‘There’s probably going to be a huge demand in the future’

A future landscape for many might include an electric vehicle powered by a solar grid that can run electricity for a home when the power goes out.

But it’s not that futuristic for one New Brunswick man. In fact, it’s his reality.

Cory Allen, who lives in Nasonworth, N.B., switched to electric vehicles in 2019, beginning with an SUV.

He said he still had a gas car in the garage at the time because, like many people, he was skeptical.

More recently, he got an electric pickup truck, the Ford F-150 Lightning. He said it has some “really cool” features, including being able to “back feed” electricity into the house.

In the event of a power outage, Allen’s automatic standby generator would kick in, which he said would cost around $6 or $7 per hour to run.

But then he could go to the garage and flick a transfer switch that would allow the truck to power the house. He said the truck can power the house for around two days before needing a charge.

Not only that but the truck is charged using solar energy.

Allen had a 12.8-kilowatt array of solar panels installed that feed into the garage where vehicles are charged. He said the truck takes around eight hours to go from zero power to a full charge.

He said he went with a grid-tied solar system for his home, which is different than a standard setup, so there’s no battery component.

He said when the vehicles are charging, they will take all of the solar energy that’s being produced. But when they are not actively using all of the solar energy, the meter will run backward and the power will be banked for when they need it, Allen said.

His panels are on a wooden frame in the field by his house. That was more cost-effective than putting them on the roof of his home since the field has a better southern exposure, which means increased sunlight.

Not a lot of public knowledge

The idea for the setup originally came from Epic Energy, a New Brunswick solar energy company, when Allen approached them about a solar array.

“The electrician came over and we began talking and … he just offered so many of these awesome ideas,” said Allen.

Richard Knappe, president of Epic Energy, said there isn’t a lot of public knowledge about using solar to power electric vehicles, but they have had conversations with interested clients.

He said there also aren’t many vehicles that have the necessary technology.

“There’s probably going to be a huge demand in the future,” said Knappe. “But right now, we’re pretty limited to the F-150 Ford, and the Hyundai IONIQ 5.”

When it comes to setting up these types of systems, the wiring does get pretty complicated, he said. Knappe has an electrician who does this work, but he said it is hard to find electricians with that particular knowledge.

Long-term financial benefit

Allen said having an electric vehicle is also a long-term financial benefit for him.

He said the truck is expensive upfront at roughly $100,000. Then there is around $11,000 for the solar array and about $7,000 for the electrical work.

But the cost makes sense in the long run, Allen said.

He said as a small business owner who travels a lot, he was spending a lot on gas to fuel a pickup truck.

But without having to buy gas, he said his monthly payments come out to less since he’s only making payments on the truck.

Allen said one of the things that makes him feel good about his setup is the carbon footprint.

He said there is a heavy carbon footprint at the outset for the production of electric vehicles and solar panels. But, after using them for around five years, he said his household could be net zero.

He said environmental concerns are always something he tries to keep on top of his mind.

“I often joked, ‘Well, at least I’m offsetting the gas I put through the truck with the car,'” said Allen. “But now we have the electric car and the truck, so I don’t even have to worry about that joke anymore.”

Growing up near Fort McMurray, Alta., Randall Benson started working in the oilsands like many of his family members. However, in the mid-1990s, the long hours and ecological impacts of the industry had him rethinking his occupation.

“I just found it counterintuitive to how I was raised to respect our environment, and so I made a decision to find something that was kind of the opposite,” said Benson, now 52.

The “opposite” turned out to be solar energy, which he learned about while flipping through a magazine after moving to Edmonton.

About 25 years later, Benson is pleased to see utility-scale solar projects booming — a welcome addition to the residential and community solar installations his company, Gridworks Energy, builds. Benson is working on a project commissioned by the Métis Nation of Alberta, of which he is a member, designed to generate enough power for 1,200 homes.

It’s part of a renewable energy boom in a province world-famous for its oil reserves.

There’s “almost gold rush-level activity for solar” in Alberta, said Sara Hastings-Simon, assistant professor at the University of Calgary and an expert in energy and climate policy. “The majority of solar that we have in the system in Alberta today was installed in 2021-2022. So this is a really very recent phenomenon.”

According to research by Hastings-Simon and colleagues, in 2021, renewables — solar, wind, and hydro combined — accounted for 14.3 percent of electricity on the Alberta grid, compared to less than three per cent in 2002. She expects that number to increase in 2022.

Hastings-Simon said multiple factors helped create the conditions for this growth in solar power.

Alberta and Ontario are the only Canadian provinces with deregulated wholesale energy markets. While a government with a regulated electricity market could decide to build renewables, Hastings-Simon said that a deregulated system allows for these projects to move forward because of open competition among energy suppliers and an easy route for companies to purchase renewable power directly.

