Solar Nova Scotia optimistic for industry growth in 2023
Posted Dec 19, 2022 05:44:00 PM.
Solar Nova Scotia is heading into 2023 with a sunny disposition.
The chair of the non-profit organization says our province is already considered to be a leader in the industry, and it expects to expand on that in the new year.
“There's a lot of lessons Nova Scotia has learned that we're now sharing with other provinces in Atlantic Canada,” David Brushett told CityNews Halifax. “We have very attractive incentives here and financing.”
“This year we're getting about 1,800 installations,” he added. “That number has grown every year … but solar is still a very small part of the overall electricity in the province. It represents less than one per cent of the electricity, so there's still a long way to go here.”
Brushett said most of that activity is on the residential side. The technology is improving and the price has dropped significantly in the last decade, but there is still a substantial upfront cost.
“The average system size per house is about ten kilowatts and that would generally cost around $25,000,” he explained, adding there is some help to offset that hefty price tag.
“The homeowner is eligible for a $5,000 incentive through the federal Greener Homes program, and they can also now access an interest-free loan of up to $40,000 through the Greener Homes program.”
He said homeowners would then have ten years to pay off that loan.
The upside is most solar panels come with a 25 year warranty. Brushett said you can expect them to last beyond that, and there's not much upkeep.
“For at least 30 years, they just sit up on your roof and don't have a lot of moving parts,” he explained.
“But you will have to replace the converters after a while, so there will be some maintenance cost.”
And next year, there's a plan in the works to make solar available to more Nova Scotians.
“The province has announced a new program that's coming into place next summer that's going to allow for community solar gardens, which is going to be a great way for people to participate in solar who might live in an apartment, might not have adequate roof space or might not be able to afford the upfront costs,” Brushett stated.
“So that's going to allow larger, utility scale-sized solar installations that can be subscribed to, so we're really looking forward to that and I think that's going to lead to a lot of exciting growth next year as well.”
Many panels are still manufactured overseas, but Brushett said there are some exciting technological developments happening right here in Canada.
“There's a big manufacturing plant in Ontario that produces solar building materials, so like siding and windows that can produce electricity.”
He also expects to see a lot of growth on the commercial side next year.
“The federal government has put in place new tax incentives for commercial installations, and through our advocacy work last year, we've seen an increase in the net metering cap to one megawatt which is going to allow for more larger, commercial installations.”
And all of that will require more people to do the work. Brushett said hundreds of Nova Scotians are already employed in the industry, and Solar Nova Scotia is working with NSCC on how to get more installers trained.
