Farmers and acreage owners looking to move towards more sustainable forms of energy were able to get some expert help last week.
There was a full house at a one-day workshop on grid-tie solar energy options on March 23 at the Foothills Centennial Centre in Okotoks.
The event was hosted by Rachel McLean of the Foothills Forage and Grazing association and Rob Harlan, executive director of the Solar Energy Society of Alberta, a non-for-profit organization out of Edmonton.
“We were approached by Rob Harlan as he had completed workshops with our sister associations in other areas of the province,” said McLean. “The board agreed this was currently something of great interest to a lot of producers and a way to offset rising electricity costs.”
Harlan said he wanted to be part of the event because farmers are showing interest in energy efficient technology and there is a significant benefit to be had from it.
“Basically it’s like any other investment, it takes time to amortize but it’s not unusual to get about a five per cent return on it,” said Harlan. “Depending on the site it may take 12 years or more.”
A grid-tied system consists of solar panels to generate electricity and they are also connected to the utility grid, compared to stand-alone systems, which are not connected to the utility grid.
In the long run, Harlan said grid-tied photovoltaic power systems are a good investment for farmers and acreage owners, but it depends on their tolerance for how long they are willing to wait for new technology to pay for itself.
He said renewable and solar technologies are getting better and this is a reason farmer and acreage owners are considering making the switch to solar energy.
According to Harlan, Alberta Agriculture is also interested in encouraging farmers to use energy efficient technologies because they believe there is a substantial benefit for farmers and technology.
McLean said there are several grants available for producers in Alberta with a minimum of $10,000 farm commodity or livestock production income. A max of 100 kilowatts of solar energy or capacity $50,000 per applicant is currently available through the Growing Forward 2 program.
The program offers services to obtain cost-effective, sustainable, competitive and inventive farming and there is more funding available for third-party contractor-installed systems versus self-installed systems.
McLean said there is chart on the Growing Forward 2 website at growingforward.alberta.ca that provides more information about the program.
Rick Dunsmore, President of Goose Creek Renewable Energy Inc., said a new funding option will become available later this spring and could be more beneficial.
A new provincial solar rebate program will open for applications on June 1.
“The rebates are said to be 30 per cent with a maximum size of 50 kilowatts,” said Dunsmore. “The program is better than the existing Growing Forward 2 program and farmers are being told to wait for the new program.”