The Alberta Electric System Operator is a not-for-profit organization that purchases power from an open market; the price of electricity changes hourly, set by supply and demand, Hastings-Simon said.

According to Natural Resources Canada, Alberta — in particular the south of the province — has great potential for solar power generation. Despite the vast resource and an open market, solar development was stuck in a bit of a “chicken-and-egg” situation, without anything to kick-start projects, said Hastings-Simon.

When NDP Leader Rachel Notley was premier, the province started a renewable electricity program, and while only wind projects were selected, it sent a message to corporate buyers that a renewable energy market was starting to take off in the province.

In 2018, the province put out a request for solar projects to power Alberta government facilities. This “helped to break that chicken-and-egg cycle,” said Hastings-Simon. The provincial government’s renewable energy procurement in turn sparked an “uptick in the interest of so-called non-utility procurement.”

In other words, instead of buying electricity from their utility, more companies and organizations are opting to work directly with renewable energy developers to secure electricity at a guaranteed price. This also works out well for renewable energy developers, who have to contend with variable rates when they sell power to the province.

For some companies, there was another incentive: under the federal carbon tax, solar can be used as an offset in order to comply with the cost of carbon pollution.

With the price of solar energy itself dropping, the effect was “the perfect storm” for a boom in solar development, said Hastings-Simon.

Much of the growth is happening in southern Alberta. That includes Canada’s largest solar farm to date, the Travers Solar Project in Vulcan County, which signed an agreement to sell electricity directly to Amazon.

The burst of solar activity has been welcome financially for Vulcan County. In recent years, some fossil fuel companies have walked away from properties, leaving outstanding tax bills unpaid, resulting in the county cutting its budget by 30 percent, said the county’s reeve, Jason Schneider.

According to Schneider, tax from renewable energy projects makes up 45 percent of the county’s revenue: about 25 percent of which is solar and 20 percent wind.

“It subsidizes everything,” he said. “It’s paying for libraries, it’s paying for roads, it’s paying for bridges.”

Hastings-Simon said the next hurdle the province may face will be keeping up with the capacity for solar projects to connect to the grid.

She points to Texas as an example of how to proceed. With lots of solar potentials, the state decided to “build transmission lines on the assumption that if we build it, developers will come and build renewable projects when they have that opportunity to interconnect [to the grid].”

When it comes to where public money can best be put to use to keep solar’s momentum going, she said transmission lines are “the biggest bang for the buck.”

Credits

Nova Scotia’s solar industry is growing. There was some uncertainty earlier this year when Nova Scotia Power proposed a fee for solar users, but after the government intervened, the solar sector saw another record-breaking year.

The solar industry in Nova Scotia is growing.

Each year for the past five to six years, the province has seen a record number of solar panel installations and there are now about 6,000 Nova Scotians with solar panels.

“With electricity prices rising, people see solar as a way to mitigate increases,” said David Brushett, chair of Solar Nova Scotia.

“Also, people care about the issues of climate change and see it as a way to take action to help reduce emissions.”

Another factor contributing to growth is the cost. Over the past decade, the price of solar panels has dropped nearly 90 percent.

“The sector has really progressed a lot over the last couple of years,” said Patrick Bateman, an energy sector consultant.

Bateman was one of the hundreds participating in the Atlantic Canada solar summit held at the Halifax Convention Centre this week. The conference offers those in the industry a chance to look at advancements in solar technology and discuss the sector’s future.

“Technology changes all the time so it’s of critical importance for people to get together, solve problems and create new opportunities,” said Bateman.

Growth in the province has largely been in the residential market, but there is hope that there will be growth in the commercial market next year.

David Miller, the director of clean electricity with the Department of Energy and Renewables, says growth in the commercial market was previously limited due to regulations but change is underway.

“Previously the max installed limit was 100 kilowatts, so it’s now 200 for some businesses and up to 1,000 for others,” he said.

In addition to that, there are new business deductions and tax incentives for businesses looking to go solar.

And while the price of solar has dropped significantly in recent years, the upfront cost is still too high for many and so the province is looking at community solar gardens as a way to make solar more accessible to all Nova Scotians.

“We’ll see larger solar projects constructed and allow individuals to subscribe to them, so you don’t have to own it, it doesn’t have to be on your roof,” he said.

“We see (this project as) opportunities to support lower-income families or middle-income families who might want to participate in the clean energy space but can’t afford that upfront cost.”

Nova Scotia has a goal of having 80 percent of its electricity come from renewable sources by 2030. While solar will play a role in this, the power generated by solar in the province is just a very small portion of what’s needed.

“Solar is a solution that you combine with other solutions,” said Bateman.

“Balancing solar with other existing resources is how we get to a cleaner future.”

Credits