There has never been a better time to invest in solar for your home, cottage or business. Ontario is leading the way promoting alternative energy projects that offer substantial benefits for individuals and businesses that take part in Ontario's new microFIT program. Environmentally, Financially or Economically, the benefits of investing in alternative energy, like solar, should not be overlooked.
Financial Benefits
Investing in Solar is now a SMART financial investment.
Reoccurring Income - By entering into a 20 year purchase agreement with the OPA (Ontario Power Authority) you will be paid on your regular billing cycle from you local distribution company. This means you will receive a cheque every 1-2 months (depending on your LDC’s billing cycle) for the amount of energy produced, guaranteed, for the next 20 years.
Industry leading payouts - Under Ontario’s new Micro-FIT program, participants are guaranteed $0.549 per KWH of electricity produced for the next 20 years. This means an average home with a 2 KW system can produce enough electricity to earn roughly $2000.00 a year for the next 20 years.
Add Value to Your Home - The value of a solar system is added to the appraised value of your property and does not increase your property taxes. You can increase the value of your home 8-12% above normal property appreciation. Your home is generating income monthly. Solar is one of the few home improvements that can be justified in terms of return on invested dollar.
Assured Return On Investment- The average rate of return for someone investing in Ontario's Micro-fit program is roughly 8-13%. Currently, no other investment option offers an assured rate of return in those figures. Even with $100,000 invested in a GIC the best rate is 2%.
Protect Yourself From Escalating Energy Costs in the Future - Electricity is becoming more expensive every year. Over the last 35 years, the average annual rate increase has been approximately 6.5%. Ontario has introduced “smart metering” which will see cost of electricity jump during peak hours. It is hard to predict what energy will cost in 20 years but once the 20 year contract has expired, homes with solar PV can always “net meter” reducing their hydro bills significantly. By simply using what they produce they can offset the cost of the electricity needed.
Environmental Benefits
Environmental benefits are another important factor when choosing to install solar. A solar installation for a home, business or cottage will help reduce demand from existing electric power plants and offset their carbon emissions. Your solar PV installation will help ease the strain on Ontario’s electricity system, reduce air pollution, promote sustainability, protect the environment and create new, high-skilled jobs. The average solar PV residential system (based on 5kW), would save nearly 175 tons of carbon dioxide over its 30 year lifespan - equivalent to removing 32 cars from the road. It takes approximately 4,487 new trees to absorb that much co2 produced by fossil fuels.
Reduction of Waste: Nearly every type of energy production from non-renewable sources produce waste which have a negative impact on the environment. Even nuclear energy, while burning relatively clean, presents serious problems with the safe storage of radioactive waste and the possibility of widespread nuclear fallout from a reactor meltdown.
Reduction of Pollutant - There are major environmental impacts attributed to electricity generation from non-renewable fuels. Emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere (particulates, Sulphur Dioxide (SOx), Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and others) all have a grave impact on public health, water and crops. These negative externalities also impact many delicate ecosystems such as forests and fisheries.
Conservation of Fossil Fuels - With Individuals, corporations, and government using alternative energies such as solar, we conserve fossil fuels and other natural resources that are quickly depleting. With a rapidly expanding world economy, and the strong growth in highly populated countries - the demand for energy is increasing at an alarming rate. This makes conserving our resources more important than ever. In addition to the deterioration of land, air and water - the rapid depletion of natural resources “further compromises the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Economic Benefits
Job Creation - By investing in solar you are helping to generate and stimulate job creation. As demand rises for technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines and biomass, more Ontarians will be needed to design, build, install, operate and maintain these technologies.
Sustainability - The birth of "Renewable Energy" technology especially in Solar PV can be compared to the computer or the internet technology of the 90s which gave rise to such a mammoth economy ensuring job sustainability for future generations.
Ontario Content - Ontario’s Micro-Fit projects will require a percentage of the Alternative Energy project to have Provincially made components or content.