Councilor Logtenberg's Understanding of Subsidizing Net Zero with solar
Councilor Logtenberg you demand the waterfront project be Step 5 Net Zero
Councilor Morrison will remember my attempts at educating the city regarding the Community solar garden emails was always signed "an unwilling participant".
The solar garden was a fraud, supposed to be fully funded by those opting in, payback in a few years and most if not all thought this was green energy, it actually increased the cities carbon footprint.
I have no intention of willingly subsidizing anyones building putting solar panels to meet Step 5 expecting Nelson hydro customers to credit their excess power at full retail so they can cash in their summer credits earned from solar when we don't need that power so they can cash in their credit in winter that I will be paying for.
Net Zero - a building that earns as much energy as it uses - Net Zero
Might that come from solar power? Excess summer solar earns credits cashed in winter.
Be aware of the National Fire Code for solar panel installations
If you want the technical information regarding fire fighting view this and you
will know that fire departments will not go near a building with solar power.
Also the coming changes and unknown expenses for insurance.
Some quotes:
“Many fire departments are now taking the approach that if there are solar panels on the roof, they will spray it with water, but they are not going up on the roof to vent the fire or send their people inside,” Guest says. “They will basically let it burn, which could lead to significantly more total losses for insurers.”
“The insurers I have spoken to seem to have accepted that if there is a fire in a building with a PV system – it’s a total (loss),” Edge observes. “Typically, insurers rate based on fire hall versus hydrant protected, full-time versus volunteer (fire department). What rating classification will satisfactorily encompass: ‘We’re not going anywhere near it?’”
Net Zero!
Lets see how that works for Nelson, the only city in western Canada with its own clean green hydro generation and distribution.
Nelson hydro dam overflowing, beginning with spring runoff, see all the orange in graph below, water spilling , we don't need that why add solar?
Orange above all excess water, during the time most annual solar power is made, what value does solar have at this time? Same as the Orange water, $ZERO$.
Blues above are water used by BC Hydro and Fortis power plants, Nelson not shown.
Nelson hydro's bylaw says they will not buy anyones power unless it makes economic sense for Nelson hydro. Nelson hydro makes clean green waterpower for less than a penny. Why are Nelson hydro customers subsidizing the solar garden, the Balfour community buildings solar power and any other excess power such as microhydro?
In winter Nelson hydro must reduce their generation to their water licence 9MW, they can make 16MW when water is available from spring runoff into fall.
This is when solar doesn't work and solar credits earned when we don't need the power get cashed in.
Below is a graph from Nelson hydro showing annual consumption, note its least when Nelson hydro can generate excess shown by the 16MW line, Nelson hydro sells excess power, BC Hydro pays less than a penny, are we selling solar for this amount? While Nelson hydro customers subsidize this at full retail so that money is distributed to the 130 who opted in for their warm fuzzy feeling?
Below I modified the graph showing how Nelson hydro customers are being hurt, any solar earned in summer is at the expense of earning clean green waterpower for less than a penny and selling for 12c/kWh. In winter solar credit shown in RED is cashed in while Nelson hydro is buying excess Fortis power for 520% more than Nelson hydro cost of generation. Lose Lose, lost income from selling our cleaner greener waterpower then losing again paying out solar credits while Nelson is paying 520% more for excess power than their own generation.
Maybe we can invoke the Community Charter item where councilors are held financially responsible.
Solar also adds to the cities carbon footprint. At a public meeting I asked the manager of Nelson hydro, Alex Love, what makes the community solar garden power green? His reply "nobody said it was green".
I have also asked him what was meant by fully funded, as submitted to the BCUC in two consecutive rate year applications, he won't answer.
He repeats this aligns with the Cities Path to 2040, I keep asking him how, he won't answer.
Unless solar power can avoid the burning of a non renewable like coal in a conventional power plant, which cannot happen here, its dirty power.
Cradle to toxic grave all the non renewables in mining, manufacture, transportation and hazardous disposal if they last 25 years, can never be greener than our water power.
They got an award for the Community Solar Garden, left to right, Alex Love manager of Nelson hydro brought council a business case for solar? Next Carmen Proctor the contractor who had no previous solar history, ex mayor Kozak with award, and Trish Dehnel now installing EV charging stations
Lets look at the economics of someone building Step 5 using grid tied PV solar to
achieve Net Zero.
Step 5 requires a building to earn as much energy as it consumes to be Net Zero. If anyone wants to do this it should not be the Nelson hydro ratepayers subsidizing solar at the expense of lost income from our own clean green waterpower profits lost.
Builders, building owner city councils, fire departments and building inspectors need to know
the proper methods to instal solar panels according to the National Fire Code.
Also be aware that insurance companies are recognizing that fire departments are not fighting
fires on buildings with solar panels, only protecting adjacent structures. This is resulting in total losses and insurance rate increase or even inability to get fire insurance.
Builders, building owners, city councils and mayors will all begin to look very very
stupid as the public begins to discover the real economics and value of solar.
Unknown is how much of that will be excess to grid credit, vs consumption.
Typically excess all earned in summer, cashed in during winter.
One must understand when and how Nelson hydro makes power and how solar is out of sync.
The same time most annual solar power is made, we don't need it, we aren't even using all the water!
Why won't Nelson open up the public data to show how panels perform with snow or shading? Possibly because somebody installed it wrong, front rows shade back rows!
There is nothing to be learned from the limited data they offer, one needs weekly, monthly annual and total energy to make calculations for value.
The hydro manager won't answer my question, he says the solar garden aligns with the cities Path to 2040 about GHG and carbon reduction, I ask how? I asked for the calculations to support the contractors radio item where she said solar power would reach grid parity in 7 years, no answer. I ask for the calculations to show solar will pay back in 10 or 12 years, no answer.
The phoney engineers report barely shows a 25 year payback only because of missing data input to the computer program he used.
They call it an investment, well its certainly subsidized by all Nelson hydro customers, it is a total loss and if actually fully funded by those opting in there would be no payback in the life expectancy of a solar panel. There is no accountability the community solar garden public media information amounts to fraud.
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