the potential to generate an average of 6.6 kilowatt-hours of electricity per square metre, per month.
That seems like not much. A household using 1kW (slightly below average) would need more than 100m² of solar panels, which seems like a lot. I’m open to being convinced that solar pv has gotten so cheap that it’s worth using on a large scale even in Canada, but I’m not sure if those numbers are going to add up. I’d expect wind power to be a better bet.
Does it have to be perfect? Even partial coverage would at least reduce demand from the grid and lower electricity bills for all. Winnipeg could be covering rooftops with panels wherever possible (and tenants could be hanging them from apartment balconies & windows like they recently approved in New York). Right now it’s just farms and other businesses doing it, which they probably wouldn’t be if it weren’t for the fact solar starts paying for itself immediately upon use. I suppose these places have just worked something out on their own for when snow starts accumulating and/or are resigned to more of the benefits coming from longer summer days than in the winter. (I wonder if there’s a possible market for accessories like heated “windshields” that can make snow clearing easier and less likely to invite damage.)
Sure, but this article is about the lack of utility-scale solar capacity (read: large solar plants), not small-scale, individual efforts.
Yes, it is. I guess I’m just thinking that as bills rise and capacity shrinks, there could be a provincial govt-led effort to reduce demand on the existing grid.
I’d definitely love to see some grants or other assistance to get people building their own capacity.
I don’t think that number is correct. Their source does say “monthly” in a few places (though notably, not next to the actual figures) but I think that’s the daily average. Other sources [1] [2] also yield numbers closer to 6.6 kWh/day.
So it won’t need 100 m^2 of solar panels per household; it’ll only need about 3-4 m^2 of solar, which is also in line with what a residential rooftop installation would look like.
Monthly definitely sounds more correct, since that puts it at a pretty realistic 220W/m^2 with 12h of sun per day.
deleted by creator
That seems to be the same conclusion that MB Hydro has reached, as well.
