Our 9.5Kw Grid Tie Solar Array Installation
I've always been a big fan of renewable and alternative energy. Solar arrays have always been a great option for off grid power and make a fantastic addition to any homestead, however until now it never made financial sense for us to pull the trigger. With electricity in manitoba being extremely affordable (just shy of 8 cents per KW) the number never added up to be financially wise. The payoff time was just too significant and would not have been a great investment.
This all changed however when a few months ago, manitoba hydro introduced a whopping $1/watt rebate program. We went from having absolutely zero incentives or rebates - to having one of the best programs in Canada overnight. At a dollar a watt rebate, the numbers suddenly added up to a much more appealing scenario.
On a 10Kw grid tie system, the payoff period now works out to be in around the 10 year mark. With the primary system components (the panels) being warrantied for a full 25 years, this was a deal I could work with.
After going back and forth with multiple companies for quotes on a system, I settled on a 9.5KW grid tied system with an invoice price just shy of $28,500. With MB hydro offering a rebate of $9500 on a system of this size, my actual cost only comes in around $19,000.
Now, I know not everybody has that kind of money kicking around, and neither did I!
Manitoba hydro had us covered though, with a very appealing financing option. They offer financing on up to $30,000 (pre rebate invoice) at a very fair rate of 4.7% for up to 15 years.
I had heard enough. Sign me up!
Katie and I started the backbreaking job of removing sod for the ground mount. 3KW was to go on the roof of the garage, and the remainder on the ground. The plan is to dig up a big rectangle area of sod, and fill with wood mulch to make it all look nice.
The piles went in quick, and the mounting rails could be installed. The install was painful. Our luck could not have been worse with the list of delays we ran into through our contractor. We were told this would be a 2 day install. 90 days later, I am writing this post and we are still waiting on the final completion. At this point just the new data card needs to be installed in the inverter for the wireless monitoring. A list of SOME of the delays we ran into were:
-Inverter was backordered
-Shipment got delayed
-Parts missing from shipment
-Damaged rails in the next shipment
-Defective inverter
-Defective arc fault card in inverter
-Defective data manager
-Permit delays
-Bi directional meter backordered
-Replacement data manger arrived and turned out they sent wrong parts
-Scheduling delay with contractor
-Delay while MB hydro contemplated changing code requirements
The list goes on. There was at least 1 delay per week for 11 weeks. It was painstaking. Regardless, I set up the gopro to take a timelapse video on the days work was being done outside. That video can be found below these progress photos. Please subscribe to my youtube channel for more videos and a detailed tour and performance history video on the system that will be uploaded in the near future. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW_HFtFOvE9dVhm6mc4mLhw?view_as=subscriber
Painted the steel piles with tremclad rust paint. Made for a real nice touch.
Here is the timelapse. This is taken over multiple days due to all the delays we encountered, so please forgive the different angles at times. I didn't want to leave the camera outside in the same place for weeks and I never ended up having it in the exact spot. Please subscribe to the youtube channel for more in the near future!
Timelapse:
